Indie, an abbreviation of independent, is a term regarding a trend seen in music, film, business and subculture originating in the late 20th Century. The most general definition of the word is to be independent from the mainstream. Today, the word is most often associated with the subculture which is defined by its associated music, fashion, behavior and beliefs.

Overview

Indie culture is an avant-garde lifestyle which follows underground social trends with which is considered to consciously deviate from the mainstream of society and culture. One common belief in indie culture is anti-conformity.

The major influence for the indie culture came out of the support and interest of independent music groups, associated with the do-it-yourself approach to the arts. This continues as many followers of the indie culture today are still often associated with the local independent art and music scenes, especially college radio.

Since its origin sometime in the 1980's, the indie culture saw an increased amount of youth follow the beliefs and trends of culture, and like many underground cultures before it, the indie culture ultimately expanded to become part of mainstream youth culture, thus amounting to the very status that it initially rejected.

Music

As a main influence on the indie culture, indie music became a driving catalyst which was shaped by many indie artists and music scenes.

The Seattle music scene became one such setting during the early 1990s, when bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, and The Screaming Trees had immense success. Bands such as Pixies and Sonic Youth, who were not given as much mainstream credibility up to this point, found themselves adored by new fans, assembling a strong indie following.

New York City, notably Williamsburg, Brooklyn, also became a major scene for indie rock music with such bands as The Walkmen, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, They Might Be Giants and The Strokes.

Los Angeles' indie scene rides the wave of gentrification through Eastside neighborhoods like Koreatown, Silverlake, and Echo Park, which have given rise to such bands as Moving Units, Autolux, Shiny Toy Guns, and Giant Drag.

Film

Like the indie music scene, independent films are an art form produced without the funding, and thus adjustment, from a major movie studio, which thus allows appreciative fans to discover purer or more avant-garde qualities within the movies.

Example of indie films:

• Sex, Lies and Videotape (Steven Soderbergh, 1989)
• Night On Earth (Jim Jarmusch), 1991)
• Slacker (Richard Linklater, 1991)
• El Mariachi (Robert Rodriguez), 1992)
• Naked (film) (Mike Leigh, 1993)
• Clerks (Kevin Smith, 1994)
• Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
• Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson, 1996)
• The Doom Generation (Gregg Araki, 1994)
• Cube (Vincenzo Natali, 1997)
• The Opposite of Sex (Don Roos, 1998)
• The Virgin Suicides (Sofia Coppola), 1999)
• Chuck & Buck (Miguel Arteta, 2000)
• L.I.E. (Michael Cuesta), 2001)
• Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly), 2001)
• Garden State (Zach Braff), 2004)
• Primer (Shane Carruth), 2005)

Fashion

A key characteristic of clothing trends within the modern indie culture is focus on uniqueness and individuality , which is often achieved by appealing to fashion trends associated with music from the 1970s (rock, punk and country) and 1980s (New Wave). Common clothing items include band t-shirts, vintage clothing, skinny jeans, and Converse shoes. Brand labels are often rejected as an exemplification of mainstream culture.

Recent status

In the last decade, the indie culture has had many major cross-overs with other former subcultures, including Alternative, Artsy, Emo, Grungers and Mods, however many indie followers are offended that such links are made between the indie subculture and some of those listed above.

See also

• Indie (music)
• Independent film
• Avant-garde
• Indie rock
• Indie pop
• DIY culture
• List of indie rock artists
• List of Australian independent bands

Footnotes