In case you missed the April edition of Hatchet Herald, ICP and Psychopathic Records have shined a spotlight on a Juggalo in need. This Denver Juggalo’s name is Joe, and he lost the functionality of his legs after falling from a tree a few years ago on a camping trip. His mom wrote to Psychopathic in hopes of getting some help from the family! Not only did they post the GoFundMe Page where they’re requesting donations, but 25% of the Psychopathic Auction proceeds from this year’s Gathering of the Juggalos will be donated to Joe and his family to help him get the treatment that he needs! Scottie D reached out to one of our best at Faygluvers.net to conduct an interview with Joe and that awesome ninja is Chad Thomas Carsten! If you ninjas can afford it, throw a few bucks his way at Joe’s GoFundMe page:
https://www.gofundme.com/jx396efg
Chad Thomas Carsten: We are with Joe, a Juggalo in Denver, Colorado here on Faygoluvers.net!
How old were you when you first discovered the music of Insane Clown Posse?
Joe: Honestly, I don’t exactly remember how old I was because I was basically like a toddler. My uncle had the Riddle Box cassette tape and he always played it in his truck when he would drive around and shit like that. Instantly I just loved it. When I was like 7 years old, I was listening to the cassette tape of the Riddle Box.
CTC: Oh wow, so pretty early then.
Joe: Yeah.
CTC: Can you remember the first song that you really grew attached to, and what was your reaction when listening to it?
Joe: The first song that really stood out to me was “I’m Coming Home.” I’m pretty sure it’s the last track on the Riddle Box. It’s a different style than anything I had really heard from ICP. So I can appreciate it a lot from that just from the get go. I really loved everything they were saying in “I’m Coming Home”. I was really too young to understand it, but it definitely stood out to me.
CTC: Right on man. At what point in your life did you become fully down with a clown and realized you were Juggalo?
Joe: I’d have to say probably at the beginning of 6th grade. I had always listened to it, and like I said I started with Riddle Box and checked out a couple of other albums. But in 6th grade, I met my homie Tubby, I call him my hetero life-mate now, but I met him in 6th grade and instantly we connected. As soon as I started listening to ICP in front of him, he flipped out because he thought he was the only one. After that, we found a bunch of other Juggalo homies that we started kickin’ it with and from then on, it was just kind of a done deal. I’ve been down ever since.
CTC: Hell yeah man! In your own words how would describe the Juggalo family? What’s it like to be a Juggalo?
Joe: Everything that comes with the word “Family”. I’ve met a lot of people that I didn’t really like that were Juggalos in my time, but that’s just personality. You don’t have to have a certain personality to be a Juggalo. You don’t have to have this or that. If I don’t exactly agree with someone else’s views or with the way they live their life or whatever, I can still relate. Juggalo family is Juggalo family. If you’re still trying to read every book in the Lord of the Rings series, or if you’re selling dope out of the trunk of your car, you can still be a Juggalo. If you appreciate the lifestyle, and have love for the music and love for the family, that’s basically what matters. That’s what I see being a Juggalo as.
CTC: Fresh! Any positive moment you’d like to share when hanging out with your fellow Juggalos?
Joe: Oh absolutely! Every moment….there’s not really an unaccountable moment that goes down. Every time that I’m with my family, something can be said for it. Whether it’s a great time or the shittiest night that I’ve ever had, there’s always a connection. There’s always something there. There has definitely been many times that we’ve gotten into trouble or done something that we weren’t supposed to do, etc. Just the fact that they’re there, even if we end up getting in trouble and end up in a police car station-bound, it’s good to have family with you either way. Basically, any situation or any predicament that I’ve ever been in when I was with fam, it has been worth it regardless of the outcome.
CTC: Right on, man. What do you like most about the Juggalo Culture?
