Indie Rock Subculture: Hamilton as Microcosm

Abstract

<p>In recent years, interest in the indie rock subculture has exploded, both in the popular press and among popular music scholars and culture theorists.</p> <p>This is an ethnographic study of the indie rock scene in Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton represents a microcosm of what is happening in other local indie scenes. The geographical, historical and cultural locality of Hamilton creates a sense of shared identity among individuals connected by the common interest in indie rock.</p> <p>This study focuses on how independent rock's network of social practices and economic institutions works to locate subjects within Hamilton's local network while connecting them to the larger framework of interlocal scenes. Aspects of the local and interlocal are explored through narratives of indie aesthetics, style, fashion, institutions, cultural practices, authenticity and investment. Cultural practices, including the production and consumption of indie rock are examined through the lens of Bourdieu' s concept of cultural capital, which exposes constructions and configurations of class, generation, ethnicity, and gender.</p>