Can someone please explain Indie music to me?


Don’t give me that crap about “anything on an independent label is indie,” cuz I have tons of shit that’s not indie and on an independent label. I’m talking about the genre. People have told me it’s anywhere from Death Cab for cutie to Manchester Orchestra to the Silversun pickups. I’m getting confused so, can you describe the sound and give me some good Indie bands (Indie rock or electronic, It doesn’t matter)

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7 Responses

  1. Mark Says:

    Ha! I just asked that question yesterday! basically what I found out was that indie isn’t really a genre. It just means that they are supposedly about the music and not the money. You know like radiohead when they let fans pay whatever they want for their albums.

    also for other answers go on my questions, and see what others wrote for me.

  2. Rock N' Roll Junkie Says:

    An Indie band is just a band that releases it’s music independantly or on an independant record label. In other words they don’t have a contract with a major record company such as sony music or EMI etc. That’s all it means, many major label bands were at one time indie bands until they signed recording contracts with big distributors. There is no such music genre as Indie other than this. A lot of kids are stupid.

  3. just another music fan Says:

    Ok, so basically my understanding of Indie artists are artists that play alternative music but are signed to an independent record label or not signed at all. The difference between Alternative and Indie is Alternative artists have an Alternative sound, but are signed to a major record label or are more main-stream.
    Indie songs usually sound a bit like Punk or Rock.

    Some Indie bands that I’m really into at the moment are:
    The Take-Off: http://www. myspace. com/thetakeoffrock
    FranKo: http://www. myspace. com/frankouk
    The Invitation: http://www. myspace. com/theinvitationband

    I hope I helped :)

  4. jksquirrel Says:

    Yes the traditional definition is the independent label one.
    But recently – especially in the UK – the label of indie has become more of a genre description.

    It does cover a wide range of bands that are also often tagged with other conflicting genre names. I’ve not heard electronica used with indie . . . but then I’m generally more a heavy rock chick so not up to date with all the indie subgenre :)

    The sound is generally not very deep and there is usually a solid mid tempo beat to the songs. Singers voices often have a specific tone to them (I can’t describe it, but Kings of Leon is a good example).

    There is a style that goes along with the music – tight jeans, floppy hair, glasses, converse, lumberjack shirts, tight t shirts, checks.

    Some examples of indie rock bands – Kings of Leon (their early stuff), Razorlight, Arctic Monkeys, Death Cab for Cutie, Florence and the Machine, Franz Ferdinand

  5. Mel Says:

    It’s different in the UK and the US. What an American might describe as indie would often be described as ‘alternative rock’ or ‘emo’ in the UK. Over here, it’s become a generic umberella term for guitar bands in the charts and rock music in general.
    There’s loads of different types of bands that come under the same heading, indie-pop like the Hoosiers and Scouting for girls and then electro-indie like MGMT, foals and stuff – I’ve even heard garage-y punk rock bands described as indie, stuff like The Libertines and Kasabian.

    I’d say the stereotypical ‘indie’ bands are those like The Kooks, Arctic Monkeys, The Courteeners, Maccabees, The Cribs, We are Scientists, Maximo Park. . . etc

  6. Someone Says:

    The last 2 times (the only 2 times) I answered this question I got picked for Best Answer. Now to your question lol. Sorry. Indie is a genre of music and it is also a meaning. Originally it was short for “indipendant” which meant that you were on an indipendant record label. But times have changed and now it means that but it also means that your bands music or your solo music strays from the conventional details of mainstream music, but you can still have mainstream success (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins etc. ). For example, The Arctic Monkeys are an indie band and they found success in the UK while most artists were different to them. Indie basically can mean, indipendant or individual or alternative. It doesn’t really matter.

    The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Pixies, Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins are all great and influential indie bands.

  7. Javi Says:

    Indie rock really is “anything on an independent label” but as a genre, it’s generally pop-punk alternative kind of stuff. Independent label really just means it’s less mainstream than say a band who has signed with Warner, Island, RCA, AKA the big dogs.

    Nowadays that means “emo” but whatever.

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