What the heck *is* emo, anyway?

(this great photo of Still Life by Scott Bilby , who has other pictures at his site)

This site is intended to be a basic FAQ and primer on emo - short for "emotional." Emo is a broad title that covers a lot of different styles of emotionally-charged punk rock. This site is intended to introduce the reader to all the common styles, describe them musically, and give ideas about the essential records of all those styles. You will be an expert in emo, in the broad sense, after reading this website.

Have a look at my photography pages.

This page lays out the different styles of emo music, with descriptions and lots of examples. If you look at only one page on this site, let it be this one.

This is a brief explanation of the history of the term emo .

or you might just be looking for advice on the best emo records out there.

check out a clever site with MP3 samples of emo.

read some hate mail I've received, and get some emo fashion tips

find a bunch of outdated links to other emo-related websites: record labels and distributions, bands, webzines, audio, etc.

god help me, I have a myspace page now. do your worst.

Well, I've moved servers to my own domain now. Please update any links you may have to point to http://www.fourfa.com/ . Also, here's a picture of me . I recently updated a lot of links, and I'm working on updating some recent history too.

Unfortunately, since lately I find this page being quoted word-for-word without any credit or link being given, I'm forced to declare that all content is copyrighted, and may not be reproduced or redistributed without permission (which will be gladly given with a source credit and a link). sorry about that.

I can't promise to reply to all mail due to the insane volume I get, but feel free to write to: mail2 at fourfa dot com. Anything insulting may end up on the hate mail page. Thanks for looking around.

-andy radin