Indie rock

The 21st century is a strange time to be alive. The emergence of new ideas and the revitalizations
of old ones have spawned an incredible array of new scenes across music, lit erature, art and
philosophy. The combination of these things occurring in one entity however is certainly enough to
generate an incredible amount of interest in those that choose to express their ideas through music
differently to the status quo drawing on classical art and poetic influences, and challenge exactly
what rock music can be.

But before I get too far ahead, allow me to provide some context to exactly what art rock is and
begin with perhaps one of the most well-known art rock bands of all time. The Velvet Underground.

While the origins of art rock lie in the mid to late 60’s, the term being used originally to describe
when the major platform for music changed from singles to albums, bands began utilizing this
expanded format to make much grander and bolder statements. The Velvet underground however,
set the example for years to come.

The Velvet Underground

Although never receiving the recognition deserved in their time (only selling 20 000 copies of their
album in the early years until the rest of the world caught on), The Velvet underground as a
progressive rock group exercised a far more challenging outlook on music, and believed that by
using the fundaments of rock n roll as a canvas you could approach it with an endless array of ideas.

Incorporating elements of poetry and experimentation without watering it down to appeal to a

commercial audience, they sought out to create a much higher art form. The lyrical content in fact,
one could easily draw connections to romantic poetry furthered by the breaking up of the content
into something resembling sections rather than standard compositional songs. It was regarded as
rather pretentious by some (particularly those would criticize Avant Garde art as whole). However,
there is no denying that they helped pave the way for a new type of music scene. One that openly
invited any kind of person to come and try understand what they’re about. That and the
incoporation of the grittier aspects of life into their music is what challenged audiences and brought
them out into the open.

Although not contributing creatively to the album, Andy Warhol funded the project, designed the
album cover and insisted on Niko’s involvement as a member, recommending she sing on multiple
tracks on the album. He was regularly included in press shots with the band perpetuating the idea
of the bands deep connection to the Art world and was an attempt to show the connection between
the two.
Striving to send a message through their music, fashion and artistic live performances they
addressed the more confronting topic of society and the human complex and certainly set the
standard that many artists strive to emulate in genres across the board.

As the commercialization of music has progressed over time art rock steered in other directions
opening an astonishing number of doors to other genres with everything from Psychedelic music
through to Glam Rock being able to draw a correlation the group, but losing much of its original
idealisms along the way as music progressed. However recently there has been a renascence of sorts
in art rock and indie bands with the mission of reuniting these aspects of art and bringing it into one
project. A direct example of this having emerged only in recent years to a huge audience is Paylae
Royale who incorporate many of the classic art rock idealisms into a more modern rock context. This
is only one example of a plethora of bands on the rise whose roots are deeply embedded in these
very classic and romantic ideals.

The question left being asked, is why now? What is the catalyst for a rise in rock music that many
proclaim to be dead? Could it just be the romanticisation of an era passed, or perhaps there really
is something new that is being said? While both may be true, a lot of it comes down to consumer
interest.

Over the last two decades the watered-down content of the mainstream media has left huge
portions of its audience feeling collectively disenchanted with what is defined as popular music. As
this is the modern age after all, people have become more resourceful and selective in their choices
as well as having a rampant appetite for culture as people gain further accessibility to new ideas.

The clean-cut boy band or all-star female pop group just doesn’t seem to cut it anymore when trying
to sell records the way it used to, and record labels are left scratching their heads as the major
record label industry struggles to adapt to the changing ways people are consuming music. As a
result, a vacuum in the industry is created for those who can understand how to ef fectively
communicate with their audience and provide them with more of the engaging and often thought-
provoking content that they really want.

This has been displayed across countless industries in recent years as celebrities have shifted from
being tv and movie stars to internet sensations be it through any number of social media or viewing
platforms. Largely because of how easy it is to create greater amounts of content for fans to engage
with them and their idealogical veiws, humanizing them to help bui ld a true relationship between
the fan and the artist. The most successful artists today are the ones that can understand the
platforms that people communicate on, best done by those using them (largely young people). Thus
the rise in independent and more experimental or Avant Gard music and its growing popularity over
the last two decades, growing and developing largely outside of the control and major record groups,
and thus; pushed outside of the focus of the mainstream until recent years.
How many good bands have you discovered simply perusing youtube or have been recommended
by Spotify? These platforms are what has levelled the playing field for the average musician and
massively helped remove commercial influence in the artistic process, allowing peopl e to create real
music that can really express what they are trying to say without censorship. We find more and
more as time goes on and societys taste in content shifts that this is what more consumers want.
The slow death of major record labels is not the death of the music industry, it is simply the
beginning of new one.

The average person is not stupid. Within them every person has a philosopher who wants to
understand different ideas and viewpoints about the world and to really be challenged about what
they believe and why. Because if you can’t defend what you believe, why would you believe it in the
first place?

This is why the rising popularity and true return of art rock is so important. It implies that people
are willing to be challenged and willing to consider greater aspects of art and life rather than what
is simply displayed to them or shoved down their throats by television and media, half the adventure
of a new idea is in the discovery afterall. As more of these artists are pushed into public v iew with
their viewpoints and questions being heard, more people are going to begin the jounrey of exploring
new and old ideas. It is this jounrey with the idea of bringing art, music, and philosophy together
that are the exact principles art rock was based on.