When did indie music die? If we were forced to pinpoint a moment it would be at the Brit Awards in 2008 when Arctic Monkeys, at this point an all-conquering indie rock band, stumbled on to the stage three sheets to the wind dressed as country gentlemen and frontman Alex Turner sarcastically thanked the students of the Brit School for their support as ‘former graduates’.
It was a touch cruel but also somewhat ironic as, although Arctic Monkeys have continued to be popular, you couldn’t say the same for indie music, replaced as it was over the coming years by the very students Turner mocked sitting in front of him/
It is fitting, then, that at Saturday’s Brit Awards, with the likes of Wet Leg and The 1975 winning big (between them, best rock/alternative act, best new artist and group of the year), we can finally proclaim that indie is back. Well, just about.
But what does ‘indie’ actually mean? The short answer is a heavy sigh followed by a shrugging of the shoulders. But the long answer is trickier to pin down.
Is it anything released by an independent label? That would, for example, make Adele an indie act, but rule out Blur.
Is it a particular type of music? Nope, not that either. It’s often considered to be ‘alternative rock’ – but there’s also indie that’s not rock at all. If indie is anything, it’s a sensibility.
As the US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once observed of obscenity, you can’t define it but ‘I know it when I see it’.
Ours haven’t been good times for indie. It ruled the Earth – well, our little cluster of islands – back in the ‘90s, those dying days of Britain punching above its weight in global pop culture. Then came the landfill indie days of the Noughties where the NME ruled a new saviour of rock music seemingly every week. Remember Glasvegas? Exactly.
There have been bright spots since but, as a force, indie seemed spent. You can attribute this to numerous causes. Indie is chiefly a group activity and this is – economically, artistically, culturally – the era of the solo artist.
Also, it seemed to have little fresh to add. The new ideas have largely been coming from elsewhere, making indie (and, in fairness, most rock music too) an essentially retro pursuit.
‘Guitar groups are on the way out,’ Decca A&R man Dick Rowe purportedly said upon turning down The Beatles. It took 40 years but, like all prophets of doom, he was proved right eventually.
Last year, the nearest thing to indie in the British album shortlist was Sam Fender, which despite any protestations to the contrary, is about as near to indie as Fender’s native Tyneside is to Penzance. That is, about as far away as possible while still being technically in the same country.
This year, though, was different as the five nominees for British album included The 1975 and Wet Leg – along with Harry Styles, whose terrific Harry’s House, while not exactly indie (it won best pop album), is indie-adjacent.
Q&A Marcus Korniotis
The Brit School student, 16, is studying Interactive Digital Design and his work featured at the BRITS…
Who were you most excited about seeing your work at the Brit Awards?
I love Becky Hill and I’m a big fan of her music. It would be so cool if she saw my work.
Are you watching films differently now you’ve got an idea of aesthetics?
Definitely. I also did a film and media course at the school and that really changed the way I started to view films, in terms of colour grading, camera angles, cinematography, what they’re doing and why.
Film of the week is Ant-Man 3 – will you see it?
Definitely, because I love Marvel and Paul Rudd always does a good job as Ant-Man. I’ve watched the whole Marvel series in timeline order.
What films have you loved recently?
The second Avatar movie, which I saw at the cinema. It was incredible and they’re just visually stunning films.
Current TV viewing?
Season two of Gangs Of London. They say it’s like Game Of Thrones, without the dragons…
And music, other than Hill?
Raye just came out with a new album, I’ve had that on repeat.
When a huge mainstream star such as Styles is sidling up to indie, it signifies he believes it once again has credibility to reflect upon him.
But it’s Wet Leg and The 1975 who are the real standard-bearers, the sign that something truly is afoot. With the former, there hasn’t been so much excitement about an unmistakable indie band since the Arctics themselves went straight to No.1 with their first single in 2005.
The 1975 are already well established and the only major rock group anywhere whose music feels beamed from the future rather than the past.
For the first time in a long time indie feels more than a niche interest. The Brits reflected that.
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