Notes from the Industrial Underground

Since the Industrial Revolution there has been a drive through Dadaist Art and Futurist music to explore the alienation and new social order about by the change from an agrarian society based on manual labor to a mechanized society based on machine labor and mass production. The change in society wrought by the Industrial Revolution also brought about a socioeconomic class system that sharpened the disparity between rich and poor and still exists today. Dotcom millionaires co-exist with overeducated and unemployed middle class kids waiting tables and immigrants who perform backbreaking labor in sweatshops and fields for less than a living wage. A constant barrage of advertising and TV make sure that even the poorest immigrant sees how the rich and famous live so that they stay motivated to spend whatever money they can scrape up for that latest fancy cell phone or name brand shirt. The Romans used bread and circuses to keep the lower class under control; today we have McDonald's and reality TV.

In the late 70's UK youth railed against that class system with punk music, drawing attention to the struggles of poor, alienated people to survive. These intelligent and underemployed youth fought back against the mainstream for survival using the writings of political theorists, revolutionaries, and philosophers to inspire their cause. Out of the ashes of the punk scene that imploded in the early 80's grew a revolutionary musical movement that would become the Industrial/Electro music scene. The early Electro/Industrial artists like Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb used electronic music and drum machines to underscore lyrics that explored the disillusionment and alienation left in the wake of the greed and excess of the 80's and in the shadow of the Cold War where Communism and Fascism were very real threats.

Even though during the late 80's/early 90's Industrial music was linked with Gothic music and was often played back to back with Gothic artists in underground, Industrial music and modern derivations of Industrial music like Electro, and Synthpop are completely different species from Gothic music. Gothic music tends to be classically influenced and rooted in a Romantic style. Gothic music themes are usually about lost love, vampires, eternal longing, vampires, dramatic expressions of emotion, and vampires. Industrial and related music themes are usually social and cultural commentary on issues like war, poverty, power struggle, dehumanization, machine vs. man etc. The Gothic subculture movement was formed mainly around a particular dramatic aesthetic in music and fashion, with no real substance behind it. This is why Goth became the mass-marketed irrelevant mess that it is today.

Industrial/Electro music was build on much more substantive themes, and remains as relevant today as it was 20 years ago. Industrial music shuns the past, and celebrates the future even if that future might be bleak. Embracing the Pre-Socratic idea that change is the only constant Industrial music exists in a particular moment of time, expressing the emotions of that particular moment while looking always looking to the future.

As advanced technology became a permanent fixture of modern life the themes of Industrial music became more and more relevant as a way for individuals to express confusion, dissatisfaction, and anger at the cultural events unfolding around the world and the continued dehumanization and devaluation of the individual. The current political and military situations around the world have been breeding grounds for new Industrial and Electro acts to explore their anger at terrorism, war, military occupation, fascism, political corruption and the bleak conditions that are creating a wider socioeconomic gap than ever before, and the growing desperation of the people caught in the middle.

There was a brief period in the early and mid 90's where the economy was good, there was work, and the cultural situation wasn't quite as dismal. Electronic music shifted a bit at that point and became more dance-oriented. During that time EBM (Electronic Body Music), IDM (Industrial Dance Music), and Synthpop began to rise in popularity with more dance oriented beats and more dance club friendly remixes. Usually when a society is running well with a balance between classes and no major crisis such as economic recession or more socioeconomic strife than necessary the art produced during that period will take on a more upbeat, optimistic tone. Thankfully for the sake of good music, Bush stole his way into office and led us into an economic recession, war, increased poverty due to the shrinkage of the middle class, and a culture programmed to fear of impending terrorist attacks from countries and groups we've pissed off by raping, torturing and murdering their citizens. With all of that going on, artists and musicians should have plenty of material to draw from for the next decade.

Our increased dependency on technology and the rapid pace of technological advancement has led to another shift in Industrial music. Industrial music has moved even more towards a Futurist aesthetic by focusing on using new technology and old technology in new ways to create ever more Industrial sounding music while at the same time embracing other musical components that it hadn't before. Some Industrial artists now have their drum machines kicking out intense tribal beats that mimic those found in rituals practiced by primitive tribes from other countries that still resonant with people in modern societies. It's not surprising really, as the massive wave of globalization brought about by the advanced technology we use everyday leaves us even more isolated from each other and searching for a sense of connection to something greater than ourselves. In the Brave New World that is 21st Century American society, Industrial music is more relevant than ever as an expression of isolation, of dissatisfaction, and as a catalyst to bring together people who choose to exist outside mainstream culture.