LIZZIE SEFFER

Alternative music first started appearing in the mid to late 80’s, with some of the earliest bands being ‘The Cure’ who formed in 1976 and following them, R.E.M in 1980, Radiohead and Jane’s Addiction in 1985, The Pixies in 1986 and Nirvana in 1987. Of course there were uncountable other bands forming around that time who had the same styles and attitudes and who were all part of the alternative music movement. The term ‘alternative’ first came around when bands formed that played mostly rock music but also incorporated other genres, such as reggae, folk, electronic, punk, grunge, etc, into their music. The music created by these bands didn’t fit into any known genre at that time, so was dubbed ‘alternative’. These alternative bands would start of by playing in small clubs and pubs and would only become more known through word of mouth. They were bands who were either not signed at all, or signed to small, independent labels. A lot of the bands had ‘do it yourself’ attitudes and were non conformist, which is where the term ‘alternative’ comes from. They did not conform to any of the existing genres, attitudes, sounds or lyrics. A lot like punk, they were often anti-mainstream and not ‘normal’.

THE BEGINNING

Alternative music is a huge form of expression. The Lyrics are one of the most important and fundamental things and are a way for the band and singer to channel emotions and tell anecdotes and to their listeners. A lot of alternative bands, especially the early ones, sing about dark and deep topics like drug and alcohol abuse, depression and society. However, there is also a completely different side to alt music which focuses on and brings across the message of hope, battling addiction or depression, peace, freedom and positivity. Some alternative bands nowadays base most of their lyrics on happiness and humour.

THE LYRICS

In the late 80’s, there was basically no media coverage of alternative bands, except for a few late night alternative music videos on MTV. This changed in 1986 when MTV started showing a show called 120 minutes which introduced music by bands such as Nirvana, Butthole Surfers, The Smashing pumpkins, and later bands such as Weezer, Pearl Jam

and Blind Melon. Alternative music became truly recognized by a larger amount of people through Nirvana’s album ‘Nevermind’ which was released in 1991 and was very successful. It was then that

a lot of people started listening to grungy alternative music such as Nirvana and other bands. In the same year as the release of ‘Nevermind’, the American music festival

‘Lollapalooza’ took place for the first time, with bands such as Jane’s Addiction, Butthole Surfers and Nine Inch Nails all playing. This was a big transition from only playing clubs

and small venues and was the beginning of the commercialisation and popularity of alternative music. Throughout the 90’s, alternative music grew a lot in popularity and

alternative rock became one of the most commonly listened to genres. ‘Indie’ music, a genre of alternative rock which often has a softer sound than earlier alt music, became

hugely popular, with bands like Modest Mouse, The Libertines, The Kooks, Death Cab for Cutie and The Strokes forming. …..

INCREASINGPOPULARITY

By the start of the 21st century, a lot of the ‘original’ alt bands had broken up, for example Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains and Hole which many saw as the end of ‘real’ or ‘proper’ alternative music and those bands were replaced by more modern indie bands who were widely commercialised and had a lot of media coverage. In some ways, by the end of the 90’s or start of the 21st century the meaning of ‘alternative’ had changed a lot. Instead of being non-conformist and anti-mainstream, alternative music is now one of the most ‘mainstream’ music genres out there and most bands start making alternative music hoping to make a career and money out of it. Despite all this, alternative music is still great but just in a different way.

21st CENTURY

The music in the 21st century have made the term ‘alternative’ even broader and even more sub-genres

have been added to it, with a lot more electronic sound being used and even being incorporated.

Most of nowadays alt bands still start out unsigned or signed to independent labels, such as Modest Mouse who were signed to a small American label called K Records and worked their way up. Most bands nowadays still start out by playing pubs and clubs, although the one major change is that they also now nearly completely rely on media such as the internet to let people know about their music. There is also a huge amount of music festivals every year, some of the biggest being Reading and Glastonbury, which mainly showcase alternative, indie and rock artists and have ‘unsigned’ stages where a lot of new bands are discovered every year.

21st CENTURY

BANDSBlind Melon

The Kooks

Wombats The Enemy

Smashing Pumpkins