Sharing Trauma and Recovery in Musical Subcultures: Mental Health and Community at Furnace Fest

IASPM-US conference presentation (2026). Our 5+ years of ethnographic data at Furnace Fest reveal a potent intersection of community formation amidst conflicting strategies (and varying resources) for care and recovery. Complicating punk/hardcore, DIY, and subculture ethics, studying this community offers insight to (1) trauma scholarship by examining affective narrative recovery strategies through musical participation, and (2) popular music scholars by demonstrating how communities and scenes form around sharing experiences of and ideas about trauma and recovery.