INDIE ROCK.

Indie rock was not a genre at first. The word did not describe how a record sounded, but how it was made and released. Independent labels, small studios, local venues, record stores, fanzines and radio stations built a music world outside the major label system. The scale was smaller. The freedom was often greater.

THE WORD MEANT INDEPENDENT

Indie is an abbreviation of independent. Originally it referred to artists and record labels that operated independently of the major international music companies.

That did not automatically mean that all indie records sounded the same. An independent label could release punk, electronic music, post-punk, guitar pop, noise or experimental rock. The commonality lay in the way of working, not in the genre.

Musicians made their own decisions, labels worked with small budgets and records were brought to record stores via independent distribution networks. Indie was therefore first an economic and cultural model.

PUNK BUILT THE TOOLS

The foundation was laid by punk. The most important message of punk was not only that music could be louder or faster. It was the idea that you could start your own band, label, venue or magazine.

When punk broke apart into new directions at the end of the seventies, that DIY mentality remained. Labels like Rough Trade, Factory, 4AD, Postcard, SST and Dischord became more than companies. They formed recognizable communities with their own taste and identity.

Fans learned to trust a label the way they trusted an artist. Who bought a record from a certain label often stepped into a complete music world at once.

SCENES BEFORE STARS

Indie rock did not grow from one central city. Local scenes emerged everywhere around rehearsal spaces, small venues, record stores and college radio stations. Bands shared stages, equipment, addresses and audiences.

In the United States, college radio helped spread music that was hardly played on commercial stations. R.E.M.’s first single Radio Free Europe broke through via that network and became an important example for later indie releases.

In the United Kingdom, music magazines, independent record stores and labels played a similar role. The Smiths proved that a band could reach a large audience via an independent label without immediately becoming part of a traditional major.

WHEN A MODEL BECAME A SOUND

During the eighties, the word indie slowly also began to take on a musical character. Bright guitars, simple productions, personal lyrics and a certain distance from traditional rock stardom were increasingly associated with indie.

Yet the music remained diverse. The Smiths sounded melodic and literary. Sonic Youth used noise and unusual guitar tunings. R.E.M. combined folky melodies with cryptic lyrics. Other bands deliberately sounded small, primitive or unfinished.

The lack of a fixed formula eventually became one of the most recognizable characteristics of indie rock.

THE NINETIES STAY UNDERGROUND

When alternative rock broke into the mainstream at the beginning of the nineties, indie took on a new meaning. Alternative could now sell millions of albums. Indie remained more strongly connected to small labels, limited budgets and music that was not designed especially for the charts.

Pavement made loose, crooked songs that sometimes seemed like they could fall apart. Guided by Voices recorded short pop songs with simple equipment. Sleater-Kinney built angular, urgent guitar music without a fixed bassist. Neutral Milk Hotel made lo-fi recordings sound like a complete emotional world.

Imperfection was not always a limitation. Sometimes it was precisely the proof that there was as little as possible between the artist and the listener.

LO-FI WAS NOT LOW AMBITION

Lo-fi became closely associated with indie rock. Recordings were allowed to contain noise, instruments were allowed to distort and vocals did not need to be completely smoothed out.

That did not mean that indie artists had less ambition. The means were smaller, but the ideas could be enormous. A bedroom, garage or affordable studio could be enough to capture your own world.

The recording did not need to sound perfect. It had to feel authentic.

THE SMALL ROOM BECOMES GLOBAL

Around the turn of the century, indie rock reached a larger audience again. The Strokes brought back the directness of small New York clubs. Arcade Fire combined the energy of an indie band with grand arrangements. Arctic Monkeys built up an audience even before their debut album via files that were shared online among fans.

Independent labels like Rough Trade, Domino, Merge and Matador could now reach artists worldwide. Music blogs and online platforms took over a part of the discovery function of fanzines and college radio.

The difference between small and large therefore became less clear. A band could work independently and fill international venues at the same time.

INDIE OR ALTERNATIVE?

Indie rock and alternative rock overlap heavily, but the terms have a different origin. Alternative described music outside the dominant rock world. Indie referred more concretely to independent production, financing and distribution.

Nowadays, both words are also used as a style. Because of this, an artist on a major label can sound like indie, while a completely independent band can make music that does not fit the well-known indie image at all.

The most honest conclusion is therefore that indie has become both a way of working, a culture and a separate music genre.

THE RECORDS BUILT OUTSIDE

WHAT INDEPENDENCE LEFT BEHIND

The music industry has changed. Artists can record at home, publish directly and build an audience without a traditional record contract. Because of this, working independently has become more normal than in the early years of indie rock.

But the original idea remains important: music does not have to wait until a large company gives permission. A small space, a good idea and your own network can be enough to start something.