Nate
Read how Nate saved a friend's life
City of Residence: Salt Lake City, UT
Age: 19
Length of time "in the scene": 5 years
Occupation: Free Wheeler Pizza doing delivery, also a Freelance Photographer
Education: Graduated from Olympus High in 1997. Graphic arts apprenticeship.
Musical taste: Skinny Puppy, Billie Holliday, Bach, Leaether Strip, Snog, Ministry, Front 242, Einsturzende Neubauten, Klute, Welt, Mephisto Walz
Distinctions in appearance: "Waist length hair and a goatee, I usually wear suits and black clothing."
Hobbies, activities, interests: "Photography, mountain biking, camping, wine making, politics." He enjoys studying political theory, socialism, and environmentalism. Politics is one of the main things that controls our lives, and he likes to study other people's views on how things work.
Spiritual, philosophical, religious affiliation: "Wiccan" (see Wicca heading for information on Wiccan religion) It's what he felt was right for him. He was introduced to it through friends, reading books and attending a few ceremonies. He had fairly unorganized pagan beliefs before that, and Wicca seemed to fit with the earth worship he was interested in.
Goals, dreams: "Career in art, college, monetary happiness." He wants to be able to use his own ideas for photography and graphics and would like to go to art school depending on finances. As far as money, he wants to be comfortable, not in debt. Making a lot of money isn't that important.
Do you consider yourself gothic?: "No, I'm in a very closely related scene, that of industrial music. I used to be gothic, and I am still involved with that scene." He said that the time he considered himself gothic was around 1993-1995. His musical taste changed and he didn't dress quite as elaborately as he turned more toward industrial. He said Goths "appreciate fine art as well as a Victorian style" and "listen to rather dark music and wear mostly black clothes." He considers Goths as those who have an interest in the finer things in life such as art and elegance. He considers the more punk oriented gothics are still a part of the scene, but more of a fringe group.
4/27/97 last updated 4/27/98
The story of a life saved:
Goths were flung into the media spotlight in March of 1997 in Salt Lake City because of an incident where a diabetic boy died from insulin shock during a supposed "goth" party. Those around him at the party did not get him medical attention, and these kids were rumored to be Goths. The boy's mother blamed his death on the entire gothic culture with its "fixation on death." The events that resulted in that boy's death are not the usual actions taken among those in the gothic subculture, despite the accusations to the contrary. However, it is the times that people don't die, that someone's life is saved quietly, that don't end up on the ten o'clock news. Some years back in 1994, a very close friend of mine named Natalie was at a party with Nate, a girl named Diana and a friend of Diana's. Nate told me that Natalie drank a lot during this party. As they went to sleep, she told him to make sure she didn't stop breathing in her sleep. Nate woke up later during the night, and Natalie was not breathing. She had alcohol poisoning. Nate performed mouth to mouth resuscitation on her until she revived. He said that it lasted for several minutes, but it seemed like forever. He was so scared that she was going to die that the details of her near-death were a blur in his memory. He acted automatically. They wanted to call the paramedics for her after that, but she told them not to. She vomited several times and they gave her water to drink and looked after her until she was okay.
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