Society & Culture Subcultures

[Ed_Gein]

 

[radiojake]

The first time I heard the word emo in late high school (99-01), it meant something completely different to what it means now - There were no fringes, or even neccesarily all black skinny clothing - It normally meant black rimmed glasses and arygle vests, with bands such as Built To Spill, Jawbreaker and maybe even Fugazi...

At some stage the definition of emo became warped to include any band who happened to be writing love songs or some shit (because, ofcourse, that is emotional, yeah?) which then opened the way for any shitty pop-punk band with a semblance of angst to be considered emo, which made way for your MCR -

In terms of the hipster subculture, I think this is quite a new phenomenon. For one, nobody owns the tag - Nobody outwardly confesses to being a 'hipster' - Whereas Metal heads, or Punks, or Mods or Skins, or Hip-hopers tend to own it -

Secondly, it doesn't seemed to be attached to any discernable movement, rather the 'hipster' attempts to take elements of different subcultural capital to reinvent it in some form of post-modern parody; however they inevitably end up embodying that parody without any semblance of irony. A friend of mine had an 80s themed party a couple of weeks ago - I couldn't tell if some people were dressing up or just wearing their normal attire - That is sad -

As an avid cyclist, I do not understand fixies - They are f*cking dangerous -

Other comments in this thread re: social media/facebook/internet in general are spot on - The access to literally a whole world of eclectic cultural traits, music and fashion has created an environment where one can 'choose their own look' - however the hipster, for one reason or another, seems to follow general guidelines and rules in this formation*

*This is not that different to punk/metal/mod/hip-hop etc in that these movements also definately have 'uniforms', however I think the later examples are tied down to more substantial and concrete movements, formed in response to either class, racial or cultural circumstances, and thus these uniforms reflect membership within these movements - - 'Hipsterdom', in all respects, reeks of shallow commercialisation and commodification of anything that is considered 'cool' (or dare I say it, 'hip')

 

[Jackfrost]

We had an explosion of American rap and bad techno (2 Unlimited anyone) in the early to mid 90's in NE Perth. Cross colours and other baggy jeans, combined with 'designer brand' t-shirts along with undercuts and that ****ed hairstyle with an extremely long fringe flicked back over an otherwise shaved head. I didn't really fit the mould as I had long hair, wore billabong, surfed, skated and cranked metal

 

[nicky]

I'm not a hipster! I don't get where this comes from. Gibbsy and Smeagle can attest to this.

The people who claim to be hipsters are the people who, basically, aren't. They still let their mum dictate their haircuts, dress like children, and are general douchebags.

Hipsters aren't particularly bad people, but they're infuriating and pretty selfish, vain, and (wrongly) elitist.

Also, what's all this about Footscray being a hipster hub? Surely gentrification takes a little longer than this? From what I understand, there's still a pretty big stigma attached to the place. Eh.

Read the post again, i didn't say footscray is a hipster hub.... but frankly what would you know about footscray and it's gentrification anyway? You act like a know it all about everything Melbourne and yet you're an 18 year old from perth.

I said that hipster cafes are popping up in footscray, this hardly goes against gentrification happening over time.

 

[A Swallow]

When I was in year 12 emos drove me insane. The ones that listened to Panic! At The Disco, The Getaway Plan & My Chemical Romance. They preached about individuality & not conforming to the norm, yet all wore black skinny leg jeans, studded belts and dyed their hair jet black. About as individual as synchronized divers.

I think anyone who dresses in a certain way or listens to a certain type of music just to fit into a certain scene or sub-culture is a compete f*ckwit.
My true love is metal. Heavy, death, melodic, thrash, whatever. All of it. The most underrated musicians in the world are metal musicians. However I enjoy rock, indie rock, acoustic, roots, reggae etc. and play gigs where it's just me playing acoustic and singing quite regularly. If you are passionate about music it does not matter how you dress or who you hang out with in the slightest.

 

[exbunobooga]

We had an explosion of American rap and bad techno (2 Unlimited anyone) in the early to mid 90's in NE Perth. Cross colours and other baggy jeans, combined with 'designer brand' t-shirts along with undercuts and that ****** hairstyle with an extremely long fringe flicked back over an otherwise shaved head. I didn't really fit the mould as I had long hair, wore billabong, surfed, skated and cranked metal

Nostalgia hard! I'm 29 in a couple of months and grew up right in the thick of this in Perth. Mum wouldn't let me get an undercut or buy cross colours. Moved to Bunbury and had to learn a whole new subculture.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I think the term “subculture” has been twisted out of all correct use.

People are talking about certain “looks” here. They’re not “subcultures” FFS!

A resistance movement is a “subculture”!

 

[JD11]

people tend not to go a whole lot deeper than looks

 

[Roobs321]

Nirvana, Radiohead and Wilco are three of my favourite bands fwiw.

