It’s safety pins through blue-hued skin in the intriguing punk Krishna documentary Something Divine, directed by Thomas Essig. It focuses on Ray Cappo, who, as a teen, was the frontman for the hardcore punk group Youth Of Today starting in 1985. By 1990, the band was at its height of popularity, but the scene was growing darker, and violence at shows was skyrocketing. Cappo left the band and went to India to pursue a spiritual path instead of more mosh pits. Devoting himself to becoming a monk, Cappo’s name changes to Raghunath. Meanwhile, John Porcelly, the guitarist for Youth Of Today, has joined a Krishna farm and is milking cows every day.
Raghunath hunts down Porcelly, who is now named Paramananda Das, and reminds him that part of their path is using their talents for the betterment of all. So they formed a hardcore Krishna band, Shelter, which they toured with for decades. The film interviews both musicians-turned-monks and several others involved in the punk scene, the spiritual scene, or, in many cases, both. Along the way, it maps out the route taken on how to get from studded leather screaming to orange robe chanting.
Courtesy of Thomas Essig
“Cappo left the band and went to India to pursue a spiritual path instead of more mosh pits.”
In the year before Youth Of Today started playing out, punk band Hüsker Dü released their legendary double album Zen Arcade, featuring the song Hare Krishna. That tape was the first time at age 13 that I heard hardcore, and the Krishna chant incorporated into popular music. So, I don’t have a hard time finding a bridge between playing hardcore punk and studying the Bhagavad Gita. While punk was a cultural rejection of 80s society, its elements started homogenizing into the mainstream near the end of the decade.
Raghunath stepping out of both the rat race and the mosh pit at the same time at the dawn of the 90s makes a lot of sense. Also, when you run face-first into so much anger as a lifestyle, it eventually snaps under the weight of its own rage. Finding a way of resistance that does not involve constant outrage only makes sense. Raghunath is shown leading a group of like-minded Western devotees to lead chants across India. Wherever they go, people jump up in the streets and chant with them. It is the flip side of slam dancing, literally turning a frown upside down.