Joe: I just love that nobody really cares. Like I said, it doesn’t matter who you are as a person on the inside, nobody really cares about that. As long as you’ve got love for the family…as long as you’re down, as long as you have a hand or even a couple of fingers to lend, that’s what it’s all about. That’s one of the main reasons that I loved it initially and got into it. Because after I started listening to the music, I did a little bit of research, and that’s definitely my favorite part about it. Every show I’ve ever been to, every Juggalo I’ve ever encountered, they’ll give me the shirt off of their back, they’ll give me whatever I need or whatever they can contribute. It’s the same vice versa. That’s definitely the best part, I’d say.
CTC: How is the Riddle Box your most personal favorite album, and why?
Joe: Well, initially obviously it’s because I grew up with it. But I can also relate because as far as the Dark Carnival goes and everything, the Riddle Box is basically deciding your fate. I feel like everything that I do, everyone I meet, all of the decisions I make…anything and everything in life is deciding my fate. Everything depends on something. So, that definitely stands out a little bit because that’s just how it is with every aspect of life. You’re deciding your fate. Heaven or hell, happiness or sadness, all of that.
CTC: Which Insane Clown Posse song do you relate to the most and why?
Joe: “The Headless Boogie”, honestly. I told you about my homie Tubby, my hetero life-mate, as soon as we discovered that song and actually listened to it deeply, “The Headless Boogie”, it’s like I was saying before. Everything is all love. In that track, Violent J falls down into the grave and keeps going down a flight of stairs and ends up in a dungeon. He’s with all of the dead people and just feels like he belongs. That’s what’s up. I can definitely put that into many aspects of my life.
CTC: How has other music/artists of Psychopathic Records helped you out in your own personal life?
Joe: Endlessly! When I was super young, my mom and my dad got a divorce. A little while after that I just didn’t hear from my mom. That went on for like 10 years. The whole time, my dad was the single parent and I was left wondering where my mom was. She’s back in my life now, but through that whole period, it was the family that I didn’t have. It was the family that I needed.
CTC: When and where did you attend your first Insane Clown Posse concert? What venue? Was it in Denver?
Joe: Yeah, Denver, Colorado. I’m pretty sure that my very first show was at the Roxy. It was the Clockwork Gray tour. The Blaze Ya Dead Homie tour. That completely expanded it on a different level. I was always down, but after my first show, it definitely exponentially let me know what was up a little bit more. My first actual time of seeing the Insane Clown Posse, Violent J and Shaggs, was the Happy Daze Tour. I don’t remember when or where that was, but I’m pretty sure it was at the Fillmore in Denver, Colorado.
CTC: That would have been around 2010. Necro and Coolio, right?
Joe: Yup, yup! That was one of the greatest shows of my life, for sure. It definitely changed a lot for me.
CTC: We’re about to get a little bit personal, but we’re trying to raise awareness. It’s a touchy subject, but are we able to go into deep detail about the day of the camping trip that lead to your serious spinal injury?
Joe: Yeah, it’s no problem. I get asked a lot. It was me and a bunch of my closest friends. We just went out for a normal camping trip. We had a lot of booze. We had enough to last us Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Of course, being the 19 to 20 year old spasmodic teenage kids that we were, we basically drank most of the liquor supplies that we had for the weekend that night. By the time it was morning and the sun was coming up, there were only a few of us still awake. So I decided, as inebriated as I was, that I wanted to take a hike and watch the sun rise at the best place that I could possibly find. So of course I found a tree to climb and made it approximately 35-40 feet up the trunk of the tree and started swinging it back and forth. Daredevil / Wile E. Coyote status. Basically, the entire trunk of the tree broke and slingshotted me down. So when I landed, I landed on the surface roots and basically exploded my P10 and L1 vertebrae. That sent shrapnel into my spinal cord. The initial landing almost severed my spinal cord. So yeah, I had to wait a while for the ambulance and ended up getting helicoptered out and everything. But that’s basically what led up to it.
CTC: Wow…damn man. How did you first handle the situation? What rushed through your mind when you found you became paralyzed?