I have ridden skateboards and had slight hipster tendencies while I rode them.

But, I have NEVER BEEN ANYTHING LIKE EMO...

exactly! I think the scene kids, like the hipsters and everyone, are more superficial in liking things than they realise. For instance, as I said earlier, Wilco became an indie/hipster fave around the time of their early 2000's albums. But Sky Blue Sky is the most anti-hip, anti-pitchfork album you could get, it's like something from the 70's. I love it personally, Wilco fans would, but indie/hipster kids that are all about the look would hate it and write it off as dad rock. Not to mention that Wilco, above all else, have been a Country band.

Bands like Radiohead and Nirvana have had too much mainstream success to really be pegged in to one scene. Calling Radiohead emo has always been a cop-out, a red flag that the person is not worth listening to. Radiohead may have had influence over the music that emos, indies and hipsters like, but that doesnt make it any of them really. Hell, Radiohead had U2 influences on their early albums.

My favourite band is Autechre. A lot of my fellow Autechre fans seem to be either drug-users (the type that like tripping out to prog), borderline aspergers/autistic types, or computer programming/music quality afficionados. Not to mention, typically male and clueless about females. Then again, others just like me appreciate their music and uncompromising approach.
But Autechre above all else have never been a scene band, and still seem to have attracted certain personality types who found Autechre themselves and became obsessed, not because it was something cool or trendy. Not to mention Autechre isnt something you tend to play when friends are around, so it's a personal experience.

Bands and certain genres can attract certain personalities, but it's not uniform, and mostly not for superficial, hip reasons.

 

[Windy At Moorabbin]

I find a lot of people tend to base their judgement on whether or not a Hipster is actually a Hipster on what they are wearing or haircut/facial hair. This is not the way to judge the Hipster aspect of a person, it's all about their attitude to others.
The ironic thing is that most Hipsters will judge others based on their look. Most Hipsters would judge me based on my dress sense but little do they know my music knowledge and taste is probably far superior to theirs.
Hipsters don't annoy me as much as what they do for others on this board because I can normally hold a civil conversation with them about music.

 

[Roobs321]

I agree totally. Hipster is more of a personality type and attitude, than a look.

After talking with someone a few times, you'll know whether they are a hipster or not.

 

[Plugger35]

Back when I was in school the two main subcultures were surfies and bogans. I went to City Beach High School, which is just a stones throw from the beach, so it was mainly a surfie subculture at school.

There was the group of hardcore surfers who would surf every day before and after school, had the long blonde hair surfer looks and used all the surfer lingo like "gnarly" and "going off" when talking about surf conditions and always had their heads buried in surf magazines during classes drooling over all the wicked moves that Occhy and Kelly Slater were pulling off.

Then there was the group of normal guys like me who weren't hardcore surfers but would still wear surf clothes like Rip Curl and Billabong and occasionally went down the beach to boogie board or body surf and then you had a small group of bogans, emos and other assorted nerds, weirdos and social outcasts that everyone else picked on and made fun of. Hipsters weren't really around back then thankfully.

exactly! I think the scene kids, like the hipsters and everyone, are more superficial in liking things than they realise. For instance, as I said earlier, Wilco became an indie/hipster fave around the time of their early 2000's albums. But Sky Blue Sky is the most anti-hip, anti-pitchfork album you could get, it's like something from the 70's. I love it personally, Wilco fans would, but indie/hipster kids that are all about the look would hate it and write it off as dad rock. Not to mention that Wilco, above all else, have been a Country band.

Bands like Radiohead and Nirvana have had too much mainstream success to really be pegged in to one scene. Calling Radiohead emo has always been a cop-out, a red flag that the person is not worth listening to. Radiohead may have had influence over the music that emos, indies and hipsters like, but that doesnt make it any of them really. Hell, Radiohead had U2 influences on their early albums.

Yeah Radiohead aren't an emo or a hipster band although there are no doubt emos and hipsters that are fans of them. I've been a Radiohead fan going back to their early days and I'm neither an emo or a hipster. I went to one of their concerts here back in the late 90s and the crowd there was pretty much just normal people both younger and older, I can't remember a lot of emos or hipsters being there.

 

[Maroon Goon]

There were a lot of these guys round when i was at school.

 

[Miqar_Baqfhied]

The quintessential Perth hipster resides at the Flying Scotsman Mt Lawley on a Sunday arvo....in a one small space never will you see so much posing.

 

[nicky]

The quintessential Perth hipster resides at the Flying Scotsman Mt Lawley on a Sunday arvo....in a one small space never will you see so much posing.

Probably not authentic hipsters.

 

[TheFreshBanana]

I think anyone who dresses in a certain way or listens to a certain type of music just to fit into a certain scene or sub-culture is a compete f*ckwit.
My true love is metal. Heavy, death, melodic, thrash, whatever. All of it. The most underrated musicians in the world are metal musicians. However I enjoy rock, indie rock, acoustic, roots, reggae etc. and play gigs where it's just me playing acoustic and singing quite regularly. If you are passionate about music it does not matter how you dress or who you hang out with in the slightest.

