I have a doubt about emo hairstyle,pls help?

i have a doubt,pls explain. Hey ive seen some guys who do emo by straightening their hair,and some of them dont just do plain emo,some of them also slightly spike their hair upwards and backwards.but i cnt undrstnd,hws ths possible whn their hair is dry?whn i straighten my hair and whn i try 2 spike it,it dsnt stay,and it either falls flat or easily gets blown by the wind.my straightened hair stays spiked and firm only if it is short enuf.but hw do these emo guys slightly spike their long hair in straight and slanting positions.etc,without the use of stronghold gel.i dont know if they are using sum kind of dry look gel,but whatevr happens their hair looks dry.