It’s been quite a while since I last wrote an article about the underground movement. Probably I should start this one with the fact that I have now returned to the expression “underground”. I was using the word “independent” for years, which is now a term completely corrupted because over the years it has become nothing but a marketing strategy. The question is:- The underground today; what does it mean?
The underground has always been a platform for people who want to create something different. It is a different form of musical expression than that distributed to the masses. So, the art-form that has been developed in the underground has always been challenging, difficult to understand and definitely not suitable to be simply consumed. There were always aspects that made people think or at the very least attacked people’s accepted idea of any form of art.
I guess Elvis Presley didn’t know anything about it. He was just a country boy who grew up with radio stations that broadcast black music. They belonged to his daily life and their inspiration became part of him. Then he decided to record a song for his mother’s birthday and an independent record company (Sun Records) realised that this guy had something special. A major company (RCA Victor) realised that there was an independent company who were working with this musician who had something special and the rest is history!
So, what did he have? He was just himself and this included aspects that were not accepted by a white culture but commonplace in a black culture. This happened because in his region of the USA there were black radio stations. Elvis was a lorry driver and it was normal for lorry drivers to listen to these stations. The regional aspect created a certain kind of culture. To cut a long story short, a regional aspect became a massive movement which inspired the youth to discover that they no longer wanted to be like their parents. The kids suddenly had their own music, their own clothes, their own language and their own way to move etc. Sure, it didn’t last long and very soon it was no longer Elvis but Pat Boone! Rock ”n” Roll became big business…
This was the first “full circle” that the underground movement took - from rise to fall, from a regional cell to a world wide explosion. Then came Mersey Beat and following that, the movement in the late sixties. As soon as the major companies packaged this music and put it into the shops under the label “underground”, it was destroyed (does anyone remember those “that’s underground” samplers released by CBS?). Then came Punk, then Rap, then Hardcore which was probably a bit too heavy to be sold massively and then came the final movement - Techno which was definitely underground when it first started. The first “Love Parade” in Berlin consisted of 40 people! I was very suspicious when this first started as this was the movement that didn’t want to change anything. They said “we just want to have fun” and nothing has changed since then. All of the other movements before that had a lasting effect on the culture, often with a very political dimension, not intended as a political aspect but it developed into one, so it led to a real change on this planet. The only effect Techno had on culture was fashion, over & out. There have been no more “underground” movements since then, as society understands them… And that more than ten years ago - the longest gap ever. The “underground” that always starts very small and then becomes big and adds some real changes to the general culture is dead. It simply does not exist anymore… It died out.
I started my underground activities in the mid-eighties. I was managed by a commercial orientated company with a friend here in Berlin. After several years and much experience it became obvious that there is absolutely no way to spread real music via the existing marketing structures. We realised that the first thing that you have to lose is your individuality and your originality. Major artists have to work on a level where absolutely nothing is left in their music which could irritate anyone. Irritated consumers don’t buy your product. This was proven to me through several drastic events. By chance, I came across one underground address. I started to discover and explore a whole universe of people who were interested in challenging and difficult sounds. I left the management company, wrote my major thesis for Berlin university about the true underground and started working as a DJ for Berlin’s only alternative radio station, Radio 100. I also began to publish newsletters and released and distributed heaps of tapes of both my own music, along with other people’s music and compilations. I left the “Big Time” world forever.
As I was saying before, the underground movement as society understands it, died out. This may sound shocking but I repeat: It is dead! I see this as a chance to start working on something that is really different. One of the first things I did was to promote sounds which were produced with a real “independent attitude” and I now broadcast very traditional oriented sounds to extreme noise. I no longer separate up so called “traditional” music and “independent” music or however these stupid labels which are invented to sell products may be defined. All of the styles of music I receive on my show have been exploited by the “Big Biz”, from traditional folk to Cyber-based noise. There is nothing really new and different but what separates all of the music I receive from the music that is spread via the traditional marketing structures is that the former is real, original and unique-it has it’s own identity and unbelievable variety. This is due to the fact that there are real people behind it, people with lifestyles like you and me. The music talks directly to me and inspires me. Here you can hear and feel the real passion. These people are not concerned with the “product” and are only in it for the music. Sure, there are quite a few musicians I am talking about here who want to “make it” but 99.9 percent will fail anyway, one way or another. The rest represent nothing but the truth and this may be the big chance for today’s “underground”. There is no longer an “underground music as society understands it” which can be labelled and sold.
I’ve been doing all this for about 15 years but I now see a definite change. There are now more open minded people than ever. I get letters from 60 year old people who say that they like my radio show for the variety. I also receive letters from younger people who for the first time in their lives have found Country music tracks that they like. I’m not saying that this is a massive movement, flooding the world, as yet but I do perceive a definite change. Another aspect has changed also. In the 80’s, most people released their music on cassette, a medium absolutely not accepted by the major distribution channels. Today, via technological developments, most of these people release their music on CD’s which with a bit of luck and a lot of work are available in the shops, making them “real” for everyone. Finally, there seems to be a spirit of co-operation growing. I have never seen so many truly independent labels co-operating with each other. The “underground” is well on the way to developing a new definition of itself and this is certainly a new idea. The “underground” is no longer struggling to create something completely new- it has all been said before. It would seem that big sections of the underground just wish to return to a level of normality and reality. It may be that lots of these people are not aware that this is what they are doing but this is positively the spirit that comes across. Today’s underground movement may have the chance to stay underground, develop different structures and build an alternative reality in which you can just “be yourself” and where you can find real people- where you simply find… truth.
I’ll watch it carefully as it grows and will be a part of it forever. All I have said here is just a vague first glance at today’s situation and many aspects need to be looked at much more closely. Some of my definitions may be somewhat unclear but I hope that I have managed to get the basic idea across…may be continued.