In a dark room with strobe lights and flashing images, ASU students in teased hair, fishnets and black-and-white face paint came together Friday night at AMP's second annual Goth Night.
AMP is a student club that focuses on bringing live music to students' backyards and exposing students to local artists.
READ MORE: 'Art, music and poetry': AMP bridges gap between ASU, the local music scene
Gianna Perry, AMP's president and a8 sophomore studying conservation biology, said that the great turnout of AMP's inaugural Goth Night made round two an easy call.
"It was super fun giving people a theme to follow," Perry said. "We really wanted to play it back and get to experience it again with more people."
Bryn Nowlin, or DJ Dirt, opened up the night's festivities. As a member of the goth scene for six years, Nowlin usually sees an older audience at goth shows. While she likes that the subculture can resonate with most people, she finds something important in seeing young adults attend.
"The subculture is still alive," Nowlin said.
Goth rock is derived from post-punk music of the 1970s, taking shape with bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus and The Cure. The music is paired with an interest in the macabre alongside a style built on black clothing, abundant jewelry and heavy makeup.
The event was also an easy and accessible way for students who had never delved into the goth scene to experiment.
Perry, who hasn't explored the scene much, said it was super interesting to see.
"The staple, trad goth look is so awesome," Perry said. "And obviously the music is so cool."
Jack Ruegsegger, a senior studying mechanical engineering and the president of the Album Listening Club, said that before this event they had never exploreed the goth scene, but it was fun to dip their toe in the water.
"Although outside of this I would not say I'm goth, I would definitely like to try it out again," Ruegsegger said, adorned in white face paint.
Goth can be seen as a dreary subculture, one that seemingly has no room for dancing. Ruegsegger said they were originally concerned about that aspect of the event, but they ended up having nothing to worry about as attendees swarmed the dance floor.
Perry said while on the surface, goth can seem to just be about wearing all black, the scene is based on supporting individuality and accepting your differences.
"Being yourself, in a way, is the most goth-punk thing you can do," Nowlin said. "As long as you're just being a good person and you're just true to yourself."
READ MORE: Where are all the goth girls?: What it’s like being alt at ASU
Nowlin also admired that although the goth scene is based on a heavy sense of individuality, there is still a strong focus on community.
While the scene can be defined on the outside by certain clothing and style, music and values are often considered to be more important.
"As long as they care for the music, they care about the beliefs. That's what matters to me," Nowlin said.
Although AMP isn't explicitly goth, Perry said the club aims to embrace the subculture's values: creating a space for people who are different.
"(Goth Night) still provided people that space to kind of get weird, get freaky, have fun," Perry said. "Be themselves, dress up and not worry about other people."
Edited by Sam Troester, Alan Deutschendorf III and Sophia Keeling.
Reach the reporter at omoranwi@asu.edu.
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Olivia Moran is a reporter for The Echo at The State Press. This is her second semester with The State Press as an Echo reporter.
