Is there still such a thing as an Underground Scene?

[ↄOx-fiVes-xOc]

He⅃Lo! I never had anyone in my circle that was "cool" in that sense, so I'm not familiar with any kind of underground culture.
Were you ever a part of one?

 

[juicy_ricky]

I am part of the underground rave scene in the Southeast US- I DJ and attend these parties on a regular basis. Ton of great parties/rave/burns going on all the time if you know where to look. 30,000 watt custom sound systems booming in a warehouse until 8am. House, techno, electro, garage, jungle/dnb....you name it. I've seen DJs that play at Berghain and clubs of a similar caliber for free in small, D.I.Y. venues. A lot of these events don't allow phones or photography(or highly frown on it), so you can feel free to be as weird as you want without it being broadcast on the internet 5 min later. Extremely talented people from Louisville down to Atlanta and New Orleans, from Memphis on over to Knoxville and the Carolinas...I imagine Texas and Florida also have some cool stuff going on but I can't speak on that from personal experience. When I was in high school I'd say the same thing for the underground metal/hardcore scene, but I'm not really a part of that anymore so I'm not sure what state it is in ~2022.

 

[InsufferableCynic]

The "smash the system, man!" kind of underground doesn't really exist anymore because it became mainstream. We are at a strange point right now where radical ideas like alienating half the population or tearing down government institutions because you don't like the decisions they make are being encouraged by megacorporations on twitter and not really being questioned or stopped by the status quo in any way.

The REAL underground now is people who go against the oligarchs, which is a rare movement, but it doesn't really have a "scene" anymore. No weird clothing or silly hair styles, no underground clubs or music. It's usually just everyday people on forums who are sick of all the bullshit.

As for the "underground music scene" in the traditional sense, yeah I think it still exists. I am not a part of it other than having gone to some warehouse parties. To me it felt like it was a prepackaged monetized and highly sanitised "indie scene", but I could have just had a bad experience. I guess maybe I am just a jaded old man at this point, but it seems basically everything - including real human connections and expression - are basically fake at this point.

 

[juicy_ricky]

The "smash the system, man!" kind of underground doesn't really exist anymore because it became mainstream. We are at a strange point right now where radical ideas like alienating half the population or tearing down government institutions because you don't like the decisions they make are being encouraged by megacorporations on twitter and not really being questioned or stopped by the status quo in any way.

The REAL underground now is people who go against the oligarchs, which is a rare movement, but it doesn't really have a "scene" anymore. No weird clothing or silly hair styles, no underground clubs or music. It's usually just everyday people on forums who are sick of all the bullshit.

As for the "underground music scene" in the traditional sense, yeah I think it still exists. I am not a part of it other than having gone to some warehouse parties. To me it felt like it was a prepackaged monetized and highly sanitised "indie scene", but I could have just had a bad experience. I guess maybe I am just a jaded old man at this point, but it seems basically everything - including real human connections and expression - are basically fake at this point.

I know precisely the kind of shit you are talking about - promoters marketing something as "underground" when it very clearly isn't...to me it's not underground unless it's a D.I.Y kind of affair with very little money involved. If the goal is to turn a profit, it ain't underground. Gotta be for the love of the music 100%. I've been let down enough to know the difference at this point. The rebellion we are talking about (the smash the system variety) is definitely a hiding-in-plain-sight thing now, people going against the grain in their own way, keeping their head down...

 

[InsufferableCynic]

I know precisely the kind of shit you are talking about - promoters marketing something as "underground" when it very clearly isn't...to me it's not underground unless it's a D.I.Y kind of affair with very little money involved. If the goal is to turn a profit, it ain't underground. Gotta be for the love of the music 100%. I've been let down enough to know the difference at this point. The rebellion we are talking about (the smash the system variety) is definitely a hiding-in-plain-sight thing now, people going against the grain in their own way, keeping their head down...

Yeah, a good example of this is, there's a music festival in Sydney called "splendour in the grass"

It generally markets itself as some sort of community effort to "help climate change", and encourages people to do things like camp and "be yourselves" and "we're all kinds of people"

Their website has a whole photo album dedicated to the "unique and wacky" people that go there.

