A long time ago in a land much more innocent there was a thriving scene of underground artists doing it for themselves. We called it Indie Rock. The name is short for Independent Rock and it was grown out of the genre Alternative or Modern Rock. In general terms it met alternative music made by artists who were doing it themselves or were signed to independent labels. It really did not hold to a particular sound though there were similarities across the category. The sub-genres and their names are not important. It was the ethos that to me is most important. Aside from the impostors, these were artists who believed in the ethos of independence and DIY both from a creative and a business perspective.
The 90's were prosperous for music and for artists of many levels and of many genres. Towards the end of the decade radio consolidation (a gift from Bill Clinton) and rap rock had all but eliminated Indie Rock from the airwaves but that was not really a big deal. Aside from a few bands Indie Rock never got all that much attention from commercial radio.
The new millennium comes screaming in with a stolen presidential election and a President who is a dangerous combination of dumb, greedy, and credulous. Arguably, the 2 biggest agendas of the Bush Presidency were to futher his Christian believes and to make his oil buddies (or other corporate monsters) more money.
Christianity and oil prices are the death of Indie Rock.
Before George's ascension to the highest office in this country, Christianity was a religion. Something you practiced with your friends and families and something that was part of your belief system, but it did not necessarily punctuate everything in your life. It suddenly became OK to be in a Christian Rock band. Rock is anything but Christian. It is about rebellion, discovery, independence, raw emotions, sex, drugs, etc. All of which are decidedly un-Chirsitan.
The influx of Christian bands into the mainstream ultimately watered the creative talent pool and ultimately stagnated the progress of true art. Christian bands became popular not because they were good but because they were Christian. At the core a Christian Rock band can't be good because for Rock to be good it has to buck the system or it has to make me feel dirty or sexy or something un-Christian.
When Bush took office average gas prices were about $1.50/gallon by the end of his 8 year tenure the price will probably average out to just under $4/gallon. People are making less money spending and spending more on gas. Coupled with stagnant ticket prices and stagnant merchandise prices and you have bands that simply can no longer afford to drive from city to city to bring their music to the people. Since the beginning of the modern music era "the road" has been the proving ground for bands. It was where they honed their skills and where they made their money to continue through another album cycle. Without being able to go on the road bands are never developing into their potential and ultimately leaves us with a lot of crap bands who are more about a gimmick then they are about an artform.
I should probably take the time to write this in more eloquent prose but since I have talked about this idea for over a year now and have never written it, I decided to post away. Afterall, none of it matters anyway. Nobody reads the blog so...
George Bush through his policies and mainstreaming of Christianity and his undying commitment to make his corporate(Oil) buddies rich off the hard work of the working class has killed Indie Rock dead.
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