My actual thoughts on indie/hipsterdom that don’t involve mercilessly bashing them behind baseless rhetoric and played out cliches

I must apologize for my rather outlandish accusations against the hipster phenomena. I wrote a poem about them once on this very weblog, lambasting them for revolting against the mainstream in a completely self-serving way. I’ve decided it’s important for me to reconsider these sentiments, and to approach the hipster revolution more thoughtfully. What created it? Why has it become a lightning rod for criticism? How can hipsters and humans live in harmony, together? I believe I may have a hypothesis that could explain a lot. To illustrate what I’m saying more clearly, I’m going to focus on the music aspect of hipster culture as representation of the movement as a whole. You might not agree with that, but bear with me.

I, personally, have always been against the mainstream. Perhaps this was because I felt I wouldn’t be accepted in the mainstream, and thus I identified with counterculture, and at a very early age (And I must point out that this is one of the central tenants of supposed hipster culture; saying you were there first. Critics of hipsterdom love to accuse hipsters of this tactic, whether or not it was meant as a tactic or is simply true). It has always been hard for me to like what everyone else likes. Hell I hated Barney & Friends when I was a toddler for that very reason. Does this make me a hipster? That would depend on your definition (It certainly made me an ornery little bastard), but if that did make me a hipster, then I am one by birth and genetics and haven’t become one to seem better than anyone, as hipster critics like to think.

I now do a radio show sporadically throughout the school year. Before each show I select a playlist of 6-8 songs to play during the show. Recently, some friends of mine became enamored with the new OneRepublic album and gave it to me. Now, OneRepublic is a band typically listened to by angsty teenagers, and since the world is full of angsty teenagers, the band is quite popular. A few of their songs play at the grocery store where I work. I listened to some of the album, and found that one of their songs, All the Right Moves was particularly catchy, and also had that lush, epic quality you sometimes hear when bands take themselves too seriously and throw a bunch of instruments together. I love that, for whatever reason. I love having several simmering, soaring melodies come together, however campy they may be, to create a truly memorable song. This is what is referred to as a guilty pleasure song in many circles. Why guilty? I suppose because the target demographic is generally younger than you are, and it’s like playing with a toy when you’re 9 years old that says recommended for ages 6-8. I have no problem playing a so called guilty pleasure song, because to me that reveals a charming innocence in people. That the reason they like the song isn’t because of how people will perceive them, but because they genuinely like it.

Anyway, I was about to submit this song as part of my playlist, until I became informed that All the Right Moves is played on top 40 stations. When this is the case, the song moves beyond guilty pleasure territory and into embarrassment territory. Because the song was out of my target demographic, and beyond that, was the most popular song on the album, I was legitimately embarrassed to play it on the air. Why? Perhaps partly since I don’t identify as being able to fit into the mainstream, and thus would be somewhat of an imposter listening to it. Imagine a geeky 13 year old listening to Rihanna while playing World of Warcraft. That’s a legitimately funny image. That’s how I would feel playing an angsty top 40 song on the radio.

I’m wondering if maybe I’m not the only one who thinks in this way.  Maybe hipster culture rejects the mainstream not because they feel superior to it, but because they are insecure in their ability to fit into it. I feel that could very well be the core of hipsterdom. But no hipster would admit to that. They would point to the rationalization aspect, where hipsters claim to reject the mainstream and embrace counterculture because the counterculture is more authentic, not because of any sort of insecurity. I mean, who can deny the way that pop musicians are manufactured nowadays?( I almost hesitate to write this paragraph, simply because I doubt any supposed hipster would admit to such an insecurity) By embracing musicians who weren’t manufactured, and rose out of obscurity, seemingly by merit, the hipster sees him or herself as more authentic. This masks the self-doubt and replaces it with a newfound confidence. Which might lead to a conversation like this:

Hey have you listened to Weezy’s new album?

Wayne Carter is a creation of the media and corporations. You should listen to Beirut, it was formed by one guy in his bedroom using influences from Eastern Europe and Balkan folk music.

You are such a snob!

And you listen to bad music.

There lies an exaggerated representation of the tensions between mainstream and hipster culture. Those in the mainstream suspect the hipster to be, to put it bluntly, full of shit. And that notion has some credence, since the hipster is masking their own insecurity with a self-righteous bravado (Again, certainly not true of all hipsters; this article is merely a hypothesis). However, in a lot of cases the hipster truly believes that his or her music is legitimately better. And since it comes from purer origins and is less influenced by money or record labels (At least initially), they have every right to think that. Particularly when the mainstream continues to generate music that no one thinks is ‘good.’ ‘Good’ meaning well crafted, meaningful, sung well etc. You need not look further than Ke$ha or Soulja Boy to find examples of this. These artists do not succeed based on creating good music (And they would not claim that themselves most likely), but by marketing themselves properly and creating melodies that are catchy, stay in your head, and sound amazing when intoxicated. And who is to say that music isn’t allowed to be that way? But when this type of music exists, it lends additional credence to hipsters claiming their music to be ‘better.’

