Indie Rock Research Paper

I have chosen to write about one of my favorite alternative rock band, Red Hot Chili Peppers from Los Angeles, California. My decision was based upon two things; one being I like the band, while the other was to learn if some of their music is sending the wrong message to our young people. I personally would not consider myself music sappy; never have I really been given a chance to listen to music as I grew up, to find what I like. As of today, I don’t know who sings what song nor really know what the lyric’s mean. With today’s environment young people are given a chance to be inspired by different kinds of media; thus giving them the opportunity to actually find out what the artist is meaning behind the songs. After interviewing four participation;

Grunge music originated in Seattle, Washington and can be described as dirty guitar, strong guitar riffs with distortion. They had dark lyrics and expressed the emotions of teenagers. Punk rock is the most popular genre with young rebellious teens that talked about they hated listening to their parents. These genres didn’t become mainstream until the world discovered the rock and roll band “Green Day” in the mid 90’s. The style of the time consisted of cut off T-shirts and tight, ripped jeans. Bands like a “Aerosmith” and “Guns and Roses” played a big fashion roll during this

In the 1950s, when rock was developed, one of the first groups to drift to it was teenagers, being attracted to its themes of rebellion and non conformity. Certain groups of individuals have sprung up around certain musical styles. For instance, punk, techno, and ethnic music all include some type of subculture that embrace an entire lifestyle.

Many teens in every generation seek to separate themselves from their parents. One way of creating that separation is by embracing different music. For the first time, teens had large amounts of disposable income that could be spent on entertainment designed specifically for them. Also, the new mass media meant that teens across the country could hear the same music broadcast or watch the same television shows. This brought a rise of an independent youth culture that was separate from adult culture. The new youth culture became an independent market for the entertainment and advertising

Carter landed a job on pianist Ramsey Lewis's BET Jazz show, "Bet on Jazz.” In January

Though there were these different styles of rock, The British Invasion had more to do with the pop “beat” bands than the R&B or “frat” bands. Soon this genre

Rock and roll was born in the 1950's and has influenced our pop culture and music for the last six decades ever since its creation from blues, rhythm and blues, country, and gospel music. It has since then created a large variety of genres of rock such as folk rock, country rock, southern rock, corporate rock, art rock, heavy metal, glam rock and many more (Larson). Many of the genres created by Rock and Roll are still listened to this day and has also influenced other types of music and artists. The large amount of variety of music that is present today is due to the fragmentation of rock and roll and what the audience wanted to hear. This lead to the creation of a large variety of genres of rock to please every rock listener in the world.

Many people look at those who are successful and think it is so simple. An example, Slash from Guns N' Roses, he makes shredding on guitar look simple. The thing is though, no one looks at all the hard work that people put in to be successful. Drug addicts, they go through relapses but they still keep moving forward and kick the drugs. Another example would be body builders, it's not like one day they magically decide that they want to have intense muscles. It takes time to be successful. No one really knows how hard it is to be successful until they actually try.

From hip-hop to rap, house to deep house, and rock to alternative, music is changing and shifting into different directions that we thought could not be possible. Different

In the early 1980s, alternative rock bands like REM began to get a lot of airtime on college radio stations and appearances on MTV and other TV settings. Before long numerous alternative radio stations appeared

music evolves, yet keeps its values intact. To many, rock music is an essential element of

     The time was in the mid-seventies, there was a void in the music industry that needed to be filled. This need for a new sound was aptly filled by punk rock, a new type of sound that had evolved from mostly rock and a little pop music. The focus of this paper is on punk rock and it’s ample beginnings, early pioneers of the new sound, punk rock listener’s cultural background and their ideas as a whole, bands influenced by the punk rock movement, and the state of punk rock today.

If the words “alternative” and “rock” are uttered together, chances are, Nirvana immediately comes to mind. Nirvana, lead by Kurt Cobain, intend to push messages that oppose the mainstream through their music and image. Even though, at the height of their popularity they could certainly be considered rock stars, in an interview with MTV in 1993 Kurt famously says “we’re not rock stars”, he truly doesn 't wish to be categorized as one. Nirvana made a conscious effort to be seen in a completely different stream than the commercially successful bands of their time. By examining different Nirvana texts like music, lyrics and band photos, it is clear that Nirvana wanted to be decoded as different and oppositional.

Generations before generation y think that television, music videos, and music in general has affected the kids in generation y. Trends and habits are formed by listening or watching. Music has wonderful and meaningful effects on different people depending on how the music is retained. Music videos affect generations differently because each generation has a different outlook and opinion on the lyrics. Each teen or adult reacts to music videos differently. Most songs and music videos incorporate love along with heart breaks, life scenarios, money and the different styles of life.

The popular culture of music has changed dramatically over the course of sixty five years. Since this time, new genres of music have been introduced, existing genres have changed, and fixed stereotypes have been associated with certain genres of music. Music has become a major part of popular culture, and is portrayed almost everywhere in first world societies, including on television, radio, at shopping centers, sporting events and in every area of popular culture. Music has become a major part of popular culture, and continues to strive and develop into more and diverse areas of culture.