One of the most important hardcore punk bands to me—and possibly the world, as I’ll explain—was and is Sick of It All. And I can tell you exactly how I got into them: with the song “Step Down.” Now, I wasn’t born on the Lower East Side—where you’re more likely to hear Fania All-Stars than Agnostic Front—so none of this came to my doorstep. I grew up in the Northern Virginia/D.C. area, and my routes to subculture came from a few local record shops and MTV. The area was, and still is, soaked in the lore of Dischord Records. And though I was obsessed with Bad Brains and Minor Threat, Sick of It All were my first discovery of a New York hardcore band. And, admittedly, it was because of MTV and the "Step Down" video.