Help Bring Julia Home

The hardcore scene is often described as a family, but its members have outside families of their own. Sometimes the lines between these two families become blurred though, and this was certainly the case with Julia Guerra, who sadly recently passed away in Florida at the age of 80 after battling cancer off and on for years. Julia was the mother of David Castillo, and Hoya Guerra, bassist of NYHC legends Madball, but as so many hardcore kids from the borough of Queens can testify, she was really a mother to the scene itself. Always supportive and never judgmental, to the many who passed through her door and ate the delicious food she cooked (more than one of which just plain moved in to escape their own broken home), Julia was much beloved, so much that she was just referred to as “mom“ or “Ma Dukes“ by the multitudes of hardcore kids who wound up in her Corona, Queens house. Born in Granada, Nicaragua, Julia moved to Puerto Rico when she was 18, then on to the mainland United States in 1960, becoming an American Citizen. A proud patriot of her adopted nation, Julia exemplified the American value of self-sufficiency by working tirelessly for years and years in support of her family (not to mention feed the endless stream of Hoya’s friends who knew there was always a home cooked meal available at her house). Although Julia had been living with Hoya in Florida for the last 10 years, she spent the great majority of her life in New York City, and will be laid to rest next to her daughter Victoria in a cemetery in Queens. With the Coronavirus pandemic eliminating all touring revenue for hardcore bands, and this being Hoya’s source of income, the funds needed to bring her body home, make funeral arrangements, the cost of the burial itself, and travel arrangements for family members to attend her funeral, are virtually nonexistent. So we, the members of the New York hardcore scene are asking for help, so that we can help our brother Hoya bring his mother home and lay her to rest with the dignity that she deserves. It’s the least we can do for Julia, who did so much for so many of us who had so little. Please help out if you can, and we sincerely thank you for your support.