Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent record labels, by the 1990s it became more widely associated with the music such bands produced.
Alternative rock is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s with the likes of the grunge subgenre. During this period, many record labels were looking for "alternatives", as many corporate rock, hard rock, and glam metal acts from the 1980s were beginning to grow stale in the Western music industry. The emergence of Generation X as a cultural force in the 1990s also contributed greatly to the rise of alternative rock.
Indie pop is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and subsequently generated a thriving fanzine, label, and club and gig circuit. Compared to its counterpart, indie rock, the genre is more melodic, less abrasive, and relatively angst-free. In later years, the definition of indie pop has bifurcated to also mean bands from unrelated DIY scenes/movements with pop leanings. Subgenres include chamber pop and twee pop.
Twin/Tone Records was an independent record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which operated from 1977 until 1994. It was the original home of influential Minnesota bands the Replacements and Soul Asylum and was instrumental in helping the Twin Cities music scene achieve national attention in the 1980s. Along with other independent American labels such as SST Records, Touch and Go Records, and Dischord, Twin/Tone helped to spearhead the nationwide network of underground bands that formed the pre-Nirvana indie-rock scene. These labels presided over the shift from the hardcore punk that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging.
Li-Ming Hu, is a New Zealand actress, artist, and musician. She is best known for playing Li Mei Chen in Shortland Street, Gemma/RPM Operator Silver in Power Rangers RPM, and Lisa Fong in the short film Take 3.
The Brunettes were an indie pop group from New Zealand formed in 1998 and lasting until 2009. The group consisted of core members Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield, with additional contributions from part-time members such as Ryan McPhun and Chelsea Nikkel. The group had released several well-received albums such as Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks (2002), which received 4.5/5 stars from AllMusic. Signed to Lil' Chief Records, they had opened for bands such as Rilo Kiley and Beirut.
Lil' Chief Records is a New Zealand–based indie pop record label formed in 2002. Operating from the Auckland suburb of Mt. Eden, it was founded on releases by The Tokey Tones and The Brunettes. The label's roster now includes a collective of pop artists such as Jonathan Bree, Princess Chelsea, The Ruby Suns, and Edmund Cake.
An independent music scene is a localized independent music-oriented community of bands and their audiences. Local scenes can play a key role in musical history and lead to the development of influential genres; for example, no wave from New York City, Madchester from Manchester, and grunge from Seattle.
The Ruby Suns are an indie pop group from New Zealand. They formed in 2004 when Californian Ryan McPhun moved to Auckland and started playing in several bands such as the Brunettes, the Tokey Tones, and the Reduction Agents.
Shaft is the long-standing vehicle of songwriter Robert Cardy, original guitarist for the band The Axemen and a stalwart of the New Zealand underground scene. When the Axemen took a break in 1992, Cardy was jamming with Axemen drummer Stu Kawowski for a while, and one day bumped into guitarist John Segovia at a gas station. Soon after Daniel "Speedy" Mañetto came on board as bass player. This original line-up stayed together for around a year or two, and then one by one Segovia, Mañetto and Kawowski departed. Cardy then put together a more hard-edged version of Shaft with Tony Rush and Rich Mixture, with former Axel Grinders guitarist John Segovia joining soon after. Since that time the lineup has changed considerably, with many members coming and going. The current lineup includes Cardy as well as all members of The Situations: Glen Casey (keys), Brad Walkington (guitar), Samuel Kett (bass) and Stuart Kett (drums).
Edmund Cake is the musical solo project of Edmund McWilliams, an alternative rock musician, singer-songwriter, and producer. Formerly of Bressa Creeting Cake in the 1990s, after the dissolution of the band in 1997 he released the 2004 solo album Downtown Puff on Lil' Chief Records. In 2009 he released another album with the band Pie Warmer.
Alec Bathgate is a New Zealand musician who was a key member of The Enemy and Toy Love, as well as being one half of the Flying Nun Records act Tall Dwarfs, alongside Chris Knox. In addition to playing guitar in these bands, he also released three solo albums.
Gareth Hal Shute is a non-fiction author, musician and journalist from New Zealand.
Chelsea Lee Nikkel, better known by her stage name Princess Chelsea, is a producer, musician and visual artist from Auckland, New Zealand, and a previous member of twee pop band the Brunettes and cult Auckland band Teenwolf. Chelsea has released four albums of original material and one covers album. Nikkel is associated with the Lil' Chief Records collective and is a part-time member of Disciples of Macca, a Paul McCartney covers band featuring members of the Brunettes, Ruby Suns, Bressa Creeting Cake and Lawrence Arabia and more recently performs as bass player in three-piece rock'n'roll band, Hang Loose. Chelsea’s baroque musical style has been attributed to her classical training, and the New Zealand Herald has praised her "angelic vocals and acerbic wit". Her best known song, "The Cigarette Duet" received significant press exposure after its video went viral on YouTube in early 2012, recently reaching over 100 million views. This led to her being featured on The Guardian's "New Band of the Day". Chelsea is also known for her distinctive and influential visual style which emerged with her creation of homemade low budget music videos beginning in 2011. Chelsea cites Andy Warhol’s Screen Testsand director Robert Altman as influencing her visual style and more recently has begun making visual content for other artists directing and editing music videos for In The Sunshine and Politics by Jonathan Bree. The self-directed music video for ‘I Love My Boyfriend’ is an example of her signature visual style which often incorporates mixed multimedia and VHS with an editing style that favours long voyeuristic shots as depicted in early music videos for ‘Yulia’ ‘Ice Reign’ and most famously ‘The Cigarette Duet’.
Jonathan Owen Bree is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and producer, best known for his work as a solo artist, as well as co-founding the indie pop group The Brunettes, in 1998 and Lil' Chief Records, in 2002. He frequently collaborates with label-mates as a musician, engineer, and record producer.
Lil' Golden Book is the debut studio album by the New Zealand recording artist Princess Chelsea. It was released on 2 May 2011, through Lil' Chief Records. The album was produced by Jonathan Bree and Chelsea Nikkel. The album tells the tale of life growing up as a teenager and young adult in New Zealand.
The Eversons are a four-member indie pop band originally from Wellington, New Zealand, currently living in London. Self-dubbed "a guitar group," vocals are handled by all members. They released their self-titled debut EP in 2011 on Lil' Chief Records, with a follow-up LP, Summer Feeling, released in 2012 through Lil' Chief Records in New Zealand and ThisTime Records in Japan.
Pikachunes is the sad pop musical project of Miles McDougall, a songwriter, musician and producer based in Melbourne. Trained in jazz, for McDougall "a typical track features one or two synths, a '70s analog bass line, and a series of reverberated vocal harmonies, all driven by an atypical disco beat."
Cool Rainbows was a psychedelic indie pop band based in Auckland, New Zealand. According to a review, "Cool Rainbows make psychedelic indie pop music that is backed by swirling orchestration and layered dreamscapes of sound." They released their debut album, Whale Rocket, in 2012 on Lil' Chief Records.
Glass Animals are an English indie rock band formed in Oxford in 2010. The band's line-up consists of Dave Bayley, Drew MacFarlane, Edmund Irwin-Singer, and Joe Seaward (drums).
