Win Osheaga Tix! - Indie Identity Crisis
by alanah
About once a week in my atempts at blog-writing here at Indyish, I find myself stumbling over the same damn question: What is indie anyways? Is it a sound? An outfit? A way of life? Is it just a label for the tunes we like (as “alternative” was back in the ’90s)? Is it tax loop? Is it the only way that one can preserve their artistic integrity in this age of rampant consumerism? Or is it merely a stepping stone on the path to superstardom?
Isn’t there some kind of expert we can count on to provide an authoritative answer these questions? You could try Dave Cool, who addressed this question in his documentary, aptly titled What is Indie? But to be perfectly honest, I haven’t manged to get a straight answer out of him either.
In this wiki-age we tend to fashion knowledge out of popular opinion, so I’ll put the question to you folks. For your daily chance to win Osheaga tickets, post a comment with the answers to these two questions:
1. Pick a band from the Osheaga lineup (here) and tell us what label they are signed to (if any).
2. Do you think that a band that is signed to a record label still be considered “Indie?”
Everyone who answers these 2 questions in the next 24 hours will be entered in the raffle to win a pair of tickets to Osheaga, September 8th-9th. The draw will take place at the Monthly Mess on Friday. This contest is open until Wednesday August 25th at 3pm.
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1. Peter, Bjorn & John. Wichita/V2
2. Yes, i think as long as they’re signed to an Indie label, they are indie.
Posted on August 28th, 2007 at 7:17 pm [permalink]
1. Band: Stars. Record Label: Arts&Crafts.
2. Good question. I think that a band that has signed with a record label can still be considered indie, as long as the record label itself is indie.
But what then makes a record label indie? In keeping with the spirit of this wiki-age exercise, I asked Wikipedia. This is what I found out: An indie label is one that operates independently from a major record label (i.e. one that handles its own distribution).
Posted on August 29th, 2007 at 1:52 pm [permalink]
1.Band:
U Say Party, We Say Die
Label: Paper Bag/Fierce Panda/PIAS
2. I love the name of that band. I agree that a band signed to a label can still be Indie. When I think of independent, think of artistic control. Artists being able to control their work without labels interfering in a negative way (like to simply sell CDs).
However, I do fell that we need new terms to define what many of us still think Indie is. Especially since Indie is also a fashion sense…
Posted on August 29th, 2007 at 2:42 pm [permalink]
1. Bloc Party, Label = VICE / Wichita
2. I don’t know. Vice seems pretty “indie” to me.. but I don’t totally get the word. I guess if we take it literally.. bands singned to labels aren’t actually “indie” because they are not independant. But Indie is one of those words now that has kind of lost its original meaning and can be applied in a variety of ways..
Posted on August 29th, 2007 at 10:06 pm [permalink]