To find out where alternative music lives today we need to start at the beginning. Alternative rock as it is known or Indie Rock started in the 80’s and rose to popularity in the 90’s. It’s known as Indie because in its beginnings (back when it was genuinely alternative) it was the independent music labels of the 80’s that produced this original music.
Most of the 80’s alt rock bands such as The Pixes in the US and Sonic Youth here in the UK, maintained a cult following finding airplay on college radios and by playing smaller lesser known venues. A generation of musicians living in a post punk apocalyptic landscape left in the wake of the punk rock scene of the previous 1970’s generation. These bands felt an affinity with the rebellious, independent essence of the punk scene and grew their own “alternative” scene within this environment. Eventually the commercial world started to see the potential of this new movement with REM achieving commercial success, the stage was set for alternative rock to explode into the mainstream media.
The year was 1991 the sub genre grunge, the band was Nirvana. With the release of their second album, Nevermind; Nirvana paved the way for Grunge and alternative rock in general to be played on commercial radio stations. Post Nirvana the record companies who didn’t really understand what was going on but smelt there was money to be made signed every alternative band they came across. Although it retained the tag “Indie” here in the UK, it wasn’t anymore, it was big business, mainstream labels creating their own version of alternative and corrupting the beauty of the music.
Nirvana themselves are a classic example of the destructive power of big labels. After Nirvana signed to DGC Records in 1990 and released Nevermind, they asked Pixies, Surfer Rosa producer Steve Albini to help them to produce their third album In Utero. After two weeks the band produced an album that challenged convention, simple with no studio trickery. Friends who heard the original pre-release version claimed it would have been a groundbreaking album. The label supposedly branded the resulting album “unreleasable” so it was re-recorded with a different producer and given a cleaner more professional free. The resulting album was an amazing album, don’t get me wrong it’s possibly my favorite, not destroyed by the record company, but diluted, neutered.
By the mid 1990’s the alt rock scene was dominated by Brit Pop bands being encourage by their labels to produce consumer friendly pop rock and losing the originality of their music in the process. Oasis released their first studio album, Definitely Maybe in 94 a great album edgy, modern, but lost their edge there after… as the shadow of giants Sony loomed over their independent label Creation. Still the scene produced some great bands and music and kept those of us who truly loved music going, through the dark days of Pop and Ibiza dance tunes, which dominated the radio waves at this time. 90’s Bands like, Pulp, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers produced some excellent original music. Still by the end of the 90’s alternative didn’t feel alternative anymore, “indie” bands were ten a penny, selling their musical souls to the first record company who offered them fame and fortune. So if alternative music ceased to be alternative by the mid to late nineties what took its place.
The answer is nothing. Alternative never went anywhere it’s still in the same place it was in the beginning, small venues, parents’ garages, independent radio and labels. The name may have been hijacked, but the old alternative lives on as Goth Rock, Post Grunge, Industrial, Nu-Metal, Emo Punk, Post Punk, Riot Girrl, Death Metal, Darkwave… whatever name you give to modern Alternative music in its soul it is any music which tries to be different from the main stream.
Pigeon holing music into genres is a purely commercial thing; most truly alternative bands couldn’t tell you which genres their music falls within. As long as the music holds to the ideals on which the scene was built and produces independent, original and boundary pushing music; it’s alternative. Forget what the media or record labels may tell you, alternative means different from the norm; so unless your music sounds exactly like every other band out there, it’s alternative.
And when the record labels come a calling, (and there are no guarantees they ever will) there are two words which you need to ensure are discussed in more detail than any other “Creative Control”. If you don’t have control over your music, don’t waste your time. Wait for the next episode of the X-Factor and sign up. It’s great bands, not great labels, that produce great alternative music.
Dunx
Meet the Author on Dead Meet: duncs
Or see http://resurrect.me.uk/about
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