Smells like indie spirit

[Rick Hunter]

I always just say we're a rock band. Sure you may be able to categorize it in 2 seconds with the word "suck" or "butt" or whatever, but that's your problem not mine.
I write songs I like and that's the end of it. If you like it to that's great.

We sold 5000 copies of our CD's that we record ourselves and sold out the 1500 seater in our town and did it with no label support and very little radio.
That makes us "indie" right?

were you wearing a tight sweater and does at least one person in your band have sweet black glasses?

[thearnicasync]

I always just say we're a rock band. Sure you may be able to categorize it in 2 seconds with the word "suck" or "butt" or whatever, but that's your problem not mine.
I write songs I like and that's the end of it. If you like it to that's great.

We sold 5000 copies of our CD's that we record ourselves and sold out the 1500 seater in our town and did it with no label support and very little radio.
That makes us "indie" right?

No, it makes you attractive, young, and social.

[Everybody's X]

that's for Rick not thearnicasync

[toog]

I just find find a topic entitled "indie spirit" opening with a post about how "sick" it is that today's kids don't even want to pick up their guitars because of them damn computers rather embarrasing.

There's nothing "indie" about guitars, there is nothing un-indie about computers. I think there is something of an independant spirit in anyone who picks up anything and makes a conscious decision to invent something new.

These constant posts about the nature of what is "indie" and how that somehow has some correlary in what tools one chooses to use seem so childish yet simultaneously very old-man xenophobic. I would reccomend perhaps just taking one week of your life to read a book or two on contemporary composers like Ellen Furman or Ron Nagorcka. Indie rock, well rock for that matter is merely a small blip on a wide and exciting continium of music largely unconcerned with 2" tape or analog delays.

[Rick Hunter]

that's for Rick not thearnicasync

So, is that a no?

[Rigsby]

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopi ... t=birthday

I'm 28, hurtling towards 29.

[Everybody's X]

Yes, that's a no

thrift stores seldom have my size



and as far as the age question I'm too old to be worried about this shit

[JASIII]

31 going on 50.

[T-rex]

Yeah, the funny thing is like Best Buy has a Rock/Pop section and everything is there. The cool local shop has like 25 different sections where "rock" bands CD's might be. It's a bitch finding anything cause you have to guess, "well I don't know, is it hardcore or grindcore? Is it Indie rock or Emo? Is it emotinal indie rock made by three guys who used to be in a hardcore band and a fourth guy who sang Suni traditional music in 1984 at the Further Fest as his only live appearance til now?" It's a bit ridiculous.

hey Everybody's X, do you guys do consignment through local record stores? What section do they put your disc in or is it all lumped into the "Local" bin?

[MT]

We sold 5000 copies of our CD's that we record ourselves and sold out the 1500 seater in our town and did it with no label support and very little radio.
That makes us "indie" right?

"I build airplanes... woo, woo, woo!" - courtesy of Mr. Stoltz.

I did the same with my band in the 90's. That's cool, but that's also pretty common.

MT

[Fieryjack]

Soundguy wrote:

I dont know if Im totally exposed to %100 morons or something but I cant even tell you guys how many times Ive heard guys in bars saying "yeah, Im in this indie band". Maybe my memory totally sucks, but I never went around saying "Im in this grunge band".

totally totally totally different tide. Alternative and Grunge were really nasty meaningless labels back then. I see the word indie as just another useless label created by the music press which has ZERO meaning to me (unlike say METAL which kinda brings an image to my mind) but yet, the people involved with it are attracted to that word like a bug to a bug zapper. Oddly enough, all the "indie rock" I hear all sounds the same to me and has about the same emotive level and attention to detail (and NOT in a punk rock way) so maybe it all makes sense. Celebrate the label, wierd.

THANK YOU!!!. I am soooo tired of "indie". Give me a break already. The word may as well be replaced with "insecure".

There is no ****king scene and stop trying so hard to fit it in! It's pathetic. Punk is over, guys. Find a new genre and stop trying so hard to be cool. You'll still have friends, I promise.

[soundguy]

I woke up thinking about this today. You figure its accurate to consider the commercialization of "indie" rock as a marketing reaction to numetal? Believe it or not, in my cave I dont pay attention to this stuff too much, but thats what Im figuring. When the FIRST white stripes records came out years ago, THAT was indie. I remember when the first record came out and some of my friends were really freaking out about that band, it took a few records before the world really cared about the white stripes and Id be suprised if the world is gonna care about them too much longer, within two records I bet we get the jack white solo thing or new band, whatever. So the tide goes from this really big sounding "over produced" rock thing which what, grew out of throwing tons of money at the survivors of the "grunge" movement, right? Labels then take tons of money and throw it at bands to make "small" and amatuerish sounding records which of course lights a fire under the ass of every home recordist on earth "YES, finally someone who sounds just like me!" however the irony is that so many "indie" records are done in big studios with well paid engineers on expensive gear and its a big puppet show, the fans are suckers. Whats the difference between a tom petty record and a franz ferdinand record you know? The probably were done under the same conditions (although I have no clue) one has distortion on the vocals, one doesnt, you know? One is some 70's big label commercial horror show, the other is COOL because is so INDIE, yet without the heartbreakers its debatable wether or not youd have a band writing pop like franz ferdinand...

How cool would it be if the reaction to that crap is all of us getting together and deciding to make really GOOD sounding records free of stupid sounding PT and compression tricks, just tight, awesome and honest records of bands rocking? Im sure Im off my rocker and overly hopeful, but with soooooo much slack bullshit out there, seems like a legitamte reaction would be the underground responding with something really PRO sounding. Would be a nice F you to all the "pros" trying to sound like "amatuers". I mean, just consider it, go buy a bunch of roy thomas baker records, if your shit doesnt sound like that, your not done yet. Listen to the cars, they really didnt have the greatest drummer in the world, yet they were a hit machine and the records sound insane.

It would be very amusing to me if things went in this direction, its certainly within our grasp to do so. Im not suggesting you turn on your gear and "Let's Go" just comes out, but when you look at where the standards are right now, its really not going to take too much effort to excel well beyond what people are accepting as "good" right now. I guess you just need to vision to not want to sound like what is popular and do you own thing which hopefully sounds a bit better.

dave

[Everybody's X]

I wasn't braggin MT, I don't think we're the "next big thing" or a unique snowflake.I'm just sayin that I'm old enough that that's what the "indie" adjective means to me. It means Ani DeFranco hawking CD's out of the back of her van. And telling the labels she doesn't need them. Technically any band inclined to DIY would be "indie" in my book it's more a way of going about things than a musical genre.
But I understand that somehow it has turned into that
And to answer the other question, yeah we're just lumped into the "local" bin at the consignment places, we've sold 90% of our cd's at shows.

[MT]

I hear you, Everybody's X. No worries.

MT

[T-rex]

Yeah, Ani Difranco rocks. You have to really respect what she has done. I mean that is a huge accomplishment and inspiring to other bands. But I wonbder what she has done that all these other bands don't do?