Indie Rock

1. A rock band that hasn't been signed on to a record label. Therefore, an independently managed rock band.
2. A band that fits under the label 'indie-rock' which nowadays rarely actualy means a band without a record label but instead fits the general 'indie-rock' sound.

Their followers may not necessarily follow them because they like their music but just to be able to have something obscure on their I-Pod and to be able to criticize people who don't like or haven't heard of said band.
If a band manages to sign a record deal or get on a popular radio station they will often loose a large chunk of their fan base who now no longer consider them 'indie' enough for them and will deem them as 'sell-outs'.
Indie-rock is usually simply referred to as Indie.
Keep an eye out for people who want to get attention or be considered 'cool' for liking indie music. People like these are often referred to as Indie Posers or Hipsters. These people fall into two major categories:
1. Those who download hoards of indie rock playlists and keep the songs whether they like them or not. They get great enjoyment from watching their friends scroll through their artists and not recognizing any of them.
2. The people who know only four or five indie bands but still think that they're avid listeners to the music. They get really disappointed when they find out that most of their friends know those bands too. They normally only know one or two songs from each artist.
Some of the well know Indie Rock bands are: Arcade Fire, Wintersleep, Arctic Monkeys, the Decemberists, Phoenix, the Holloways, Mumm-Ra, Modest Mouse.

An example of an Independent band is Hawksley Workmen.

Friend: Oh hey, can I see your I-Pod?
Indie Poser: Sure. But you probably won't know any of the artists, they're all pretty obscure.
Friend: Wintersleep, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade fire, I love those bands. Although a couple of songs on the album Funeral took a bit of time to get used to. What did you think of it?
Indie Poser: Er, what?
-Indie Poser pwnd-

Indie Poser1: Do you know -insert obscure band name here-
Indie Poser2: Duh. Of course. How could anyone not have heard of them?
-Indie Poser1 is now deletes that band from their I-Pod. Indie Poser2 adds their entire album since they'd never heard of them before.

The best way to mess with their minds is to ask them if they know a band who's name you just made up. Wait for an appropriate time after they've agreed they're fans of it to say you made it up. Watch them squirm.
by MunchingMunster February 19, 2011
Get the Indie Rock mug.