For this project, the style of music I will be making is chill indie rock. The definition of indie music is independent music. What makes it indie is the DIY ethos, so the music isn’t funded by a record label and loads of money hasn’t been dumped on marketing or recording etc. Other conventions of Indie rock are that the song is written by the people who band or artist who is performing it, and the “emphasis on authenticity over virtuosity.”(MasterClass, 2021) Which means prioritising making nice sounding music rather than complicated music. The vocal range isn’t mind-blowing and the guitar solos don’t shock you with how skilful it is. The DIY ethos comes into this as well, as most indie rockers aren’t the most talented musicians who have spent a lifetime mastering their craft, they are just people wanting to make good music.
The instrumentation that is usually used in indie rock is: a lead and rhythm guitarist, with the guitars usually being the main harmony part, a bass guitar, a drum kit, lead vocalist, usually a backing vocalist and keyboards, however keyboards aren’t usually the vocal point of indie rock music. The sound of the guitars is usually quite high in pitch with a light tone, commonly referred to as a “jangly”sound. Effects are another big part of the sound, chorus, reverb and different amp effect are usually used in different variations to create the light tone. Delay is also quite common. Solos are not as important as they are in other genres of rock, they are usually only used for a short period of the song, such as a middle eight, and they are usually just expanding a riff or playing different variations of it. “Mardy Bum” by Arctic Monkeys is a good example of this, as it just expands upon the lead guitars riff, it isn’t the most complicated solo yet it serves the song very well. The DIY ethos also leads into the production and the sound of the record, as it is meant to sound quite similar as to what it is when you play it live.
Indie rock is a popular genre, with bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead and The Strokes are all under the moniker of Indie rock. Many of these bands are now under record labels, even if some of their releases will be classed as indie music, therefore it no longer qualifies as indie music. However the term indie music can sometimes get confused with alternative rock. The only definition for Indie music is the fact that you write, record and release it independently, but as the term has been thrown about for the past 4 decades, the definition has kind of been lost. This is evident by Spotify’s “Feel good Indie rock” playlist.
All of the top five artists here are signed to a record label, which takes away the indie from the feel good indie rock playlist.
“In the 2000s, the term Indie (or Indie Rock) largely displaced “alternative” in the music press, fan discourse and the recording industry and music detail.”(Shuker, 2017)
The other genre I will be trying to make is “chill” music. This is just a term to describe the type of music that makes you feel relaxed. According to (Wikipedia 2020) “Chill-out (shortened as chill; also typeset as chillout or chill out) is a loosely defined form of popular music characterized by slow tempos and relaxed moods. The definition of “chill-out music” has evolved throughout the decades, and generally refers to anything that might be identified as a modern type of easy listening. Some of the genres associated with “chill” include downtempo, classical, dance, jazz, hip hop, world, pop, lounge, and ambient.” Chill music can be used in most genres, as there is music described as chill rock, chill hip-hop, chill jazz etc. It is more about the feeling the song envokes and certain characteristics rather than being a specific music genre. The conventions of chill music are: a slow tempo, which can make the song more relaxing, less of an emphasis on vocals, as the music is more important to the feeling than the lyrics, ambient sounds, as the sound of nature can be very relaxing to some and finally smooth melodies, a legato feel to a song is a lot more relaxing than a staccato melody.
There are three artists that I personally like that encapsulates the sound I am describing. These are: yxngxr1, Cottonwood Firing Squad and second thoughts. Cottonwood Firing Squad is a solo project by an American named Billi, second thoughts are an up and coming band from London and yxngxr1 is another solo project from Welshman Timothy Lee.
This is a song I picked from each of their discography. I like all these songs and would like to recreate a similar sound. A similarity in all of them is the “jangly” guitar sound. The guitar has quite a complicated riff in the first two songs, however, in the yxngxr1 song the guitar just plays the same two chords throughout, with the only change being the sound of the guitar, as more reverb is added later on in the song. They all include a guitar as the main harmony and melody instrument in the song, however, “hello hello!” has more of a melodic emphasis on the vocals. The vocals are also a different style in the yxngxr1 song, it is in a much higher octave than the other songs and is the main part of the song. Whereas the vocals are much lower in tone, and take a backseat in the mix. The instrumentation of these tracks is quite simple, they all have: drums, guitar, bass, and vocals. “wonderhow” adds a synth and “hello hello!” a trombone, whereas “hospital beach” just has the aforementioned instrumentation. None of these songs have a slow tempo, with “hello hello!” being around 110 bpm, and the other two around 132bpm. However, it is the instrumentation and the audio effects that give these songs the “chill” feel. These songs are relatively simple, especially structure-wise, with “wonderhow” being the most difficult out of the lot, this could be down to the fact it was composed by a band and not one person. The structure of “hello hello!” is: intro, verse, chorus, verse where the instrumentation varies and part of this verse could be classed as a breakdown, chorus, outro. “hospital beach’s” structure: intro, chorus, bridge, verse, chorus, bridge which adds certain parts of the chorus guitar riff, verse, breakdown which removes the drums, chorus. “wonderhow’s” structure: intro, riff/instrumental section, a verse which acts as a breakdown, chorus, instrumental section with an added synth, breakdown, instrumental section, a verse which is the same as the first, chorus, then the instrumental section with an added synth. The dynamics in these songs don’t change too much, with the only changes in dynamics being when an instrument cuts out or comes in.
Peacock, T. (2019). Music for Misfits: the Story of Indie Rock. [online] uDiscover Music. Available at: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/story-of-indie-music/ [Accessed 30 Apr. 2024].
Shuker, R. (2017). Popular music : the key concepts. Abingdon, Oxon ; New York: Routledge.
MasterClass (2021). Indie Rock Music: History and Artists of Independent Rock. [online] Masterclass. Available at: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/indie-rock-music-guide [Accessed 30 Apr. 2024].
Green, P. (2014). The Stylistic Fingerprints of Indie Rock – Music Tech Resources. [online] musictechstudent.co.uk. Available at: https://musictechstudent.co.uk/indie-rock/stylistic-fingerprints-indie-rock/ [Accessed 30 Apr. 2024].
Wikipedia. “Chill-out Music.” Wikipedia, 8 Nov. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chill-out_music. Accessed 6 May 2024.
lattechill. “What Is Chill Music?” Latte Chill Music, 27 Sept. 2019, lattechill.com/wp/2019/09/27/what-is-chill-music/. Accessed 6 May 2024.