Codes & Conventions of the indie-rock music genre

Indie rock music seems to follow many different codes and conventions, including certain types of clothing that artists wear in this genre, elements of music videos that frequently occur amongst artists and bands in the genre and often violence and rebellion being portrayed in various ways, including in the lyrics of the songs. Below are some of the codes and conventions of the indie rock music genre that I am going to further analyse in this PowerPoint.

• The music videos often include part live performance.• The clothing worn is dark, and quite casual.• Often male dominance• Aggressive/anti-social/rebellious behaviour• Casual attitude towards alcohol/sex/drugs.

Clothing

Artists and bands that create music that falls into the indie-rock genre of music, often have a very similar sense of style, and wear quite similar clothing. In many cases it seems that dark

jeans, leather jackets, and trainers are very common choices. A casual outfit also seems to be the most popular choice amongst these artists and bands. Some artists choose to wear branded

goods, to promote a particular company’s product, however even then, in music videos especially, the clothing is very dark coloured and casual, to fit in with the conventions of this

genre. Below are some examples of artists that fit in with the codes and conventions, mentioned above.

Dark jeans

Black leather jacket

Fred Perry jacket, but still dark coloured.

Live Performances

Often indie rock bands use live performance in their music videos, either for the whole video, or part of it. This is to emphasize authenticity, and show how they are famous because they are talented, not just for any old reason. It also shows the viewer how passionate the artist or band is and how much they enjoy performing. It could also make the viewer feel more connected to the band, as if they went to see them live, it’s like re-living the memory, or if they didn’t, it could feel almost like they did.

Aggressive/rebellious behaviour

Aggressive and rebellious behaviour is often shown in indie rock music videos, and often bands and artists try and portray themselves as having these personalities traits to fit in with the genre stereotype. Behaviour such as swearing, and fighting is used in music videos, and often the artists themselves can be quite outspoken and potentially seen as being controversial by some of the things that they say. In real-life situations certain artists have been shown to be quite rebellious against what many people would see as socially acceptable behaviour, for example at The Brits in 2008, The Arctic Monkeys decided to unleash an abusive speech, aiming it towards The Brit School. They were also clearly drunk, and wearing fancy dress, which is quite an unconventional thing to do. I think the clothing worn also emphasizes this, as wearing dark clothing and leather jackets, can sometimes make people look less friendly and more rebellious, as it has been linked to various gangs, such as the ‘hells angels’ motorcycle gang, which therefore links to violence too.

The indie rock genre is often seen as being mainly male orientated, which I believe it still is, however there are some female indie and rock artists out there, and I think the number of successful female artists and bands is growing. As the genre is male orientated though, I think some videos are created to attract the male audience, using attractive women and situations that stereotypically may be more of interest to a male, such as violence and action scenes. I think there is a flip side to this, where the videos are to attract more female viewers, and this is sometimes done by making the males in the video stereotypically attractive, to make females interested. I think females are often shown in many indie rock music videos as being there as either a love interest or almost just to look pretty, rather than actually playing any instruments or being part of the band.

Sex, Drugs and alcohol

A casual attitude towards sex, drugs and alcohol is often shown by artists and bands part of the indie rock genre. Often music videos include shots of people drinking what appears to be alcohol, and sometimes hints are made that drugs have been consumed. Sex is hinted at in many music videos, not just in the indie rock genre, but it does crop up a lot in the lyrics and therefore in the videos too. Even if a video doesn’t show it, hints are often made so that the viewers know that it has/is happening. Often locations in videos include that of a pub, which obviously shows that it is likely people are drinking alcohol. I think a casual attitude is shown towards sex, drugs and alcohol as it reinforces the rebellious nature of the indie rock genre, as many people would see it as rather controversial to show a casual attitude to these things, as being acceptable.