Indie Academy
“It's a new generation of electric white boy blues”
Sebadoh - ‘Gimme Indie Rock’
One thing you don’t need to say twice: indie rock’s canon, from the days of Double Nickels to Puberty 2, has always been about sharing culture. The zeitgeist may call for indie rock to be either labeled refractory or fashionable. But it has never abstained the steady pulse of burgeoning artists connecting with independent spirit and unflinching creativity.
Whether it’s making fanzines, setting up house shows or starting record labels, the indie rock lifestyle fosters a self-assertive enthusiasm that goes far beyond a quest for success or fame. It’s all about artists and musicians being a fan of one another, bolstering the essence of making art and music as something honest, life-affirming and untainted by commerce. To create something out of sheer necessity above all else.
Indie Academy wants to be an extension of this, admittedly, unabashed idealism. And sure, it’s not like today’s indie rock generation is proving us wrong. Artists like Courtney Barnett, Car Seat Headrest and Ought are proof you can find a devoted audience from a more grassroots ethos. Dutch bands like Mozes and The Firstborn, Jacco Gardner, Rats on Rafts and Pip Blom are able to amass international acclaim without getting much public radio airplay. Heck, indie rock can potentially even help bridge a political divide, as we’ve seen Serbia’s Repetitor do when they performed in Kosovo.
Clearly, indie rock’s self-sufficient spirit is burning as bright as ever these days, which is why Indie Academy intends to be the bugle that amplifies these unique contemporary voices.
To cap off the Indie Academy Class, Amsterdam’s fiery foursome Canshaker Pi wrote ‘Indie Academy’, a bona fide anthem that in some ways could be considered the spiritual successor to Sebadoh’s ‘Gimme Indie Rock’. The band’s defiant statement aptly underscores indie rock as this constantly evolving movement, one that transcends generations, stylistics or niche. Well, looks like school is now in session!
