Topic D, Part 4: Indie ain't nothing but a circuit.

Quickly now:

I recall the word "indie" being applied, in Britain, to the sound of the music instead of the situation of the band, much like Anonymous' definition below. I'm not sure how long this has been the case in the UK, but certainly during the Brit Pop era, I remember bands such as Blur being referred to as "indie" by the English press, even when their records were released by (and on) major labels.

Also, even though I only spent four years in a band that was on an independent label -- with no financial assistance beyond funding grants, whatever the label could spare, and the money we made from touring and selling t-shirts -- I know how tight things can be and how much further into debt one can slide in order to continue cutting records and playing live, in order to continue making music. When I left, we were at the point where we were selling our songs to anyone who'd have them (though we did decline a deal that involved Pepsi, so I suppose we can high-five ourselves for that, har har); I'm sure a lot of people thought we'd "sold out" much earlier than we had, and in a much bigger/badder way.

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