Music is a limitless vehicle for expression. Proof of it: the richness of genres and the ever-growing blossoming of new styles! We love it…
The DIY, aka Do-It-Yourself, current in sound explores this freedom of expression through what defines it: a working method, a mindset aimed at doing away with every artistic “rule” to extract from material constraints that unique quintessence of creativity… the holy grail of Art in its purest form?
In other words, the DIY movement seeks to break free of the traditional music industry’s framework by keeping control of every step of the creative process: the artist or band writes, records and mixes their songs at home, in a home studio or even in their bedroom, see the concept of bedroom pop.
Born out of punk culture, DIY rejects the usual formatting and prizes absolute artistic freedom. Today, technological progress lets the movement’s musicians get a quality sound (music production software) more easily and reach a far broader audience (platforms like Bandcamp or direct streaming)!
DIY crosses eras and evolves with the times, embracing raw rock as readily as tender pop.
The pioneers launched the movement toward the end of the 1970s, notably with Greater Manchester’s Buzzcocks, the hugely prolific first-wave punk rock / new wave band that laid the foundations of self-production. They were soon caught up by the 1990s indie rock (in the broad sense) of Fugazi, Pavement, the very fertile Guided by Voices and Daniel Johnston.
Then the modern (technological) revolution came along to shake up the established order, giving rise from the 2000s and 2010s to artists like Mac DeMarco, Alex G, Car Seat Headrest (Will Toledo) and Jay Som (Melina Duterte), who craft cult records from their bedrooms and fill venues around the world! Let’s also mention Billie Eilish, whose debut album, written and recorded entirely with her brother in their childhood home, became a rare worldwide success.
Contemporary craftsmanship, whose hyperactive and fascinating figures include none other than Nate Amos, aka This Is Lorelei and also Water From Your Eyes (finger heart), embodies DIY values with the burning frenzy an infinite creative space can inspire. Recording his guitars sometimes in his closet to isolate the sound, he puts out his productions compulsively (well over a dozen in ten years across his various projects) online, before the recognition of the biggest independent labels.
We’re offering a selection (pure torture, we’d have loved to pay tribute to them all) of six tracks from essential albums by a handful of the DIY indie rock artists mentioned above, from historic 1990s classics and their oozing guitars to contemporary gems of the internet age.
Ready? Listen up!
Pavement
Activity: 1989 – Today
Country: USA (Stockton, CA)
Cult album: Slanted and Enchanted (1992), recorded in a makeshift studio, it lays the foundations of the “slacker” style: dissonant guitars, nonchalant vocals, an incredible sense of pop melody
Cult tracks: Summer Babe – Winter Version, Trigger Cut/Wounded Kite At:17, Here
Guided by Voices
Activity: 1983 – Today
Country: USA (Dayton, OH)
Cult album: Bee Thousand (1994), a masterpiece of tape culture! Very short tracks often recorded on a 4-track, sprinkled with crackles and dropouts, but legendary songwriting
Cult tracks: I Am a Scientist, Tractor Rape Chain, Echos Myron
The Microphones
Activity: 1996 – Today
Country: USA (Olympia, WA)
Cult album: The Glow Pt.2 (2001), from waves of intimate acoustic guitars to explosions of distorted drums, an organic, mystical and thoroughly handcrafted sonic journey
Cult tracks: I Want Wind to Blow, The Glow Pt.2, The Moon
Mac DeMarco
Activity: 2008 – Today
Country: Canadian by origin, lives in Los Angeles, CA, USA
Cult album: Salad Days (2014), recorded alone in his apartment with vintage gear, with chorus-drenched guitars and utterly laid-back melodies
Cult tracks: Chamber of Reflection, Salad Days, Passing Out Pieces
Car Seat Headrest
Activity: 2010 – Today
Country: USA (Seattle, WA)
Cult album: Twin Fantasy (2011 / 2018), originally, Will Toledo recorded the album in 2011 with his laptop’s built-in mic in the back of his parents’ car / the 2018 version is a studio re-recording that keeps the original emotional urgency and DIY structure
Cult tracks: Beach Life-in-Death, Sober to Death, Bodys
Alex G
Activity: 2009 – Today
Country: USA (Havertown, PA)
Cult album: Trick (2012), built entirely on GarageBand, the album that made Alex G blow up online blends indie rock with melancholy folk and strange experiments with disconcerting simplicity
Cult tracks: Mary, Sarah, 16 Mirrors
