Indie RockGENRE RESEARCH

Indie music first came about in the 80’s in the UK, it was all about getting away from the big record labels and big marketing firms trying to monetise music. As well as reflecting social and political struggles of the times.

ORIGINS

Bands that did very well for themselves in the early stages were acts like The Smiths, The Stone

Roses, Happy Mondays, The Jam and Pixies.They were successful because they had a unique

sound and style that was popular at the time, providing a truthful look at the world and the

people within it.

THE ORIGINAL SUCCESSFUL INDIE BANDS

The genre is still very popular, the main artists who are active currently would be bands like The Strokes, Foals, The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys

etc. The difference between old and new is that there is much less restrictions on what is and isn’t classed as indie, it can be very broad and combine

many styles and many influences. And the term “indie” is now more about the music rather than

the actual physical meaning of it being made “independently”.

MODERN INDIE ROCK

- Jangly Guitars- Introspective Lyrics- Melancholy vocal lines - Repetitive guitar lines - Simple chords - Lots of reverb

KEY FEATURES

Because it is such a diverse genre, there are many different styles and attitudes associated with it, there isn’t really defining stylistic statement with the genre. Although that being said, there seems to be a big use of black clothing like black jeans and black jackets. For attitudes, there is a rather toxic one that is attributed to indie music, is that everything that is mainstream is bad, and that once a band gets successful, they have “sold out” and are no longer appreciated by many of their fans. Not to say that all fans are like that.

STYLE, CLOTHES, ATTITUDES