Alternative Music for an Alternative Mindset

January 19, 2016 / Assumptions, Music / 0 comment / jgastia16

“You can sing to any kind of music”-sduquette16

I think when some people relate the words “alternative” and “indie” to music, they immediately think about hipsters sitting in a cafe somewhere, eating exotic food from Peru, wearing their wide-rim glasses and rare alpaca wool beanies. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but even so, there is nothing wrong with the hipster scene or alternative/indie music. If you think about it, alternative music is a pretty relative term. Alternative simply refers to something that is different. Just like pop music includes many different artists and sounds, Alternative music is an umbrella that covers a wide variety of genres, including:

Indie (or Independent)
Alternative Rock
Punk Rock
Grunge
Geek rock
Post-hardcore
Electronicore
Alternative hip hop

And there are hundreds of others genres and sounds that alternative music covers. It’s an amazing world of opportunity to discover new, different music that you’re not used to listening to on the radio. In fact, more music that would have once been considered alternative music is being played on mainstream radio stations. Bands like Walk the Moon, Twenty One Pilots, and Of Monsters and Men probably would never have been played on 97.9 the Q radio station ten years ago. But someone recognized that these were musicians who made dang good music and felt that they shouldn’t be grouped into a category. Don’t get me wrong, I love to sit in the car sometimes and jam out to Katy Perry. And this is not to suggest that alternative music is better than pop music or metal or whatever types of music one prefers. Everyone has their preferences and that makes us who we are. It’s merely to open up the mind and tell others about some amazing tunes that could open their eyes to a world of possibilities.

What I love about alternative music is that it can mean everything and nothing at all. Some songs are so complex with deep emotional meanings, while others are so complex that you can’t understand what the vocalist is even singing about, but you’re strangely okay with that because the beat is so sick! For example, one of my favorite bands called Fall Out Boy are amazing. All of the members are extremely talented and I could listen to them for hours. The only problem is that I can’t understand what they’re talking about half the time. Especially in some of their older songs, their lyrics aren’t straight forward, and often include personal metaphors that only the band members understand. Even so, I love the melody of their music. Every song is catchy and has a deep meaning to it, and even if I don’t get it, I don’t have to. That’s what music is about, if it speaks to you.

If you want to open your ears to some new music, here are some suggestions that are only a few of my personal favorites: