Lauren Cohn promotes ‘This is Hardcore Fest,’ a four-day music festival which aids animals
Seeking to “find herself” as a teenager growing up in D.C., Lauren Cohn found solace in the hardcore punk music scene. Raised as a animal-loving vegetarian, the owner of the Fishtown Animal Hospital continues merging her passions for animal welfare and hardcore music by using her platform to sponsor the This Is Hardcore Fest, taking place from Friday, July 27 through Monday, July 30 at the Electric Factory and Union Transfer.
As a young child, Cohn remembers her mother’s vegetarianism and involvement in human rights initiatives, including acts such as rescuing squirrels that were hit by cars and taking them to rehab facilities. Through this impactful parental guidance, Cohn learned about where food came from and the fight against animal cruelty, and sought to find a community of similar-minded peers who also loved and respected animals.
Then, at age 16, one of her neighbors who lived two houses away, and whom she attended Hebrew school with, was working to become a talented “hardcore” genre musician, a subcategory of music which is known for it’s generally faster, harder and more aggressive melodies than other forms of punk rock. She began coming over the hangout as he held his band practices and her mother would cook huge vegetarian meals for them to enjoy when his band had show dates.
“The hardcore scene became a huge part of my life, beginning largely when I saw its overall support of animal rights,” Cohn said. “It was a positive community driven by acceptance and that could be fairly political with its promotion of certain issues. It helped me find myself when I was a kid, and I saw my first official hardcore show in 1992.”
As she continued her involvement in the scene upon moving to South Philly in 1995, Cohn decided to contribute to the community by organizing shows across the city. While she used many of these events as simultaneous fundraising opportunities and chances to raise awareness for the many animal welfare-related causes she supports, others were just so she could witness some of her favorite bands playing locally in Philadelphia.
“It was great to see parents bringing their kids to the events with the big [noise eliminating] headphones,” Cohn said. “To me, the scene was a real community growing up, and it was filled with positive messages while acting as an outlet through which myself and others could express ourselves.”
In meeting and developing relationships with these like-minded hardcore community members within Philadelphia, Cohn established a group of friends. Included in this group, after meeting him while attending shows, was Joe “Joe Hardcore” McKay, the the face of Philadelphia’s This Is Hardcore Fest.
As time passed, Cohn saw the This Is Hardcore Fest as an opportunity to merge the two communities that were most important to her: veterinary medicine and hardcore music. Thus, she decided to use her practice, which has been in operation since April 2015, to for the first time help sponsor the festival, which has been taking place since 2006, and in doing so has made a financial contribution toward the event and is assisting in its promotion.
“We’re sponsoring the whole event and one of the after shows as well,” Cohn, a 41-year-old Northern Liberties resident, said. “I’ll be there for all four days to connect with people, and the Animal Hospital is offering a 10 percent off exams when clients mention This Is Hardcore now through Sept. 30.”
She noted that, in addition to her goal of being the best veterinarian she can be, she also wishes to create a community of people among festival attendees and beyond who come to her with their pets and who feel as though they are all family. This desire to prove to her animal owning clients their relationship with herself and her practice can extend beyond comprehensive exams and scheduled appointments had lead to her This Is Hardcore Fest involvement.
“As a kid I always wanted to be the musician who got on stage, but I realized that’s not me,” Cohn said. “Now I realize that my contribution to the the community rests as a healer and rescuer of animals, and I want to emphasize my passions for animal welfare by educating owners and outside connections to the community.”
As people from near and far travel to the This Is Hardcore Fest in early August, she hopes to continue to spread awareness to the masses on animal prevention and health care, while directly connecting with the community and potential clients.
“I want to do things like this and host events at the hospital so that people are not just coming out to see us when their animals are sick,” Cohn said. “Moreso, I want them to be able to trust us and feel that we care.”
Caring for her Philadelphia community now, just as the hardcore community cared for her from her teenage years on, Cohn hopes she too can provide a space where people — and pets — feel as though they “fit in.” Therefore, she hopes to be a factor helping to influence people in being a part of the upcoming festival and in connecting with her hospital’s growing community as well.
Friday, Saturday, Sunday and three or four-day passes to This Is Hardcore Fest, along with a full list of participating bands, can be purchased on the festival’s website at thisishardcorefest.com.