But their lineup is always generic trash, and the company that runs it is managed by the msot degenerate, backstabbing assholes that exists. Actual SJW power-tripper types. All about "the message and the core important community initiatives" while basically playing political games to destroy everyone and monopolise the space.

Underground artists have been stonewalled, ripped off, and generally poorly treated by them, to the point where there's a whole community of artists that want nothing to do with them and the company that runs them.

I feel the whole undreground scene is full of these sorts of parasites, and not much else.

 

[ThePetlessZuy]

I am part of the underground rave scene in the Southeast US- I DJ and attend these parties on a regular basis. Ton of great parties/rave/burns going on all the time if you know where to look. 30,000 watt custom sound systems booming in a warehouse until 8am. House, techno, electro, garage, jungle/dnb....you name it. I've seen DJs that play at Berghain and clubs of a similar caliber for free in small, D.I.Y. venues. A lot of these events don't allow phones or photography(or highly frown on it), so you can feel free to be as weird as you want without it being broadcast on the internet 5 min later. Extremely talented people from Louisville down to Atlanta and New Orleans, from Memphis on over to Knoxville and the Carolinas...I imagine Texas and Florida also have some cool stuff going on but I can't speak on that from personal experience. When I was in high school I'd say the same thing for the underground metal/hardcore scene, but I'm not really a part of that anymore so I'm not sure what state it is in ~2022.

Anything ever go down in Birmingham? We have some small raves and micro-festivals but nothing I'm aware of that you'd call underground outside of some punk and metal shows here or there.

My wife and I make it to Atlanta and New Orleans quite a bit so I'll definitely keep my ears open for those.

 

[juicy_ricky]

Anything ever go down in Birmingham? We have some small raves and micro-festivals but nothing I'm aware of that you'd call underground outside of some punk and metal shows here or there.

My wife and I make it to Atlanta and New Orleans quite a bit so I'll definitely keep my ears open for those.

Dirty south until the world explodes!!! I'm not sure about Birmingham...I've heard there is some cool stuff going on there but I can't speak firsthand on it. a LOT of metal shows there when I was younger, not sure what it's like now. Drove through on my way to New Orleans a couple weeks ago and really wanted to stop . Alabama seemed pretty underrated from what I saw (also the birthplace of Milo's sweet tea ). Atlanta and New Orleans are both popping pretty much every weekend and it's not real hard to find something to do! For Atlanta I highly recommend checking out anything these guys put on - pure class and they always book great artists. The Bakery in ATL has cool stuff going on most weekends. If you get a chance to see Nikki Nair play anywhere, do it. Good friend of mine and he's blowing up in the DJ world right now (he just played a Boiler Room set in India that was tremendous) Also check out Stefan Ringer, Ash Lauryn, and Kai Alce for some quality house music. I'll be moving to New Orleans with my wife in the next six months or so -will report back then. Absolutely fell in love with that city on first sight and can't keep away. it's dirty, run down, old....full of music, magic, and superstition. No where else like it.

 

[ThePetlessZuy]

Absolutely fell in love with that city on first sight and can't keep away. it's dirty, run down, old....full of music, magic, and superstition. No where else like it.

I'm right there with you. I go at least once a year, my birthday is usually around Mardi Gras so it makes a great trip. My wife and I were actually getting ready to move there before the Roe V. Wade overturning and the Louisiana GOP announced not only banning abortion, but birth control and CONDOMS. So yeah no chance we'd put up with that.

