There's a lot of confusion about what constitutes indie music and what bands are "truly" indie. Here's my reasoning behind what bands I cover and how I find them.
It's A Big Bad World Out There!
Hi all, thanks for dropping by again! Hope the upcoming weekend finds you well and ready for a wee bit of partying (or even a BIG bit of partying - it's your call!)
So, I received an email from one of the readers here at the indie section, and as well as making me feel all warm and mushy (it basically said keep up the great work - great, I tells ya, not just good, but I digress, hehe), it also raised some pertinent points. Two of the questions I was asked were a) how do I define what's indie, and b) how do I pick what bands or artists to cover here in the indie section. So, without claiming to be right or wrong, here's what I said:
Define Indie
It used to be a lot easier to define what indie music was. Small bands working from bedrooms or tiny studios, making music that was independently released either on their own label, or some other small independent record label. Now, however, the lines are a little bit blurrier.
Giant corporations like Sony and Universal have seen how small artists have made a decent living via the download scene, so much so that it's not the be-all-and-end-all to get signed to a major. Combine that with the popularity of Purevolume and Last.FM, and you can see why the majors are worried. So now you'll find literally hundreds of offshoots within the bigger companies releasing records by indie artists via a major label. Therefore, although you may see a review by an artist on here that you know is on a major label, it's because although they may be part of Sony or Warner Bros, etc, they're still inherently an indie act on a far smaller deal within that major. I hope that makes sense! :)
How Do I Pick Who To Cover
This is a lot simpler. As I mention in the indie section overview, I will still cover the so-called big boys of indie like Coldplay, Pearl Jam (a live CD review coming soon) and others. But to me, the true essence of indie is still these little bands that play live week in and week out, and can barely afford to make 100 EP's to sell at gigs, and who need the publicity far more than Chris Martin's boys do. So that's why I'll trawl the local gig listings, as well as check out sites like Last.FM and Purevolume, not to mention good old MySpace, and see what's being talked about. And hopefully, now and again, I bring a band to your attention that you feel just as good about.
And then there's you guys - you keep sending me recommendations and I'll do my best to feature them. Unfortunately time constraints can mean I don't profile them immediately, but rest assured I do check out ALL your recommendations, so I thank you for continuing to contact me - don't stop, as we're all here for the same thing, and that's to enjoy great music!
Have a great weekend all, until the next time,
Danny :)
