Brisbane Tattoo Artist Blogs on Being Vegan // Why am I Vegan? For How Long? What’s a Jona Weinhofen?

Hey!! Thanks for checking in, a title like that usually the last thing I'd expect anyone to do would be to click on it, but here we are 💫

In this edition of juicin' up the SEO and having a yarn on a topic, I've been meaning to discuss the whole vegan aspect of my life as I have front facing work and making connections with lots of folk, it tends to get brought up a bit

Y'know, like 'Oh hey you heard about that new Bacon Burger Spot? Oh wait, you're vegan aren't you? No Bacon Burger spot for you then I guess', and that's how it really be. I'm a pretty big guy I guess so it's a bit of a surprising thing for those invested when they really notice I literally have a full plant based diet and have so for the nearly ten years now.

I though it was the perfect time to discuss it, because answering 'Why are you vegan' and I don't often say it in the moment, but to choose the sentiment Jade Pugent of AFI said in his recent Hardlore episode, 'because it's the right thing to do'

It's a hot take I know but honestly I don't care what other people do so much as it's fully a me decision, that may not be driven by the healthiest or most relatable of reasons.

All I notice these days is people breaking Veg Edge and start selling out for the Bacon Burger spot, Vegan businesses are closing WAY more than sustaining or opening (😢❤️‍🩹) and being vegan is feeling isolating now more than ever, it's never made more sense from the outside perspective to 'stop being so stubborn' ... but I am the most stubborn man there is 😤😜

It's perfect time to discuss this because I Killed The Prom Queen's album, Music for the Recently Deceased just turned 20 Years Old 🥳 This album is what planted the seed for me to be vegan.

On the albums promo photo (For those unfamiliar) is young Jona Weinhofen, Captain Prom Queen himself wearing a shirt reading 'Vegan Straight Edge'. I'm assuming I've already lost the small readership this blog had for those unfamiliar with the IKTPQ but I proceed;

This band was fucking psycho back in the day to witness!! All of them had rizz to kingdom come, but Sean Kennedy, Jona Weinhofen & Kev Cameron all shredding together on their Rigs was truly (especially at the time) unmatched in it's 'What the F**K am I witnessing' guitar and bass moves. I swear the guitar swings and spin kicks were more majestic and impressive than anything they were playing at the time.

They were a type of unmatched feral fashion-core band that got WAY more insanely cool with the release of their album, Music for the Recently Deceased on July 31st, 2006

They were touring PCYC venues & pubs all across regional Australia on that album release, to what may have broke them as a band, satiated us as scene kids at the time. Ed's roars & inhales were soul shaking, the bois on guitar and bass were the anthesis of cool in their At The Gates, Scene lord swag, and JJ Peters, fronting the drums with Grills and being the most tatt'd up dude ever who looked gangsta AS F**K

I was obsessed from this on as a younger lad, and it always got brought up when discussing this Prom Queen Phenomenon, 'y'know they're vegan right?'. With Jona's shirt I mentioned before from this albums promo photo solidifying what it turns out was the whole bands soul, I knew I had to climb this Everest to become this 'vegan' thing one day and they were the inspiration.

They pushed vegan so much (actually maybe it was just Jona who did it publicly, but they all did shit to display their hatred of animal cruelty on all levels) I knew that if I was chasing vegan, it was because my idols thought it was cool, as result I thought it was cool

Quick Pivot** Maybe this whole me talking about being vegan thing might be an ongoing discussion, sprinkled into these blogs seldomly, rather than me putting it all press here. For now this is a conversation on going about it/my roots with it all

It wasn't until exactly ten years ago now, I truly discovered the band Cro Mags. For those who don't know, New York's Cro Mags are one of the fore fathers of Hardcore, if not the absolute pioneers of said genre. It was around this time ten years ago, the frontman John Joseph (of Cro Mags) got some traction online as being a vegan IronMan Athlete

This guy is like full blown New York coded, in this Vice feature about him he's just full given it the whole 'yeah F**k this, f**k that, this my neighbourhood' New Yorker while doing god knows how fast on a triathlete spec competition bike on the busy streets of New York being filmed.

This whole thing is of course just on youtube if you wanna watch it, but this with whole Prom Queen thing really had me now fixated on going vegan around this time of my life

i was also travelling a lot at this time so I got into audiobooks as travel luxury. One of my most fruitful reads was the Autobiography of John Josephs. In it, it detailed his trauma and malnutrition growing up, which is all far too dark for me to touch on here, but something that sadly just rung all too true with me

It's difficult for me to discuss these things, but yeah, the malnutrition & neglect on hygiene was sadly something I as well had experienced growing up. This gave me a really complicated relationship with food (which i guess ofc I'm f***ing vegan now for nearly a decade)

It was John Josephs message, Jona Weinhofen's message, their connection with music that I was fully incapsulated in.

So exactly 8 and a half years ago I went vegan and haven't looked back. I know I've been painful for those around me at times, and even now as I'm single and dating again, putting myself out there, it's more isolating than ever.

I get it, I'm lucky. I have to check my privilege as a guy and me going without meat isn't of consequence. Not everyone can take on or either/ever consider a vegan diet

I myself have a long way to go with health and nutrition, but all I have to say is I think I'm doing pretty damn good so far all things considered.

I know a lot of what I eat looks like low-key cursed in it's aesthetic, but I'm gonna have to lean into the single, near-forty year old man cliche for that and say that's just part of the package that's me .. for now

I don't miss meat, I don't miss dairy. Vegan Hardcore, Deathcore & Metalcore absolutey fucking RULES and it's all my thing, I love it. Shouts out World of Pleasure, To The Grave & Vanguard!! It's the hardest message to spread but I support everyones cause in the vegan message (maybe not so much when it's like Moby)

I'm just not really about spray painting Paul's Milk Factory in West End or staging a filmed stunt on an unsuspecting local farm. I have my own complicated relationship to resolve with activism, but I can't back figureheads like Tash Peterson and associates, I can just fully remove myself from participating industries that I don't want to support and try not to make it weird in the meantime I guess

Not sure if that answered anything or even tickled any SEO requirements, but I have been meaning to contribute to this discussion on here for a minute, seeing the I Killed the Prom Queen anniversary of Music for the Recently Deceased pop up, I thought no matter what came out if i started a blogpost, now was the best time to get into flow state and get those words on here while they were stirring

I have no problem being around people eating meat, I'm probably missing out, you're right, you just have to enjoy double of whatever it is this thing I can't have that you can

With being vegan it's basically like speedrunning food through your body, so I totally get why that isn't everybody's thing

Thanks for reading <3

Talk soon