Indie music

MUSIC GENRE

INDIE

INDIE MUSIC

• indie music isn’t a definite style of music, but most indie bands are influenced by each other causing a similar sound. The sound is melodic and the instruments are simple but well textured meaning they go well together and create an ’individual/independent’ sound.

• The music genre is quite simple and made by layering different instruments to create a different sound.

• Indie music isn’t as mainstream as ‘pop’ music so it isn’t heard or played as often making it a different style.

COMMON THEME IN INDIE MUSIC

• A lot of indie music is produced by bands rather than individual artists because of the variety of instruments used. A lot of indie music is acoustic so not a lot of editing takes place to create it, this makes it very different to pop music. Indie artists are usually quite young meaning they put their own style into the music to make it ‘independent.’

The general look of indie artists is different. A lot of black and white is used and the pictures of the bands and they are usually moving or doing something, there isn’t an obvious ’pose’.

Colour and Framing

Most indie bands use a lot of dull colours and make it look more simple to match the music, however because the music is independent there are some indie artists that use a lot of bright colours and make their covers look different to the ‘normal’ ones you see. The bands are positioned in the frame so that you can see the background in context to what they’re doing, they are quite often pictured whilst walking rather than sitting down in a specific pose. Even if eccentric colours are used, usually a filter is out over the picture to dull it down which gives it the traditional indie look.

TYPOGRAPHY AND AGE

• The font of indie band logos is usually very bold and in bold colours like black and white. They are simple which makes them very effective and the bold writing means they’re easily recognisable.

Indie artists are usually quite young meaning they have a good vocal range in order to make indie music, indie artists are quite similar in character and present their feelings through their music rather than talking about things, this means they work well as bands because they are all similar in character.

OVERVIEW

I found the research about indie music useful as it made me realise how similar some of the bands are and that there aren’t many individual artists. There is a clear theme within indie music in the way that they dress, frame their pictures and the colours they use. I like how different indie music is in comparison to pop music in sound as well as how they design their album covers.