Is Indie Music a Genre? (feat. Quinn Christopherson)

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Independent, or "Indie" music, has a broad definition that can be applied across genres and regions. So what makes indie music indie?

LA Buckner interviews Quinn Christopherson, an up-and-coming indie musician in Anchorage, Alaska and 2019 NPR Tiny Desk Contest winner, about what it's like to create DIY music. Together they create their own indie song that you can hear at the end of the video.

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[indiealaska]

This was SUCH a fun project to do with LA. Much love from Alaska!

[AntonWongVideo]

yeah, it's hard to define "indie" since it just means independent. There's so many different "Genres" of Indie music: indie-pop, indie-rock, indie-hip-hip, indie-fusion-metal-jazz

As a pretentious teenager, I would buy cds that had the logo of FACTOR on the back, because it meant the band needed money from the Canadian government to make an album.

[smellsfishi]

“Quinn told us he once recorded a song with a sock on the microphone”

everyone: has done this

[MattMusicianX]

This is deep. Real deep. Simple, but deep.

[punpunpunyama]

Nothing like artists signed to major labels calling themselves indie

[paulsmallmusic]

It may be my favorite song you did during this series. Missed you guys.

[ascetic]

I love Quinn and am always glad when Tiny Desk Contest introduces me to artists I'd otherwise never hear. And, man, L.A., that beat you added to his song was tight.

[ar.ninetysix]

It's been a while! I missed y'all!

[pomodorino]

Well, just discovered a new artist. Thanks, this channel is great!

[LovelyLori]

God Quinn just has an incredible and infectious happy energy! Can't get enough of this. Great video!

[nathanj.]

So hey, I'm a pretty anxious dude and when he says that he's up there pouring his heart out for strangers and them just being willing to take him in that's kind of indescribably beautiful to me. So yeah.

[gaboquintana]

Indie was a way but became a type of sound just like "alternative" was used to describe a sound not categorised at the time but became a type of sound on itself

[EctoMorpheus]

Imagine being able to play guitar outside while it's freezing and you barely have control over your fingers :O

[ElCastinho]

Grinning like an idiot and I can't help myself. The music, the banter between the two, their energy... all of it. Loved it! Think I found a new artist to listen to.

[Beryllahawk]

I have missed you guys so very much <3 This was a bit like getting a letter from a friend, honestly. You could have talked about playing the spoons for twenty minutes and I would've been happy.
A very, very good video. I appreciate how you made certain to let the "definition" of indie be just as fluid as the indie scene really is. Indie these days (to me) means - no limits, no rules. Anything is possible when you click that track, so every artist is going to have their own specific and peculiar sound. Peculiar in a good way!

I got introduced to the indie scene back when I started reading a webcomic called Questionable Content. I've been dipping in now and then for years and years. I wouldn't at all call myself an expert about indie music but I know that I've found some real gems out there. Some of it touches on things that used to be called "too ordinary" for music, some of it touches on the things that are too dark, too dangerous, too personal for the big labels. Not every indie track I've heard has been something I was into, but I have a deep respect for every single artist putting things out there.
That takes a kind of courage I don't have, don't know if I could ever have. Every person that puts themselves out in the world this way is incredible to me.
People have told me I should record my singing and what not, I've written a tune or two, but...actually putting it out there? Terrifying. I know how harsh folks can and will be, and I don't know if I could ever withstand that kind of mauling. I can put a story out in the world and let it fend for itself but...music is different.

[ciroamore]

You should really make a video about sampling and looping in modern music.

[drifmystic]

I saw this dude play in a forest in Talkeetna Alaska in 2018. Literally changed my life! Thanks Quinn .

[BURGRKNG]

Also I hate this idea that Billie Eilish somehow is more raw because she recorded her stuff in her brother's bedroom... the guy is a top notch producer and engineer

[TheHeaddog]

From the minute I first heard his music on NPR I was stuck hard. He sings with a soul like no other and I constantly play his songs on rewind. I’m super stoked for his album to drop. Play on Quinn...Play on.