Emo and Indie

[the_buddy]

I noticed that there really wasn't a emo/indie forum here. so i've come to lively up the place. This is for people who like stuff like fallout boy, taking back sunday, Modest mouse, and Step Softly Ghost...............have fun all you emo kids, and indie kids!

 

[Roo6339]

exactly what is indie? is it really bands like the killers, franz ferdinand, modest mouse, the hives etc... or something different?

as for emo, i like a few bands, like the used and underoath... but i cannot stand bands like taking back sunday... i dunno.. depends on my mood.

 

[Beoga]

i love taking back sunday, they are one of my most favoritest bands in the entire world, they good...except the lead singer aint the best live...oh well i just listen to their cds

 

[blackwasp]

I like "A Decade Under the Influence" by Taking Back Sunday. I saw Fallout Boy last year and did not care for them at all. I do like "If All Else Fails" by Matchbook Romance (I also saw them in concert)...that is my favorite "emoish" song to date. I also saw Dynamite Boy, and they weren't too bad.

 

[Western Deity]

What is Emo and/or Indie? I've heard it used as an insult but I have no idea what it means .

 

[theFijian]

I believe that emo is taken from 'emotional', the idea being that the music is emotional I presume (what music isn't?). And Indie comes from 'independent', the first bands with an indie sound were generally on independent record labels, hence 'indie'. Unless someone wants to correct me.

 

[Western Deity]

Indie = the type to only listen to "underground" artists or whatever?

 

[theFijian]

Indie = the type to only listen to "underground" artists or whatever?

I think it means different things to different people. What really is "underground" music anyway?

 

[AlecEiffel]

I think it means different things to different people. What really is "underground" music anyway?

Generally, "better" compared to mainstream music, heh. On topic, not really into emo, but im into a lot of bands that fit the description of "indie", among other various types of music. I dont mean to sound like every other person out there, but I was really surprised how modest mouse went mainstream, straight to MTV. Overall, this makes me bitter, I wont lie, I hate seeing them on tv. I guess it doesnt matter too much though, because their new cd was nothing compared to their older albums. And they got mouths to feed too, so I guess I cant complain that much. Gotta get that bread. ......

 

[AlecEiffel]

I guess indie means basically whatever sounds hip now, but I wouldnt call anything on mtv indie. Not that labeling music ever mattered much anyways.

 

[theFijian]

Generally, "better" compared to mainstream music, heh. On topic, not really into emo, but im into a lot of bands that fit the description of "indie", among other various types of music. I dont mean to sound like every other person out there, but I was really surprised how modest mouse went mainstream, straight to MTV. Overall, this makes me bitter, I wont lie, I hate seeing them on tv. I guess it doesnt matter too much though, because their new cd was nothing compared to their older albums. And they got mouths to feed too, so I guess I cant complain that much. Gotta get that bread. ......

This is a sentiment I find extremely hard to justify. This is like a jealous boyfriend not letting his girl spend time with any of her friends. Aren't you glad that good music like MM is getting wider exposure on MTV? This exposure has a knock-on effect in that other artists are more likely to be influenced by their sound. Why aren't artists allowed to gain wider exposure for their music and why are you so grudging that they reap more financial benefits from their talent? If you really really like a certain band, wouldn't you tell other people about them?

 

[chod]

Indie is great, i am definatly an indie guy...the killers are great and i heard them playing the cd in HMV last night and i wanted to stay just so i could listen to it but i didnt because my sister wouldnt let me as i had the cd at home, i also like feeder and loads of other stuff, not really into emo but yah know, whatever floats your boat...

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

I think the only Indie I have would be Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie... if you would even classify them as Indie...

 

[AlecEiffel]

Aren't you glad that good music like MM is getting wider exposure on MTV?

no.

If you really really like a certain band, wouldn't you tell other people about them?

Sure, but not every 14 year old girl with a BAM shirt across the whole nation.

 

[blackwasp]

This is a sentiment I find extremely hard to justify. This is like a jealous boyfriend not letting his girl spend time with any of her friends. Aren't you glad that good music like MM is getting wider exposure on MTV? This exposure has a knock-on effect in that other artists are more likely to be influenced by their sound. Why aren't artists allowed to gain wider exposure for their music and why are you so grudging that they reap more financial benefits from their talent? If you really really like a certain band, wouldn't you tell other people about them?

Great post. I've been disheartened by all the Modest Mouse fans who have shunned their new album. I'm pretty familiar with their older material (and love that as well), but I believe an overall growth is evident. (Sorry for always using MM as an example, but they did just break through to the mainstream, and are the best example I know.)

 

[Qyöt27]

To answer the few posts that raised the question:

'Emo', or 'Emocore' as it's sometimes referred to, comes from the word 'Emotional', because the lyrics are introspective, and often times somewhat sappy. It grew out of Post-Hardcore, a genre that originated in the mid-80s. From what I've heard, many Post-Hardcore bands were originally Hardcore but there was a need for a new designation when they started to grow musically out of the Hardcore mold, as well as to group artists that were inspired by the tactics of Hardcore bands but didn't necessarily sound the same. I think Fugazi and Hüsker Dü are sometimes considered to be Post-Hardcore.

