The most unique aspect of indie rock music might be that local indie artists don’t even know how to define the style.
Indie was not always a genre — it started as a title for independent bands that got signed to small-name record labels.
“Every band in Athens is an indie band,” said Chris Lute, who runs Dark Circles Records, a local label and recording studio and member of local band Valleyboys. “We’re going to have to fend for ourselves producing our own albums … we have more creative control.”
One congruent feature of the genre is that it tries to stay away from the conventional modes of playing music and commercial radio sounds, Lute added.
Another prevailing theme of the music is the idea of having control of what the band produces, but pinpointing the genre’s sound is more difficult.
“I don’t know if anything can define it,” said Dean Tartaglia, front man for Mind Fish. “I like to describe it … as a willingness to try something new, and for the audience to accept that, and not dismiss it because it’s not radio friendly.”
The eternal struggle of an indie band, Tartaglia said, is if a band’s “new” sound becomes mainstream, it no longer captures the unique essence of the genre. Regardless, Tartaglia admitted Mind Fish’s last album was somewhat of a departure from what he would consider indie music.
After the release of that album, Mind Fish is getting national attention and will be touring with Tenacious D this summer. Still, the band started off like many local bands — playing house shows.
For Max Wheeler, operator of Gnarly As I Wanna Be, a local label and printing press, bars are fine for local bands but house shows really highlight the music and allow fans to appreciate it without flashing lights.
“Kick ass” indie house shows were all Tartaglia ever heard of when he first came to Athens, but he said that has died down a bit due to the natural ebb and flow of bands.
The indie music sound will be constantly changing and dependent on the ear of the beholder but one theme remains true.
“It goes beyond not wanting your name on a major label, that’s only one aspect,” Wheeler said.
“It’s about not spending money on things you don’t have to … realizing that the most beautiful things are the things you make with your own two hands, and having a lot of pleasure in the things you put out yourself and not compromising.”