However, it must be noted that often the music of hipster culture is sometimes considered ‘good’ based on the reputation of the genre, more than the actual song. Sometimes a song is considered great despite awful vocals, weak instrumentals, repetitive lyrics, and a complete lack of mel0dy. But the song is ‘great’ because it sounds like nothing ever has before. Now the song is ‘innovative’ and ‘groundbreaking.’ To be perfectly frank, I would rather listen to Chris Brown any day than absorb that kind of garbage. And of course, I’m talking about the New York based band, Battles, who compose songs that sound like they are sung by Disney squirrels and have absolutely no substance to speak of.

Moving on, Indie music was a commonly thrown about term from oh.. 2004-2008. The term originated with bands that weren’t signed to record labels and released their music independently. But when those bands became popular, with the hipster movement gaining strength and social networking websites plus youtube allowing additional exposure for new artists, those bands were in fact signed to labels and did not release their music independently. So indie became a genre, albeit perhaps the most broad, vague genre that has ever existed. To those who described the indie genre as ‘full of whiny vocals, distortion and acoustic guitar,’ others would bring up dozens of legitimate ‘indie’ bands that did not come close to matching that description. That is why in many people’s estimation and my own, indie music is considered dead. This is why, up to this paragraph, I have not used the word ‘indie.’ Just to clarify.

A disturbing trend is when a hipster band moves into mass popularity, such as Kings of Leon, and its original fan base cries foul. No matter what sort of music the band will now produce, it will never be seen as nearly as pure as the music it first produced, because now its ‘popular.’ Mainstreamers see this concept as total bullshit. If they’re the same band, you should be happy that you witnessed them rise to mass appeal and stardom. But to hipsters, this marks a betrayal. The band has crossed over from being one of them, to being a part of the culture that they don’t feel they can fit into. They say the music becomes worse after this transition, and maybe sometimes it does, but it isn’t about the music anymore, it’s about abandonment. Have I myself experienced this feeling? Admittedly not, but I will say I found it extremely easy to tear Use Somebody to shreds after hearing it on KDWB.

So let’s review. My theory is that people become insecure in their ability to fit into mainstream culture, and reject the mainstream in favor of hipsterdom. They then create rationale for their rejection of popular music culture based around the quality of music being better in hipster culture than in mainstream culture, which can be a valid point, given the examples of Ke$ha and Soulja Boy. This however is a mask of their true insecurity (No matter how much they truly believe in their music), which those in the mainstream culture may view as being fake, snobby etc.  When bands that originated in hipster culture become popular and market themselves towards the mainstream, there is a chance that the hipsters who initially supported them will feel resentment and abandonment towards the band.

By now you may be wondering what my point is. It starts with the thought that perhaps society can be a little more accepting of hipsters. I suppose I’ve noticed how hipster bashing, as it were, has become increasingly popular, particularly in America. They are easy targets, because they appear purist, elitist and self-righteous. But if my hypothesis is right, and I by no means am guaranteeing that it is, they are simply insecure about their ability to fit in, and are merely trying to disguise that weakness by gravitating towards a culture that feels the same way. The hipster culture is merely a means of gaining confidence for these people, and there is merit to a lot of hipster music that does stand in contrast to some popular top 40 acts.

But hipsters themselves should be more tolerant, as well. Just because something is popular, doesn’t mean it’s ‘bad.’ There is plenty of popular music today that is just as good as prime hipster fare. In a lot of cases, that is a large part of the reason why popular music is popular. And rejecting something simply based on it being too popular is very irrational, stubborn, and will surely lead to missing out on music that might otherwise turn out to be very quality. For me, I would have missed out on that one OneRepublic song had I continued the ways of my stubborn past and insisted on only listening to M83 and the like. So yes, my hipster brethren, I like a OneRepublic song that is played on the radio. Shoot me. It’s okay to like music based on the culture around it, if that’s your thing. It’s okay to like music because it’s catchy and sounds great when you’re wasted. It’s okay to like music because it originated in some kid’s head after listening to Balkan folklore, just as much as it’s okay to like a band because the lead singer is hot, the bass guitar is awesome, or the lyrics are thoughtful and politically charged. I feel like this whole tension over hipster culture versus mainstream culture has a lot to do with people being intolerant of the reasons that people like certain types of music. My two cents is merely this: shut the hell up about why you like it, who is going to judge you for liking it, why it’s better than what other people like, and focus on just liking it.