Indie Electronic

History of Electronic Music (the Backbone of Indie Electronic)

In the late 1920s-early 1930s, composers began exploring sounds that were previously not considered to be musical. With the invention of magnetic audio tape, composers found a new control over these sounds. A technique called musique concrète allowed composers to physically cut and place different pieces of tape together to create compositions that mixed natural and industrial recorded sounds. Pierre Schaeffer in collaboration with Pierre Henry created some of the first popular electronic music.

The Brussels World Fair in 1958 marked a milestone for electronic art on a global scale. Poème électronique by Edgard Varèse and Concret PH by Iannis Xenakis were written specifically for an artistic, architectural structure called the Philips Pavilion. The pieces were synchronized to a video, making this one of the first visual art and electronic music collaborations to be displayed for the world. Other prominent, early electronic innovators include Boulez and Babbitt.

In 1970, French President Pompidou funded the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music (IRCAM). Established and led by Boulez, the initiative focussed on two main disciplines: computer music research and computer music production. This program aided the discovery of many advances in electronic music technology.

BBC Radiotronics Workshop

The BBC Radiotronics Workshop was a collective that utilized methods closely related to musique concrète techniques. The workshop was one of BBC’s sound effects units known for scoring shows like Doctor Who and taking huge strides in electronic music innovation. The workshop contained some of the most advanced electronic equipment between 1958 and 1998. Similar to musique concrete, the workshop’s early methods, including manipulating tape. The workshop members were able to play tape back at different speeds and ultimately change the pitch. While they did not initially allow musicians in the studio, they went on to work with artists including Pink Floyd and Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones. Effect pedals from the studio were used by guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. Many of the sounds created in the workshop have been sampled by various popular artists within the indie electronic genre.    

Early Indie Electronic Artists

Formed in 1989 by Ian Crause, Paul Willmott, Daniel Gish, and Rob Whatley, Disco Inferno (not to be confused with the song by the Trammps or the disco cover band in Cleveland, OH) was a pioneer in using digital sampling in rock music. Influenced by both My Bloody Valentine and the Bomb Squad simultaneously, it makes sense how they would come to use hip-hop’s sampling technique in a new way. With a Roland S-750 sampler, the band was able to incorporate the sounds of nature, cities, cars, and human voices into their music.

Underground avant-pop band Stereolab was formed in 1990. Influenced by pop music and krautrock (a genre that describes German influenced electronic rock), the band uses synths heavily. They make a point to use vintage gear. After a 10 year hiatus, the band returned to the stage in 2019.