is a straight edge merch company established by Porcell, whose name has been synonymous with drug free living since he started Youth of Today in 1985. YOT, along with his other bands Judge, Project X and Shelter helped popularize straight edge globally and influenced generations of kids to make a change.

Why did you decide to do a clothing company?

Porcell: First and foremost, I’m what you call a “t-shirt enthusiast” – I’ve literally had hundreds over the years. I’ve always been enamored by the imagery of hardcore and straight edge in particular. It amazed me how a band could convey so much and set the tone of their music just with a print on a shirt. Even something as simple as the Minor Threat black sheep just spoke volumes to me and perfectly encapsulated what I was feeling at the time when I was an alienated punk rock teenager in a preppie, party-till-you-puke high school.

After I stopped playing music full time and was looking around for something to do with my life, I naturally gravitated toward graphic design, no doubt due to my fascination with the imagery of punk and hardcore. I was always designing flyers, shirts and record covers for my bands over the years, so for me it’s something creative like music that I can do.

My involvement with the hardcore scene has taught me a lot about design. Don’t just create an image – create a mood. Set a tone. Convey what you’re feeling through the medium, which is what art is supposed to achieve.

So back to the question, really the merch company came out of those two loves for me – straight edge and graphic design. I want to bring back the feeling of what straight edge was and still is to me – something positive, something inspirational. And also something rebellious. Because really when you’re straight edge, you’re an outsider. So I don’t want to just create shirts, I want to convey that mood of what it’s like to live life left of center.

You’ve been straight edge for a long time. What keeps you going?

Porcell: Straight edge is something I still feel very strongly about, and really the older I get the more relevant it is to my life. Physically I’m in good shape even after all these years, and I definitely attribute that to drug free living, vegetarianism and a general healthy, active lifestyle. Even on top of that, straight edge has changed my life for the better in so many ways and showed me that alternatives are there in life, you just have to look for them. I’m indebted to bands like Minor Threat, SSD, 7 Seconds and others. They inspired me to look at life a little differently and gave me the courage to take the road less traveled. Hopefully with True Till Death I can give some of that back.