This document provides information about the genre of indie pop music. It discusses how indie pop originated in the UK in the 1980s, inspired by post-punk bands on independent labels. The Smiths are cited as the seminal indie pop band that started the genre. Other notable indie pop artists mentioned include Orange Juice, Belle and Sebastian, The Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, and Vampire Weekend. The document also gives brief overviews of key instruments in indie pop like vocals, guitar, and bass.

1. GENRE RESEARCH
INDIE POP
By NiklasAarre

2. WHAT IS INDIE POP?
• Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United
Kingdom in the mid-1980s, with its roots in Scottish post-punk bands on
the Postcard Records label in the early '80s and the dominant UK
independent band of the mid-'80s,The Smiths. Indie pop was inspired by
punk's DIY ethic and related beliefs, and it generated a thriving
fanzine, label, and club and gig circuit. Indie pop differs from indie rock to
the extent that it is pretty much angst free.
• The term "indie" had been used for some time to describes artists on
independent labels, such as Sun Records, King Records and Stax.

3. THE SMITHS
• The Smiths were the band that started the genre of Indie Pop
• The Smiths were an English band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the
song writing partnership of vocalist Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr, the
band also included bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce.The Smiths
are known as being the most important band to of emerged form the British
independent music scene of the 1980’s
• In February 1984, the group released their debut albumThe Smiths, which
reached number two on the UKAlbums Chart.
• Morrissey was inspired to wright some of his songs due to his love for English
literature his lyrics were influenced by English poets such as Oscar Wilde and
Johnny Marr.
• He also had a love for NewYork Dolls and 60’s girl bands.

4. ORANGE JUICE
• Orange Juice was a Scottish band founded in the middle class Glasgow
suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976. Edwyn Collins formed the
Nu-Sonics (named after a cheap brand of guitar) with his school-mate
Alan Duncan and was subsequently joined by James Kirk and Steven
Daly, who left a band calledThe Machetes.[3]The band became Orange
Juice in 1979.They are best known for the hit "Rip It Up", which reached
number 8 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1983.
• Orange Juice's influence over indie music is so vast that it's hard to
imagine how shocking they once seemed, not least to the audiences who
reacted to singer Edwyn Collins's camp, sardonic delivery with chants of
"Poofs! Poofs!".

5. INDIE IN READING
 25-27August 1989 Reading had its first indie festival, Reading festival
undertook a dramatic change of direction and shed its reputation as the
home of muddy rock. Kicking off with a Friday night featuring the
Sugarcubes, Spacemen 3 and headlined by New Order this brought a
different set of people to Reading as bands including My Bloody
Valentine, Jesus Jones and Loop showed the way forward. Stalwarts
grumbled, but tickets sold out and rock never had the same hold over
Reading again.

6. BELLE AND SEBASTIAN
• Belle and Sebastian were nominated for the best British newcomer award
at the 1999 Brits, few expected them to beat the likes of Steps and 5ive to
the prize. But then few realised the power a diehard fan base could
harness in the internet age.
• Belle and Sebastian are an indie pop band formed in Glasgow in January
1996.They are often compared with acts such asThe Smiths, this again
suggests that the Smiths were the beginning of indie pop.

7. THE LIBERTINES
2003
• Few who saw it thought the open invitation on an internet forum to see
Britain's brightest indie hopes play a gig in the front room of their Bethnal
Green flat was real. But the handful of believers who made it down to 112a
Teesdale Street were treated to a night of Libertines magic.This event
almost managed to bring down the wall between bands and fans forever.

8. ARCTIC MONKEYS
• Arctic Monkeys were heralded as one of the first group of acts to come to
the public attention via the Internet (fan-based sites rather than from the
band), with commentators suggesting they represented the possibility of
a change in the way in which new bands are promoted and marketed.
• After forming in 2002 in the Sheffield suburb of High Green, then gigging
around the city's sticky-carpeted pubs, and endorsing the swapping of
their demos among friends and fans, something new tookArctic Monkeys'
music further than they ever imagined: peer-to-peer filesharing.

9. INDIE GOES WORLD WIDE
2008
• Noughties blogs such as Dalston Oxfam Shop hinted at the possibilities
available to indie bands if they embraced global sounds, but it took the
release ofVampire Weekend's first album for a full-scale incorporation of
"world" music to occur.These preppy NewYorkers looked to Africa – more
specifically the sounds of Soweto – for inspiration.

10. VAMPIREWEEKEND
• Formation and Rise
• Members of the band met while matriculating at Columbia University in
NewYork City, beginning with a rap collaboration between Koenig and
Tomson.[1]They bonded over a shared love of punk rock and African
music, and Koenig toured withThe Dirty Projectors during a period of
experimentation with African music, inspiring the band to incorporate
world sounds into their earliest work.

11. INSTRUMENTS (VOCALS)
• Singing is the art of making musical sounds with the voice.
• Famous vocalists from indie bands include…
Morrissey
Vocalist ofThe Smiths Stuart Murdoch
Vocalist of
Belle and Sebastian
AlexTurner
Vocalist of
Arctic Monkeys

12. INSTRUMENTS (GUITARS)
 The guitar is a musical instrument used by all indie pop bands, they are normally
the source of the melody of a song and usually provides the distinguishing sound
of a song
Jamie Cook
Lead Rhythm
Guitar of Arctic Monkeys
Ezra Koenig
Lead Rhythm
Guitar ofVampireWeekend
Pete Doherty
Lead Guitar of
The Libertines

13. INSTRUMENTS (BASS)
 The Bass Guitar is most commonly 4 strings but can go up to 6 or even 8 strings. It
is played usually with the fingers or thumb by plucking or slapping. It
accompanies the lead guitar with a “basseier sound”.
Andy Rouke
Bassist of
The Smiths
Nick o’malley
Bassist of Arctic
Monkeys
Chris Baio
Bassist of
VampireWeekend