BY ERIN HEYCOX, RUNNER-UP IN THE 2016 CUTCOMMON YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR COMPETITION
This blog entry awarded Erin Heycox a runner-up place in our inaugural young writers’ competition. Writers were asked to respond to the following question: Genre orders our bookshops, CD libraries, and digital playlists. What use does genre have in the contemporary musical setting?
A Short Guide to Describing Your Band’s Unique Sound (Or, An Exploration of the Usefulness of Genre)
There comes a time in the life of every band when it must make the fateful decision: a decision that will affect who interviews it, who listens to it, and what venues it will play in. The band must determine the genre that best describes its sound. This is the young band’s painful rite of passage. No-one likes to embrace just one genre. The hyphen rules supreme in band bios:
“Hey Jo, we like to play sea shanties. I’m going to write down that we’re a folk band.”
“No, no, Brian. If we just say we’re folk, they’re gonna think Pete Seeger and assume that all we do is strum acoustic guitars and sing about. We play harder than that.”
“Then let’s call it folk-rock.”
“But our pianist studied at the Con. We need to somehow signal that our music isn’t just endless Zeppelin-style pentatonic noodling.”
“Let’s call it folk-rock-jazz then.”
“Yeah, but we’re hardly Count Basie. I mean, our bass player has a penchant for playing pounding alternating octaves.”
“Ok, so folk-rock-disco it is.”
“But our music is kind of a mix of everything, right? I mean, we’re influenced by everyone, really.”
“So, let’s add an ‘alt’.”
“Then let’s call it ‘folk-rock’.”
And so this hapless band, caught in the cross-fires of genre stereotypes, labels itself alt-folk-rock-jazz-disco which, in the end, sounds like a rather unappealing, unlistenable mess. But is this task of determining a genre even relevant for the listener? After all, isn’t the most common answer to the question of what music someone likes: “Everything, as long as it’s good”?
Postmodern listeners know, or at least intuit, the tell-tale signs that can predict whether or not they will enjoy an album. These signs are not the iTunes-sanctioned genre tag. Rather, it may be the presence of a fiddle in the album art, the provenance of the cardboard the album is slipped into the typeface on the cover or any possible coded allusions to the occult/numerology in song titles.
So here are some alternative arrangements for bookshops, CD libraries, and digital playlists to replace organisation by genre:
Beats Per Minute
Go to the ‘120 BPM’ section and pick yourself out Mozart’s Barber of Seville Overture alongside the latest from La Roux. Wanting something to calm an angry toddler? Go to the ‘50 BPM’ section for some relaxing Bach cantatas or Buena Vista Social Club instrumentals.
Length of Composer’s Beard
The ‘Tombstone Beard’ section would be replete with double kicks and mid-scooped guitars. The ‘Full Beard’ section might see you listening to either Tchaikovsky or ZZ Top, while the ‘Goatee’ section would be essentially avoidable, populated mainly with regrettable ’90s music. Looking at you, Robbie Williams and Justin Timberlake.
Accompanying Beverage
You know you are going to avoid the ‘Vodka Cruiser’ section (full of Justin Bieber and other Top 20), bypass the ‘VB’ section (unless you’re in a boozy mood and need a hit of Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil and Angels) and head straight to the ‘Scotch Whisky’ section wherein lies both Mahler and Johnny Cash’s ‘American’ recordings.
Products the Music has been Used to Advertise
Feeling sensual? You might like the playlist of songs used to advertise chocolate ranging from Good Vibrations to the Enya-esque synthpop that you hear in Ferrero Rocher ads. Feeling paranoid? You might like a playlist of those doom chords or sad Dido ballads that you hear in the background of workers compensation ads. Feeling listless and in need of a fist-pumping anthem? You might benefit from a playlist of songs used to advertise cars including Handel’s Fireworks or ACDC classics.
This feature is part of CutCommon Young Writers’ Month. About the author:
Erin Heycox studied a Bachelor of Music from the University of Melbourne, majoring in Violin Performance with minors in Creative Writing and Theatre. A year later, she graduated with a Master of Teaching and works in leading roles at Melton Secondary College. Erin attended the Australian Youth Orchestra Words About Music program in 2013, and has written reviews and interviews for the Student Union Theatre Melbourne University, and presented and produced radio shows at SYN Media.