I think you should be criticising people that call themselves musicians, or music enthusiasts, but only enjoy one genre of music and criticise all others.

Paraphrasing here, but I heard this really good quote from Adam Hills, he basically said that if your a true fan of music, then you don't pigeon hole yourself into one genre of music and roast others for liking a different type. Same can be said for comedy.

And this doesn't apply to people from a certain subculture (or whatever the word for it is), who really just enjoy the whole routines and traditions of that culture.

Anyway, I deem subcultures to be good and healthy. It gives people an opportunity to cement their place in a society.

 

[Scotland]

Hipster, emo, indie, alternative - whatever.

Insufferable, pretentious f*ckwits come in all shapes and forms.

 

[Roobs321]

Back when I was in school the two main subcultures were surfies and bogans. I went to City Beach High School, which is just a stones throw from the beach, so it was mainly a surfie subculture at school.

There was the group of hardcore surfers who would surf every day before and after school, had the long blonde hair surfer looks and used all the surfer lingo like "gnarly" and "going off" when talking about surf conditions and always had their heads buried in surf magazines during classes drooling over all the wicked moves that Occhy and Kelly Slater were pulling off.

Then there was the group of normal guys like me who weren't hardcore surfers but would still wear surf clothes like Rip Curl and Billabong and occasionally went down the beach to boogie board or body surf and then you had a small group of bogans, emos and other assorted nerds, weirdos and social outcasts that everyone else picked on and made fun of. Hipsters weren't really around back then thankfully.

We had exactly the same deal. Although our school was 30 minutes from the beach, so only the kids that caught the bus to school tended to come from beach areas (about 60%).
I was from a beach-town though, so surfie culture was dominant on our bus (the only other thing you could do really was drink). I was a surf life saver, and did some surfing, so I guess that kept me cool enough given that I was also nerdy and did well at school.

This was in the early-to-mid 00's though, different era to yourself I guess, but still same dynamics. The bogans tended to be motorbike/car enthusiasts, often had dads that were the same, and were true NRL fans, not bandwagoning types like the regular school folk (like myself).

 

[Suspense]

Not to mention, typically male and clueless about females.

 

[Roobs321]

Awwwww

As I said, it's a generalisation, but there are lots of wise, postgrad types as well, and girls like me that are Ae fans too. Just things I noticed on Autechre forums, so it could be a forum thing instead?

 

[Silent Alarm]

I guess we had some surfies. I grew up in a beach town, but the surfies there weren't too bad – wait, no, they were, but there weren't too many of them.

They wore Quiksilver at age 16 – when everyone else had realised how naff those brands were – and were massive w***ers. Stupid tans, chico rolls, those stupid slow accents, truckers caps, mocha chill at 8 in the morning. Just unbearably dumb and irrelevant. They always thought they were cooler than what they actually were.

We had plenty of bogans as well. Always acting tougher than they were, total mummies boys, into motorbikes, and consistently too cool for phys ed. Worst dudes.

 

[HotLicks]

I guess we had some surfies. I grew up in a beach town, but the surfies there weren't too bad – wait, no, they were, but there weren't too many of them.

They wore Quiksilver at age 16 – when everyone else had realised how naff those brands were – and were massive Moos. Stupid tans, chico rolls, those stupid slow accents, truckers caps, mocha chill at 8 in the morning. Just unbearably dumb and irrelevant. They always thought they were cooler than what they actually were.

We had plenty of bogans as well. Always acting tougher than they were, total mummies boys, into motorbikes, and consistently too cool for phys ed. Worst dudes.

Hombre, temper your skeptism of all things human and try to find that inner peace, please.

 

[Roobs321]

Hombre, temper your skeptism of all things human and try to find that inner peace, please.

Lol, I see where you are coming from, but Silent Alarm is okay. It looks like you have only been here a short while, so this is probably your introduction to SA? I had a similar reaction at first too, back when SA was whining about how unfairly treated he was on a 4 hour shift at Target following a night out

But you get used to him. Probably the most interesting 18 and under personality on BF. He has that young aspect that can turn some people off, but he will outgrow that, like we all did. Other than that he seems fairly smart.

 

[Scotland]

Hipsters aren't particularly bad people, but they're infuriating and pretty selfish, vain, and (wrongly) elitist.

Just unbearably dumb and irrelevant. They always thought they were cooler than what they actually were.

You live in a big city now. Go and get your irony meter repaired.

 

[Suspense]

Awwwww

As I said, it's a generalisation, but there are lots of wise, postgrad types as well, and girls like me that are Ae fans too. Just things I noticed on Autechre forums, so it could be a forum thing instead?

i think the shoe fits.