PAHC Brotherhood Crowds Documentary Screening in Lansdale

All Else Failed. Ruin. Autistic Behavior. Strength For A Reason. The Minor Times. Wisdom in Chains. Dysphoria. Sea Sea's.
They were names spoken of almost daily, especially from the likes of those who live their lives within a certain culture in Pennsylvania.
Those names were spoken again in Lansdale Wednesday night, be it packed around the bar at Molly Maguires or comfortably standing inside a spacious living room on Lincoln Avenue.
Beers were cracked. Cigarettes were lit. Stories were shared.
"Didn't he get hurt at that show?" said one.
"It was the most violent show I've ever been to," said another.
Not more than a half hour earlier, a crowd of people of various ages, races, genders and lifestyles exited a room inside Lansdale Music Factory on West Main Street where Average Superstar Films' Loren W. Lepre had test screened his documentary on the Pennsylvania Hardcore subculture.
That room, that bar, that living room—the film: they all shared something.
It was brotherhood. Camaraderie. Community.
As one musician said in the film, you became Pennsylvania hardcore. You became the scene.
I rock, therefore I am.
Lepre premiered his documentary at a test screening last weekend at The Trocadero in Philadelphia (a venue that has a place in Pennsylvania hardcore history, as evidenced by testimony in the film).
But Wednesday night was necessary, for the history of Pennsylvania hardcore cannot be written without Lansdale.
"Lansdale is needed," Lepre said simply.
Lepre's first influence of Lansdale in the PAHC was around 1993, when he initially met Todd Cramer, frontman for Lansdale vanguards Dysphoria and How It Ends.
"One of first people I met was Todd, and he already had Dysphoria in place," Lepre said. "And Denile—they were talking about how Lansdale lit them up. They got put on the map down here."
Soon, bands like Soulgrind and Chine followed suit.
"I got in in 1993, but I wasn't active until 1995, and Lansdale was already there," he said. "It's the city that won't die."
He said Pennsylvania hardcore continues to flourish in Lansdale.
"There's always something coming out of Lansdale. Lansdale is always active," he said. "When one band goes away, two or three are always hanging around."
Lepre said Lansdale deserved a solo spot in his documentary; it did not deserve to be lumped in with the Central Pennsylvania region.
"It's made its mark," he said.
Test screenings are Lepre's way of gathering feedback from viewers, he said. What was shown Wednesday was about 90 percent of the completed movie. There may be some new footage for the final movie, he said.
In addition to bands in Lansdale, the film also conducts interviews with band members and fans from Pennsylvania hardcore subcultures in Erie, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Scranton, Wilkes Barre, Central Pennsylvania and Philadelphia.
"I'll do one final cut," he said, "and that's the real movie. After screenings across Pennsylvania, I'll send it to film fests. I hope it gets picked up and gets distribution. If that doesn't happen, I'll pay for it myself."
So far, Lepre is very satisfied with the reaction to his documentary.
"I've had people say 'I wish my area had more.' I understand that," he said. "Overall, I'm very happy with the reaction."