Joe: It was definitely a trip. Before I was paralyzed I had thought about it a lot, just like randomly for some reason about kinda what it would be like to live life in a wheelchair and be paralyzed and not be able to use your legs. I really didn’t think it’d be nice. I had told many of my homies in the past that if that ever happened to me, that if I was ever just stuck in a wheelchair paralyzed, I wouldn’t want to live anymore. I would rather die! But literally right when I woke up in the hospital and the surgeon (and asked me if I knew my name and my birthday and all that to make sure I was fully conscious) told me I would most likely never walk again without significant treatment, it really didn’t phase me as much as I would think it should’ve. I looked over at my mom (she had just come back into the picture at that point) and basically said, “Well shit, this sucks,” but honestly I’ve been in a pretty great mood ever since. I don’t know how to explain that.
CTC: Oh wow! Glad they responded. It’s pretty powerful! Your Mother wrote a letter and reached out to Psychopathic Records about your spinal cord injury. Can you describe the true feelings that poured through your mind when you first found out Insane Clown Posse/Psychopathic Records responded and are donating towards your spinal treatment in Thailand?
Joe: I completely tripped out! I never thought that anything like that would ever happen. I honestly wasn’t even aware that my mom was reaching out to them at that point. But as soon as my mom called me and told me that she actually got a response from Rob (Jumpsteady) of Psychopathic Records and instantly I said “I can’t believe that Jumpsteady called my mom back!?” I was definitely astonished and especially when she went into details about it and the whole 25% of the auction at The Gathering. I was completely astonished! I didn’t know whether to cry or try to jump out of my wheelchair and cheer for joy. I was excited and super surprised as well, because who knows how many emails they must get in a day or in an hour and the fact they responded to my mom’s email is definitely a big surprise.
CTC: Any advice that you’d like to share to others who are also paralyzed on how to remain positive and keep away from depression?
Joe: Honestly, at first I don’t why I was so positive. But after a while it just kinda set in. I still have a lot of abilities. I grew up loving to draw and I’ve been writing music my whole life. I just started doing tattoos not too long ago. Just the simple fact that I still have the use of my upper body and I still have my mind and my speech and everything else is definitely a huge thing, but aside from that, just the fact that I’m lucky to be alive. Depending on other people’s circumstances and like accidents or whatever might lead to paraplegia/being paraplegic, most people are very lucky to be alive when it comes to this. Even tho you can’t stand up and walk and do all the shit that you used to do or whatever everyone else is still doing, doesn’t mean that you can’t do something significant. You don’t have to walk to be fully capable of being an awesome person to make a huge influence in other people’s lives or just in life in general. Life goes on.
CTC. So. pretty much saying not to give up and to keep staying busy no matter what happens, right?
Joe: Absolutely, yea! As long as you have even the most minute goal or appreciation for life, then it can go far! It can definitely go far!
Final Shout Outs
Joe: 9 months before my accident, my older brother, who is only two-and-a-half years older than me so he’s still young too, he was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer. He was misdiagnosed once before they actually figured out what the problem was. My brother has never been in any kind of trouble. He’s always been the best person you could possibly think of. I kept telling myself constantly that he doesn’t deserve it. I would do anything to take his place while he was going through chemotherapy and constantly going to the hospital and everything. I would love to take his place and have him be healthy. Shortly after I had my accident he went into recession and he is one hundred percent cured now! We were in the same hospital for a while, while I was going through physical therapy, but literally six months after my accident he was completely cured! I don’t know. I feel like in a way I kinda took his place, but I wouldn’t change it for a day. If I did, I’m definitely glad the he is feeling better and that I’m where I’m at rather than, vice versa.
Thank you for reading! Please spread this article around to help raise awareness for Joe! So if you fellow Juggalos and Juggalettes have some cash to spare to help Joe out, hit up the gofundme donation page or do some crazy bidding at the Psychopathic Records auction at this years Gathering, as 25 percent of the profits go towards this ninja in need of surgery in Thailand! Whoop! Whoop! https://www.gofundme.com/jx396efg
Interviewer: Chad Thomas Carsten
Interview Date:06/06/16
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