Indie rock is one of the genres of alternative music. Its name comes from the English word independent, that is, independent. However, this is not one particular style of music, but all the alternative music that is played in the underground. Indian rock is non-commercial music that is primarily of interest to the musicians themselves.
The history of indie rock
Indie rock originated in the 1980s in the UK and USA. In those years, punk went out of fashion, and the recording studios that had been publishing it for years turned out to be irrelevant and went underground. Such studios began to be called independent, that is, indie. However, most of the music market in those days belonged to major music labels, which published exclusively artists of commercial value. Over time, indie studios began to appear everywhere, and informal young performers had practically no problems publishing albums. You could always turn to one of the indie studios that happily took on the release of alternative music. However, there was one serious drawback - independent studios did not pursue the profits and commercial success of their wards. The maximum that the bands could count on were several dozen discs recorded for the money of the performers themselves.
In the 80s of the last century, a whole galaxy of young musicians was formed, whose music was called college rock. These bands played music in the style of post-rock, noise-rock, shoe-gazing and other non-format styles. From such groups, such groups as The Smiths, Pixies, R. E. M. later became very popular. and New Order. The compositions of these performers sounded on low-budget radio stations, and the bulk of the listeners were friends and classmates.
However, over time, bands that played in the underground hit the mainstream. Bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and The Offspring have become the epitome of a new wave of punk, and Oasis has become iconic in the British Isles. The breakthrough of these bands turned everything upside down. All the bands that a few years ago belonged to the indie style have ceased to be so. Indie rock performers now include only those who did not want to cooperate with big labels and refused to show videos on music TV channels.
What bands can be classified as indie rock now?
Indie rock includes individual bands that openly emphasize their independence from the surrounding styles. These are bands that play the music they like. Often ranked among the indie rock performers The White Sptripes, The Strokes, The Black Keys and Arctic Monkeys. However, the popularity of these bands, the number of albums sold and videos released refute these claims.
Nowadays indie rock is a little-known band that is not chasing money and fame. These are performers who are content with rare performances in clubs and bars. Such bands play music for their own pleasure and do not promote themselves to the masses.
