Surely “indie kid” contradicts itself in terms of being a subculture, unless it has only one member of course. In fact the term indie kid refers to their passion for music with an individual record label. You know the one, we have all met them, spray on jeans, floppy hair, thick rimmed glasses, flannel shirts and often a moody yet thoughtful expression, gazing out of the window of a small, local coffee shop (not a mainstream star bucks of course) whilst listening to death cab for cutie.
A subculture all about going against the mainstream, however in a much more cool, laidback way to other subcultures such as punks or casuals for example. There is no real political agenda, sure there were the student protests but they were probably too busy sleeping or writing a three chord song to realise.
Indie kids are often ridiculed and criticised in the media and by the general public, branded protenscious for not liking anything “mainstream” is this just a misunderstood trend, are they simply trying to take control of their own lives, not being informed by what’s on trend this season or who’s in the top 40. Is this the reaction to our world of consumption, advertising and the brainwashing media?
I guess anyone can be labelled an indie kid if they like indie music, I admit im quite partial to an indie band. But what really makes an indie kid tick. I interviewed Sam, a music student studying in Brighton to find out.
Sam, originally from west Yorkshire, has flown the nest and his current location is very fitting, Brighton , home of the kooks. Music student by day, Japanese snow monkey by night, Sam tells me he can be found on sound cloud (like face book, but for musicians) which makes me feel slightly less cool as I didn’t know what sound cloud was until now.
It is clear after just a few questions Sams life revolves entirely around music, currently part of three bands his weekends are spent searching for new music, practising with his bands and watching documentaries. Gotta love Attenborough. Influenced by Johnny Cash, he will set out in black jeans, shoes and a shirt to browse through the rails of beyond retro and pick up a cd or two on the way.
His “get on with it” attitude is very refreshing, when hes not strumming the guitar or researching bands no one has heard of, Sam likes to rescue old men in distress and bless his ears with a bit of Michael Buble, even indie kids cant resist.
