The indie music genre has no doubt grown and shifted immensely since it had a peak in the ’90s. Thanks to the upcoming Apple Music series I Miss ’90s Indie, listeners will now be able to uncover some nostalgic ’90s music and learn how artists like Sleater-Kinney and Beck continue to shape the music landscape today.
Over six episodes, I Miss ’90s Indie will take a deep dive into the world of ’90s indie and explore the ethos of the distinct sound. Host Strombo will cover the importance of the indie music genre by featuring insights direct from ’90s indie originators such as Beck, Liz Phair, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, Bob Nastanovich of Pavement and Silver Jews, Britt Daniel of Spoon, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and Stephin Merrit of The Magnetic Fields. The series will then contrast veteran indie rockers with commentary from contemporary artists like Kurt Vile, Soccer Mommy, and Perfume Genius, who will speak about how ’90s indie informed their current sound.
In an upcoming installment of I Miss ’90s Indie, Brownstein details her experience on what was important in the 90s Indie scene at the time:
“There was a time when Indie was about having the ideological and literal freedom to operate outside of corporate culture. There was definitely a time when it felt like there were a lot of artistic compromises that might come with signing to a major label. There were also benefits of course, and most of those were financial and broader exposure. But there was a real push to be Indie at a certain time. That it symbolized an ethos that a lot of people really believed in, that there was kind of a purity or an authenticity married to this notion of Indie.”
Along with speaking to artists directly, I Miss ’90s Indie will focus on the culture of indie music. It will explore how the ’90s indie scene was shaped by music venues and the proliferation of zines, the act of discovering music at a record store, and how the advent of the internet changed the genre forever.
I Miss ’90s Indie is the latest installation of Apple Music’s I Miss… series. It follows hit shows that similarly unpacked niche genres of music like I Miss Britpop, I Miss Golden Age Hip-Hop, I Miss ’90s Country, and I Miss Emo.
I Miss ’90s Indie premieres 5/2 at 10 am PT. Tune in here.