In his new book Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion, Chris DeVille, music journalist and managing editor at Stereogum, reminisces how in the early 2000s the internet was becoming a hub for music discovery and fan communities.
He writes, “I didn't realize it then, but this was a paradigm shift. I drilled down into a world that existed just beneath the mainstream, into a subculture that would transform the way I approached music for better and for worse. Life would never be the same again. I had discovered indie rock.”
In a recent What We’re Reading interview with KAXE producer Andrew Dziengel, Chris DeVille explained why the time was right for this book.
“It felt like the timing was right partially because we had some distance from it. And also, I felt like we were starting to see some historical books about that era, notably Meet Me in the Bathroom (2017), the oral history of New York during the time of The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Interpol and all that. And so, we're starting to see that moment kind of canonized in books, but I have not seen as much about the way that rippled into the 2010s.”
The cultural aspects of this time play an important role in what set the indie rock era apart from other times and other music. Specifically: technology and the internet. Chris acknowledged the impact of the internet on nearly all aspects of indie rock music coming out of the 2010s.
“I don't think I had fully comprehended how much it was going to be a tech-oriented book until I started mapping it out…This really is in a lot of ways the story of the evolution of the internet over the last couple of decades. And that's part of the way that I tried to connect it to people's lives.”
Perhaps the biggest draw to Such Great Heights is nostalgia. The bands and the popular culture of the time are bound to sweep up readers in waves of memories. Chris admitted, “It was definitely a trip down memory lane for me. I think I was trying to say that even if somebody wasn't the hugest indie fan, if they're of the right age, they will probably relate to this book.”
Learn more about Chris DeVille’s debut book Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion here.
Looking for a good book recommendation? Want to recommend a book you've just read? Check out our What We're Reading page on Facebook, or text us at 218-326-1234.