 

[ThePetlessZuy]

Dirty south until the world explodes!!! I'm not sure about Birmingham...I've heard there is some cool stuff going on there but I can't speak firsthand on it. a LOT of metal shows there when I was younger, not sure what it's like now. Drove through on my way to New Orleans a couple weeks ago and really wanted to stop . Alabama seemed pretty underrated from what I saw (also the birthplace of Milo's sweet tea ). Atlanta and New Orleans are both popping pretty much every weekend and it's not real hard to find something to do! For Atlanta I highly recommend checking out anything these guys put on - pure class and they always book great artists. The Bakery in ATL has cool stuff going on most weekends. If you get a chance to see Nikki Nair play anywhere, do it. Good friend of mine and he's blowing up in the DJ world right now (he just played a Boiler Room set in India that was tremendous) Also check out Stefan Ringer, Ash Lauryn, and Kai Alce for some quality house music. I'll be moving to New Orleans with my wife in the next six months or so -will report back then. Absolutely fell in love with that city on first sight and can't keep away. it's dirty, run down, old....full of music, magic, and superstition. No where else like it.

Also Birmingham is a lot cooler than it gets credit for. We have so many good breweries, a cool music scene, and lots of great venues, small and big. Every third Wednesday of the month there's an EDM festival at Avondale brewery called fire jam with DJs playing house music and fire throwers with cool visuals on a stage projector. It's really sick and worth checking out sometime. It's not advertised but it's not exactly underground, still worth a visit.

 

[juicy_ricky]

Also Birmingham is a lot cooler than it gets credit for. We have so many good breweries, a cool music scene, and lots of great venues, small and big. Every third Wednesday of the month there's an EDM festival at Avondale brewery called fire fest with DJs playing house music and fire throwers with cool visuals on a stage projector. It's really sick and worth checking out sometime. It's not advertised but it's not exactly underground, still worth a visit.

That sounds sick! I will definitely check that out. My uncle lives in Birmingham - haven't seen him in a long time. Seems like a good excuse to visit

 

[Some_porcupine]

Antithesis; there is no underground The Underground is a Lie /thread, if you look out for it on agora iirc

 

[nobo]

I grew up in the 90s and early 2000s being into hardcore/punk music. While I somewhat grew out of it and moved on to other music eventually, it shaped my ethos. It's the reason I'm into DIY websites and stuff like that to this day.

It's kind of different now with everyone being on the Internet. Even the zoomers that are trying to throw back to that era don't really get it or know how to do it, which to be fair, I can't blame them. The punk scene doesn't really make sense in the "everyone has a smart phone" era. It's not their fault.

The whole hipster era is definitely over and probably for the best. But you could argue in some ways, we're a weird new type of Internet hipster who is using website like this one instead of something else.

 

[Chuffed]

...
The whole hipster era is definitely over and probably for the best.

I 'd noticed it dried up... the music, the clothes... I hadn't considered the fact that it was dead though until you mentioned it. I should probably shave the oversized ironic 'stache.

 

[4d1]

we're a weird new type of Internet hipster who is using website like this one instead of something else.

precisely. the new underground is online in corners where few would think to venture. realspace is purely an economic phenomenon that sometimes has grass. the real things get exchanged and go down online, especially since lockdown. subcultures which could never arise out of reality are where people go to do stuff that is "hardcore"

I see so many bubbles on my travels online of people who make cool music together, raves, etc. worldwide.

"network states" are the new underground subculture

 

[upanddown-cursive]

I suppose the world of the warez scene and private trackers is relatively untapped by mainstream society. All you ever see is NFOs and releases, but nobody ever gets a glimpse in their conversations and hidden culture. Even people who engage in piracy are often unaware of this scene and if they do, it's just a very superficial knowledge. As time goes on, this obscurity will only increase, in the early times many involved in gaming also knew about the warez scene, but these days it's a much less. I don't see starring at IDA Pro and x64dbg for 16 hours a day just to make a Keygen becoming a popular trend on Tiktok or Instagram. People having only a superficial interest in warez scene culture, appropriating slang already happened long time ago, though it didn't change the fact that the scene is still as underground as it gets. You need either profound reverse engineering skills (the keyword here is Denuvo), extensive knowledge of graphics APIs to make impressive cracktros, or access to unreleased software in some company to get a position in a scene group, things that the average Joe will never have.

I never was part of the scene, I'm far too unskilled for that, but I knew people, who were involved in it.