quote:

Originally posted by Everyoneanindividual:
11 years ago...
I was 14, in my car and my dad popped a CD into the player. I waited until the first guitar strum came in and had an epiphany. This band changed my life. A band that made happy music, A band that made sad music, A band known as Belle and Sebastian. Tigermilk was a phenomenal experience but it wasn't until If You're Feeling Sinister that I developed a sense of what the indie genre is/was. To this date, If You're Feeling Sinister is probably my favorite disc of the '90s and one of the best of all time.

I wish my dad was hip to the sounds of Belle and Sebastian. Normally I have to smile politely and nod when he starts going off on how U2 is the best band in the world. Have you every noticed that when one person has a band they obsess over they hear its influence in strange places? I was playing "Ostinato" from Eluvium's Copia the other day and my dad walks in and says "Hey, this is nice."
I stop and think: "Alright, here it comes...How long until inevitable U2 reference?....10,9,8..."
And after a pause he says "Those chords remind me of the organs U2 uses in the beginning of blahblabhlah track off of the amazing album yadda yadda."
It's something you learn to live with I guess. I don't think he is entirely receptive to my music either. When I told him about the Disintegration Loops he was really interested, but when I actually played it I saw his eyes glazing over and I knew he was thinking "what the hell is this..."

quote:

Originally posted by CouldBAnyone:
Have you every noticed that when one person has a band they obsess over they hear its influence in strange places?

Ah, this is a very good question and my answer is Yes. My dad has an interesting concept of music. Whenever he listens to something that he thinks is amazing, he'll play it over and over again (right now, he's hooked on Regina Spektor). Your story is actually quite funny, I also understand where your coming from (My mom's the same way when it comes to Abba and Disco?!). But when I was around 13, I would usually retaliate and say something like Abba sucks (that didn't really work out for me ).

I grew up listening to country music, and rarely listened to anything else (I had no idea that Indie music even existed). Then something extraordinary happened: Trace Adkins released a song called Honky Tonk Badonkadonk, and I realized that country had turned into pop crap.

It was then that I started to explore Indie music. One of the first bands I listened to was Modest Mouse, and their music changed my life forever.

In high school, I listened to mainstream rock like anyone else. At the time, it was all Yes, Pink Floyd, Rush. Mostly mainstream prog.

Then I read an article in Time magazine about a new genre of music called "Punk Rock." In my small town, I couldn't find any, (No internets back then ) but I started affecting punk clothing and a punk attitude.

When I got to college, I started working at the radio station, and picked up the Sex Pistols, the Clash, Gang of Four, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Ramones. All the first wave of punk, along with the first of the post-punk stuff, like Talking Heads.

Truthfully, we couldn't tell the difference between the good stuff and the not so go stuff. I have old tapes of radio shows where I played Elvis Costello, followed by Flock of Seagulls, followed by Blondie, followed by Stiff Little Fingers.

Since then, I've always sought out small label, independent bands. I first came to the specific genre of "indie" (i know, we can argue this on another thread) when I discovered Pitchfork.

Yup, just another Pitchfork zombie!

quote:

Originally posted by mymo:
I grew up listening to country music, and rarely listened to anything else (I had no idea that Indie music even existed). Then something extraordinary happened: Trace Adkins released a song called Honky Tonk Badonkadonk, and I realized that country had turned into pop crap.

It was then that I started to explore Indie music. One of the first bands I listened to was Modest Mouse, and their music changed my life forever.

You've got to admit, though, that Honky Tonk Badonkadonk is probably the most hilarious song title outside of anything by Anal Cunt.

I'd have to say the internet - there used to be a site called Audiogalaxy and I would find a band, download the most popular song, and then go off and find another band. It wasn't until my friend told me to listen to a band called Rilo Kiley that I really started to delve, though. Rilo Kiley's "Takeoffs and Landings" and Belle and Sebastian's "If You're Feeling Sinister" were probably my two first indie albums.

i probably started getting into indie music recently...i started listening to more obscure emo bands when i was about 15 or so, which introduced me to the world of little-known bands (most of which were crap, i might add)...and im very happy to have found good indie bands...such as belle and sebastian, the arcade fire, stars, the decemberists, of montreal, etc.

ps. i wish my dad was into regina spektor! oh gosh that would be hilarious

A pretentious indie boy (AKA my ex boyfriend) got me into some really great music. From there I have just searched around for artists I like that are usually within this genre.

I want to preface my post with the fact that I'm 26 so people can better understand my musical timeline.

I began listening to music when the grunge phase hit. I was in junior high when Pearl Jam's "10" and Nirvana's "In Utero" among others, were getting heavy rotation on MTV and radio. So I was a grunge fan.

And then Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" dropped and (sadly) I was deep in the rap scene for like 6 years. Tupac became my hero, my idol, my everything... Tupac Tupac Tupac. I still love the guy, but don't really relate to his music anymore.

It wasn't until rap and/ popular music made me physically ill (around 20 years old) that I started to search for other bands/ forms of music. I live in So. Cal and unless one lives in certain areas, one doesn't really get info. about the indie scene.

So I put the feelers out - tried to find new bands. Modest Mouse seemed to be a popular one so I listened to them a lot... And one day I asked the guy at a local independent record store what he recommended... And he told me to pick up Mezzanine by Massive Attack and OK Computer by Radiohead.

That was the day that my life changed. Eventually I found Metric, Belle and Sebastian, Goldfrapp, etc... and there's been no turning back. It's funny because there was a point in my life when I said I didn't picture myself liking rock ever again.

It takes some time to sift through all the indie albums that come out, but when you find ones you like, it makes the effort worth it.

quote:

Originally posted by sh6ne:
It's funny because there was a point in my life when I said I didn't picture myself liking rock ever again.

I was at a very similar point between the ages of 13 and 16. I was convinced that people had stopped making good music so I only listened to old folk, bluegrass, rap, rock and punk. Then I discovered Wilco and the Flaming Lips, then the Shins, Minus the Bear, Ted Leo, finally got around to Radiohead, etc.

That is one of the reasons I love music. I love adventuring through my city, getting lost and finding my way home.... I can do that with music. Just get lost digging through albums. It's an adventure, ya'know?