Empire of Dirt
WENDY FONAROW
Empire of Dirt
THE AESTHETICS AND RITUALS OF BRITISH INDIE MUSIC
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY PRESS
Middletown, Connecticut
Published by Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT 06459
© 2006 by Wendy Fonarow
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fonarow, Wendy.
Empire of dirt : the aesthetics and rituals of British indie music / Wendy Fonarow.
p. cm. — (Music/culture series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978–0-8195–6810–6 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0–8195–6810–4 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978–0-8195–6811–3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0–8195–6811–2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Alternative rock music—Great Britain—History and criticism. 2. Alternative rock music—Social aspects—Great Britain. I. Title.
ML3534.6.G7F66 2005
| 781.660941—dc22 | 2006002876 |
Cover design by Matthew Cooper.
For all of my ghosts
Contents
Beginnings / 1 Theoretical Frame: From Observation to Communication / 3 Active Bodies / 4 The Audience and Subjectivity / 6 Music as Activity / 8 Subjectivity in Action / 10 Turn On the Bright Lights6 / 11 Methodology / 14 From Plus One to A&R / 16 Your Itinerary / 19 Conclusion / 22
Indie … What’s at Stake? / 27 Indie as a Mode of Distribution: An Industrial Definition / 30 Indie as a Genre / 39 Indie as an Ethos / 51 Indie as Pathetic / 53 Indie as a Mode of Aesthetic Judgement / 57 The Mainstream Is a Centralized Hierarchy / 62 Dance Is Not the Way the Future Is Meant to Feel / 69 Indie: What Is It? / 77
2. The Zones of Participation / 79
The Event / 81 Zone One / 82 The Pit / 86 The Front / 92 Zone One Spectatorship: The Initiates / 95 The Psychosomatics of Zone One / 98 Zone Two / 105 The Mode of Comportment of Zone Two / 106 Comportment Features That Vary over Space / 107 Gigs as Social Life / 109 The Process of Change from Zone One to Zone Two / 110 The Heterogeneous Audience / 114 A Move toward the Exit / 116 Conclusion / 120
3. Zone Three and the Music Industry / 122
The Activities of Zone Three / 123 The Liggers / 125 The Guest List / 128 Routine 1: Example of Professional Strategy / 132 Routine 2: Example of Personable Strategy / 133 Routine 3: Code Switch from Professional to Personable / 135 Passes / 138 Privileged Spectatorship / 151 Conclusion / 152
4. The Participant Structure and the Metaphysics of Spectatorship / 154
Proximity, Affiliation, and Consensus Building / 155 Verticality and Asymmetry / 160 Contesting Spectorial Positions: Closeness and Distance / 161 Age / 163 The Metaphysics of Participation / 166 African Expression in a Protestant World / 175 The Nature of the Moral Threat / 179 A Ritual of Transformation / 182 Conclusion / 184