An independent music scene is a localized independent music-oriented (or, more specifically, indie rock/indie pop-oriented) community of bands and their audiences. Local scenes can play a key role in musical history and lead to the development of influential genres; for example, no wave from New York City, Madchester from Manchester, and grunge from Seattle.
Indie scenes are often created as a response to mainstream or popular music. These scenes are created in opposition of mainstream culture and music and often contribute to the formation of oppositional identities among individuals involved in the scene.[1]
The Japanese indie music scene began gaining mainstream success in the late 1990s with the so-called "indie boom".[2] Musicians involved with this scene, referred to as "individual producer-composers", included Haruomi Hosono, Komoya Tesuya, Oyamada Keigo (also known as Cornelius), and Oda Tetsuro. Cornelius pioneered an indie music movement called Shibuya-kei and released songs that gained international success such as the Pizzicato Five.[3]Supercar's debut album Three Out Change from 1998[4] has been described as having "almost foundational importance to 21st century Japanese indie rock".[5]
A Japanese protectionist licensing policy prevents indie music from being sold via major media distribution networks.[6] Indie records are only sold in small retail stores that import foreign records – , which are not part of the industrial channels. This relegates the Japanese indie music into the context of a global scene.[7]
The Little Band scene was an experimental post-punk scene which flourished in Melbourne's inner suburbs from 1978 to 1981, characterised by a proliferation of short-lived bands. It involved members of Dead Can Dance, Primitive Calculators and Whirlywirld.
In the early 2010s, the term dolewave was coined the describe an indie scene involving Melbourne groups such as Twerps, Dick Diver and Scott & Charlene's Wedding, which shared a jangly lo-fi sound and similar lyrical themes. Courtney Barnett was later included in scene.
New Zealand
Auckland, New Zealand: The Zwines scene was based around a nightclub/warehouse called Zwines and was known for punk bands like The Scavengers, The Stimulators and Suburban Reptiles (featuring Midnight Oil'sBones Hillman).[10] Like the British 1980s indie music scene documented on the NME'sC86 tape, this punk scene was documented on the AK79 album.[11][12][13][14]
Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The Chapel Hill music scene (which also often includes bands from nearby Research Triangle cities Raleigh and Durham) was home to an indie music scene starting in the mid-1980s with bands like The Connells, Flat Duo Jets and Southern Culture On The Skids. The 1990s saw the rise of indie rock bands such as Polvo, Archers of Loaf and Superchunk which started Merge an indie record label of the 1990s.[citation needed] The 2000s saw the arrival of bands like Ben Folds Five and Squirrel Nut Zippers. The indie club Cat's Cradle (which originated as a folk cafe in the 1960s) has played a major part in the Chapel Hill music scene hosting several alternative acts that went on to find major success in the mid-1990s.
Washington, D.C.: The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the birth of a punk rock-inspired independent music scene in Washington which became influential around the United States, with bands such as Bad Brains, Embrace, Rites of Spring, Henry Rollins and Black Flag, and hardcore punk bands Teen Idles and Minor Threat, members of which founded independent label Dischord Records. The first wave of D.C. independent musicians gradually moved on to developing post-hardcore styles. Members of different Dischord bands formed Fugazi, a prototypical independent band. By the 1990s, Dischord bands such as Shudder to Think began to receive mainstream attention and some signed with major labels
Akron, Ohio: Akron tends to lean more towards a garage rock scene, primarily influenced by the Black Keys, a blues rock band from the city. Garage rock/blues rock indie bands have been signed to various independent labels in the Highland Square area.
One of the first scenes recognised as being associated with the term 'indie music' rather than post-punk, new wave or new music[28] was C86, named after the release of the C86 cassette, a 1986 NME compilation featuring Primal Scream and other bands.[29] The significance of C86 is recognized in the subtitle of its 2006 extended reissue: CD86: 48 Tracks from the Birth of Indie Pop. C86 was a document of the UK indie scene at the start of 1986, and it gave its name to the indie pop scene that followed, which was a major influence on the development of indie music as a whole.[30] Significant record labels included Creation, Subway and Glass.[31]
The shoegazing scene of the late 1980s was named for band members' tendency to stare at their feet and guitar effects pedals onstage rather than interact with the audience. My Bloody Valentine and others created a loud "wash of sound" that obscured vocals and melodies with long, droning riffs, distortion, and feedback.[32] Within the same decade, labels such as Cheree Records and Ché Trading amalgamated into an entity that the industry now refers to as Rocket Girl, which has since contributed significantly.[33]
The Britpop scene developed in the early 1990s as part of a larger British cultural movement called Cool Britannia. In the wake of the musical invasion into the UK of American grunge bands, British bands positioned themselves as an opposing musical force. Influenced by the key British band of the 1980s, the Smiths, and adopting the unashamed commercial approach to which the C86 bands had seemed sometimes ideologically opposed, Britpop acts such as Oasis, Blur, Suede and Pulp referenced British guitar music of the past and aimed at writing about British topics and concerns.[35] Commentary on Britpop noted a north–south divide, with The Good Mixer pub in Camden Town strongly identified with the Britpop scene in the south, though Oasis were signed to Creation Records in nearby Primrose Hill.[36]
Trip hop is a genre of electronic music that originated in the early 1990s in Bristol. The most notable artists are Massive Attack, Tricky and Portishead.
In Liverpool, a 'cosmic Scouse' scene (sometimes referred to as 'Scallydelica'[40][41][42]) developed in the 2000s with neo-psychedelia acts like the Coral,[43][44] record labels like Deltasonic and Skeleton Key [45] and events like the annual Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia (also known as PZYK).[46][47][48] Sometimes the scene would be expanded to include acts such as the Bees and the Earlies under the 'Shroomadelica' definition[38]
^Staff, Bryan & Ashley, Sheran (2002) For the record: A history of the recording industry in New Zealand. Auckland: David Bateman. ISBN1-86953-508-1. p. 144.