Elgin James

Elgin James, also known as Elgin Nathan James, helped form the controversial street gang FSU in the early 1990s. He is also a musician and a filmmaker.

Early life

After a short time in orphanages and foster homes, Elgin James (who is of mixed race) was raised by civil rights activists on a rural farm in the Northeast. [ REVOLUTION ON CANVAS, Time/Warner books, 2007 ] .

With a crop of marijuana in the backyard and alcohol and drug abuse in the house, Elgin formed strong anti-drinking/drug beliefs. Those beliefs would later lead him to be a pivotal figure in the nineties militant straight edge movement.

Elgin discovered punk rock through an older foster brother and saw shows of seminal hardcore bands Black Flag,Agnostic Front and Millions of Dead Cops. He was arrested for the first time at age twelve, and by fourteen he wound up in juvenile hall. There, he rejected the pacifist beliefs of his parents (who had marched with Rev. Martin Luther King and the Freedom Riders movement), and began studying the more violent doctrines of Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael and Huey P. Newton fusing them with aggressive punk ideals. [ ENEMY, J and M productions, 2007.]

Brain damage

Elgin left Juvenile hall, and inspired by civil rights attorneys William Kunstler and Morris Dees, left for University at age seventeen to study pre-law. During a break in his first semester he was involved in a gang fight that left him with left hemispheric brain damage. He woke up in the hospital three days later unable to move his right arm and barely able to speak. [ ARMED AGGRESSION FANZINE, Issue 1, 1996 ]

After intensive rehabilitation (physical and speech therapy) to recover from the brain damage, Elgin wound up homeless living on the streets and in squats (abandoned buildings) across the country. Eventually he settled in Boston, Massachusetts.

FSU

In Boston he began singing for hardcore punk band Wrecking Crew and befriended a group of kids from the tough Boston neighborhoods Brockton and South Boston. They started FSU (sometimes known as Friends Stand United, but began as Fuck Shit up) in violent response to the number of Neo-Nazi skinhead hate groups on the rise across the country. [ Boston Beatdown volume two, Crosscheck records 2004. ]

FSU was made up of a handful of Irish, Black and Puerto Rican kids. Since they were usually outnumbered by their 'enemies' (Nazi skinheads, other street gangs) they compensated with viciousness. They would use makeshift weapons such as hammers, [ WHDH TV, February 18, 2004.] Cue balls in a sock [ WHDH TV, February 16, 2005. ] and even a human thighbone [ Portland Press Herald, Dec. 11 1993. ] . Soon racist skinheads, who had been such a common sight at Boston hardcore and punk rock shows, became obsolete [ Metroland paper, March 19 2007. ] . FSU's numbers began to grow and they started traveling to tackle the racist problem in surrounding states.

To date there are FSU chapters in Boston, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Seattle and Los Angeles. Despite the group's anti-racist past, critics frequently accuse FSU members of instigating and perpetuating gang violence.

Straight edge

Having successfully eliminated several Nazi groups; Elgin turned his attention to drug dealers [ Dark Planet: Visions of America 2005. ] . He eschewed the usual passive ideals of straight edge and instead went, in his own words “right after the heart of the enemy, money”. [ Enemy, J&M productions 2007. ] . He would rob drug dealers and then use the money to produce music and film that furthered ‘straight edge beliefs’. Reportedly the controversial Boston Beatdown DVD series, [ Dark Planet: Visions of America, 2005. ] the film "Francis and Clara" and the album "For Carol" were funded this way [ "Elgin James: Truth and Fiction" by Debbie Catalano, Soundcheck magazine November 2003 pgs14-16 ] . Elgin also plays guitar in popular straight edge hardcore band Righteous Jams.

Animal rights

Elgin became a vegetarian/vegan at age eleven after watching the animals he raised on the farm slaughtered [ “Sounds from Underground” Lollipop magazine, 1996. ] . Later, using a tactic he says he learned from the United States Government [ Enemy, J&M productions 2007. ] , he set up an "arms for hostages" scenario trading handguns to inner city gang members in exchange for the pit bulls used in dog fighting rings. The dogs would then be nursed back to health and fostered until safe homes were found for them.

Underground Surgery

Elgin was stabbed in the stomach in a melee and sewed up the wound with dental floss and a sewing needle. [ Boston Beatdown volume two, Crosscheck records 2004. ] That earned him the moniker of "underground surgeon". Since FSU members were often unable to go to the hospital after an incident (where questions would be asked) and were often too poor to have medical insurance, Elgin became the 'in house doctor'. He can be seen in the DVD Boston Beatdown vol. 2 sewing up his own face and another FSU member’s side.

Music

After Elgin had spent time in hardcore bands Wrecking Crew and the infamously violent 454 Big Block, he began experimenting with melody and songwriting in the bands The World is My Fuse (named after a song by DC hardcore band Rites of Spring) and later the Jaded Salingers. His country influenced solo work has been critically acclaimed and described as "Hooligan Folk" by the Boston Phoenix and "Folk-Punk" by Wonkavision magazine.

His sister Linee is also a musician, formerly of the band Linee, currently playing with VenusNV [http://www.venusnv.com]

Aftermath

The founding core of FSU would eventually splinter with a large section moving on to the Outlaws Motorcycle Club [ “Elgin James: Truth and Fiction” by Debbie Catalano Soundcheck magazine November 2003 pgs14-16 ] . The split was amicable, but Elgin and other founding members decided to leave a more positive legacy and steer FSU away from the criminal world. They established the "Foundation Fund" setting up scholarships at local universities (Berklee College of Music and Suffolk University Law School) in the names of FSU members who had died. [ WHDH TV, February 16, 2005. ] The Foundation Fund also holds yearly benefit concerts to raise money for charities that reflect "hardcore punk culture" (teen homelessness, anti handgun violence, suicide prevention and local orphanages). [http://foundationfund.net]

Elgin moved to Los Angeles, California to work as a filmmaker. He most recently wrote and directed the film "Goodnight Moon" starring Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy), to be released by THINKFilm.

Notes

Bibliography

# "Dreamweaver", Elgin James, REVOLUTION ON CANVAS, Warner books, 2007. ISBN 0446697877

Filmography

# "Release" (1998)
# "Live Thee Fourth" (2000)
# "Boston Beatdown vol. 1" (2002)
# "Francis and Clara" (2003)
# "Boston Beatdown vol. 2" (2004)
# "Dark Planet: Visions of America" (2005)
# "Enemy" (2007)

Writer/director

# "Goodnight Moon", THINKFilms, (2007)

Discography

1992- Wrecking Crew, single, (vocals)
1995- 454 Big Block, "Your Jesus," Century Media (vocals)

1996- 454 Big Block, s/t single, Big Wheel Rec (vocals)
1997- 454 Big Block, "Save Me From Myself," Big Wheel Rec (vocals)

1997- The World is My Fuse, s/t single, Espo records (vocals)
1998- The World Is My Fuse, "Drunk," Single, Espo Records (vocals, guitars)
1999- The World Is My Fuse, "Good Intentions," Espo Records (vocals, guitars)
2002- The Jaded Salingers, "s/t," Espo Records (vocals, guitars)
2003- Elgin James "For Carol.." Lonesome Recordings (vocals, guitars)
2004- Elgin James, "Long Way Home," Lonesome Recordings comp (vocals, guitars)
2004- Righteous Jams "Rage Of Discipline," Broken Sounds (guitars)
2005- Elgin James, "Tinted Soft Green," Emusic Digital Singles Club (vocals, guitars)
2006- Righteous Jams "Business As Usual," Abacus Recordings (guitars)