In the mid-90s, Emo melded with Melodic Punk (which would come to be more widely called 'Pop-Punk' or 'Punk Revival' in later years) and became fairly successful on the heels of bands like Weezer and Sunny Day Real Estate. It's now associated with more of a teen angst style that promotes a happier or sympathetic outcome than the bleakness of genres like Grunge or Nu-Metal. At least, that's what I've inferred, having heard so many of those songs on the radio where I live.

Indie is a nebulous term referring to a large underground section of music that resents conformity, commercialism, and pretty much anything associated with MTV or the mainstream music arena. The artists are either from independent labels or are some of the most neglected acts on major labels because of their musical choices. There is no defining sound (although guitar pop/rock-esque music is very common), only the fact that it opposes the mainstream rock charts. Post-rock, Lo-Fi, and Emo are often lumped into the Indie category. It can probably be widely traced back to the Alternative Pop/Rock of the 1980s, and was essentially the fringe, more extreme artists and styles that didn't become popular in the wake of Nirvana's 1992 breakthrough. Interestingly, I have noticed that J-Pop and J-Rock, while commercialially successful (to an outrageous extent) in Japan, are often embraced by the Indie scene in America, most likely because the American public doesn't often willingly listen to music performed in another language (and when it does, it's usually Spanish), and also possibly because it possesses a vastly different sound than Western Pop Music.

Neo Post-Punk (or Post-Punk Revival), which is currently becoming very popular in the mainstream, is heavily influenced by Indie, sometimes to the extent of the bands being formerly involved in the Indie scene (such as Modest Mouse). I've noticed that bands such as Hot Hot Heat, Interpol, Snow Patrol, Electric Six, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, and the like (including the new direction Blink-182 is taking), seem to owe as much to either Radiohead or The White Stripes as they do to bands like The Comsat Angels, who were part of the original Post-Punk crop of artists from the early 80s.

 

[Arnold_Philips]

That's a very fair description Qyot.

I would consider myself one of those indie kids... but hipster is probably a better term to describe the elitist and "cool" factor that many indie music listeners buy into. It's more of an approach to things than a certain type of music, which is why I'm reluctant to group indie and emo, since I consider emo more of just a type of music.

 

[theFijian]

Sure, but not every 14 year old girl with a BAM shirt across the whole nation.

Why aren't they allowed to like Modest Mouse?

 

[DMBfanLongliveStrongBad!]

What is Emo and/or Indie? I've heard it used as an insult but I have no idea what it means .

well, yes, emo is short for emotional. it's stereotypically guys with acoustic guitars that whine about their girlfriends dumping them, and all the problems in the world today. THAT'S the STEREOTYPE. i'm not saying it's all like that, but alot of it is. Thus the name EMO, short for EMOTIONAL.


indie, imo, is a joke. Not the actual music, but the idea. i know alot of people who like "indie". basically, they like music if it is underground, and the like it because it's underground. Kids who are into indie will be insulted if you have heard of their favorite band. they want it to stay off mtv, off the radio, and away from everyone else. Indie doesn't have to have a particular sound, but whatever it is, it better not get popular. My friends who are into Indie music, scoff at the bands i like, (dmb, phish, radiohead, pink floyd, zeppelin, incubus). If a band (like the beatles, for instance) get's REALLY popular, it's probably because they have some talent. If 100,000 people show up in central park to watch DMB, it's probably because they can rock. If thousands and thousands of people from all over the country come out to phish's festivals, it's probably because they have talent.

Just because you're a household name doesn't mean you don't have talent, or you've sold out.

 

[Arnold_Philips]

well, yes, emo is short for emotional. it's stereotypically guys with acoustic guitars that whine about their girlfriends dumping them, and all the problems in the world today. THAT'S the STEREOTYPE. i'm not saying it's all like that, but alot of it is. Thus the name EMO, short for EMOTIONAL.


indie, imo, is a joke. Not the actual music, but the idea. i know alot of people who like "indie". basically, they like music if it is underground, and the like it because it's underground. Kids who are into indie will be insulted if you have heard of their favorite band. they want it to stay off mtv, off the radio, and away from everyone else. Indie doesn't have to have a particular sound, but whatever it is, it better not get popular. My friends who are into Indie music, scoff at the bands i like, (dmb, phish, radiohead, pink floyd, zeppelin, incubus). If a band (like the beatles, for instance) get's REALLY popular, it's probably because they have some talent. If 100,000 people show up in central park to watch DMB, it's probably because they can rock. If thousands and thousands of people from all over the country come out to phish's festivals, it's probably because they have talent.

Just because you're a household name doesn't mean you don't have talent, or you've sold out.

Yeah, it is kinda dumb, but it just doesn't apply to music. It applies to movies and books, actors and authors, clothes and neighborhoods, websites and pets. Once something cool becomes mainstream, it's not cool anymore (unless it's really really cool). That's why they're called "hipsters." They have to stay on the cusp of what's hip, and then once it passes the cusp, it's not worth the time any more.

But for bands specifically, when a band I really like goes mainstream, their music usually just starts sucking (DCFC, Modest Mouse). And beyond that, I die a little inside because they're not my little secret anymore.