2 - A Brief History of Indie Music in American Indie Film

Summary

Charting a broad overview of historical developments relating to the inclusion of indie music in American indie film is important in terms of establishing indie music’s increased screen value, commercial clout and cultural status. While I am focusing on film/music relations, the use of indie music has risen in screenbased media generally, not just film, including – most prominently – television, advertising and video games. As such, I will refer to other media industries on occasion, specifically television, as many personnel work across film and television (another trend which has become more common due to the heightened convergence between these two industries in more recent times). I will begin this historical sketch in the late 1970s, a ‘pre-indie’ phase that was nonetheless so crucial to the emergent concept of indie that it warrants further discussion.

As mentioned in Chapter 1, punk and post-punk are often linked with the beginnings of a new era for independent music. While some artists had previously released music independently – whether on labels run as small companies or through the private pressing of records – the independent music sector in the late 1970s and early 1980s became particularly important in terms of its scale and its impact on the broader, mainstream industry. Punk and post-punk music was also used in several American films during this period, the majority of which were independent productions, including very low-budget ‘punk’ films as well as more genre-based fare from larger independent companies. Lower budgeted films were being made on a regular basis in this period by small crews: the commitment to rough, unpolished and DIY principles in film mirrored, to a certain extent, similar attitudes amongst some punk musicians. Links between the two forms were strengthened by the fact that punk musicians and music often featured in these films. Ivan Král and Amos Poe’s The Blank Generation (1976), for instance, is a documentary snapshot, without synchronised sound, of music being performed at CGBGs as the punk and new wave movements took off (Blondie, The Ramones, Talking Heads and Patti Smith are among the artists appearing). Amos Poe’s next films were narrative features but still included punk musicians on-screen, including Debbie Harry in both Unmade Beds (1976) and The Foreigner, as well as punk bands The Cramps and The Erasers appearing in The Foreigner (1978), while John Lurie and Lydia Lunch both appeared in Subway Riders (1981).