I remember after the post-Nirvana indie explosion, after every major label had launched dummy “indie” labels and milked all the “green” from every flannel shirt in sight, bands that persisted began going small. Because they (we) had to. At a certain point in the later 90s (I don’t remember exactly when, but I was there), 30K records sold on a “dummy” indie got you dropped. Such a record made money, just not enough money.
Selling half of that on one’s own label got an artist health insurance for the first time in maybe forever. And that’s not even the best part of it. The best part is when go small. you do whatever the fuck you want. No uptight bean counter from central casting wearing a crisp new Steve McQueen racing jacket, fresh Caesar haircut and still-not-broken-in Vans suggesting your stage wardrobe.
Streaming will try to kill art’s vibrancy. It cares only about engagement. That might not matter to some people. But the people who care will always overturn rocks & logs to see where that noise is coming from.
To quote a close mutual friend of ours regarding sacrificing values to sell records: “Sure, I’ll flick it around a little, but i won’t suck it.”
Yes and yes and yes for smaller, slower, more analog. That's why I love creating art on a letterpress — doesn't get any slower than hand-setting bits of lead spacing between words. Attention being the beginning of devotion, as dear Mary O. once wrote, that work is a contemplative act that doggedly resists the forces that would bow us to AI and the surrender of our creative selves. Fuck the instant-pleasure automated game!
I've been wondering that for years – why don't musicians only post an album's singles on streaming services? Enforce the idea that streaming is a substitute for radio, not record collections.
At very least, never make bonus tracks available to stream. (Or maybe, only for a limited time. Week of release.) I probably would've re-bought most of the Zeppelin albums, just to hear the extra stuff, but I could sample via streaming, so I ended up only re-buying one.
Yes! Earlier this year, I decided to buy a record player, and when I looked at where I could buy one in Anchorage, I was shocked to see that Anchorage has a record store. How had I been so oblivious!? It has been here since 2014!! I know how I had been so oblivious….streaming. Like many, I always swore I wouldn’t go fully digital, and yet, it eventually came for me and I gave in. Listening to records this winter has brought me so much joy, and a huge part of that is because Anchorage has a local record store. I don’t have to order online, and I can go browse in person. I had forgotten how much I LOVE doing that. Plus the couple who own the shop are lovely.
Small is beautiful, and it almost inherently resists capitalism’s obsession with growth. Growth for the sake of growth is cancer, someone said somewhere. Let’s build our own local systems!
I read this shortly after the GenX piece in the NYT about creatives. I'm an elder millennial (about as elder as they come, so I have some GenX and pre-internet spirit!), and am really feeling the 'how many ways can we be and thrive in/at the small scale' mode, as I enter early middle age. Support this, this community, and Neko's work (and ever-so-affecting book, which is a treasure to me).
Thanks for mentioning that Times piece. I didn't know about it. It's good and accurate! Though kind of funny that they call us the younger siblings of Boomers. Dude, we're their kids. Front row seats at the hippie parent parade, baby.
The best part about zines is that they don't leave a digital footprint, so they're not part of the surveillance state!
I have never stopped buying music. I was a fan of St. Louis's music scene when I lived there, and while I can't get to shows (such is life with a small child), I try to support DC's music scene as much as I can through buying music from local bands. It's important to be in touch with your community in other ways too. Last week, I donated four bags of clothes to a local clothing swap, and I picked up a few pieces for myself. It's something I want to do more of. Mutual aid is essential right now as well.
Rob Carmichael is great! I worked with him on the two Mountain Goats records I did the artwork for. An amazing designer and delightful professional to collaborate with. I can't wait to see what you guys do together.
I'm so with you on going small. I've been thinking a lot about the immediate pre-internet subculture of the 80's and 90's lately. My kid's friend's dad started a...substack punk zine? out of that same set of desires and thoughts, after the election. I've been contributing crude ballpoint pen drawings to it. He also turned me on to a new print-only music mag called Record Time that fills some of the void left behind in the absence of Flipside and Puncture.
I'm pleased to say, my students don't need to be taught how to DIY. They're all making zines and taking care of each other. I will say, I am the professor who constantly tells them to boycott Spotify and why. The young artists coming up need to understand the long history of corporate theft of artists' labor, and I will not stop banging that teapot.
I’ve been so obsessed with celebrating small, indie scenes lately and agree it’s one of the major ways we can resist. And it’s not just music…it’s supporting indie writers, artisans, thinkers, etc. We can punk rock our way out of this! DIY everything. Part of it is maybe me romanticizing the Chicago music scene I sort of missed. I always wanted to see a show at Lounge Ax and to have been at Metro in the ‘90s, but I didn’t move to Chicago until 2000. But there’s still so much good local music and we just need to all be intentional about supporting it because it’s still great and it’s a better way to spend money and time than what the capitalist beast demands.
Reading your book, immersed in your music this rainy weekend in Minneapolis. I have such gratitude for you and how you’ve mined your life to create meaning & wonderful art. Thank you.
Good morning from a soon to be quite wet small corner of Texas!🤠👋We have a few people here that will resist encroaching evil with aplomb and go down swinging.Stand firm and stay strong!Dance as much as you are able.
I love the idea of going smaller. It will work if people give up Spotify, Amazon, etc. and put money into the hands of artists directly. Buy artwork, pay for Substack subscriptions, support via Patreon, buy records, go see concerts, buy books, go see indie films, etc. For real!!
Excellent piece, NC.
Small is the way to go.
I remember after the post-Nirvana indie explosion, after every major label had launched dummy “indie” labels and milked all the “green” from every flannel shirt in sight, bands that persisted began going small. Because they (we) had to. At a certain point in the later 90s (I don’t remember exactly when, but I was there), 30K records sold on a “dummy” indie got you dropped. Such a record made money, just not enough money.
Selling half of that on one’s own label got an artist health insurance for the first time in maybe forever. And that’s not even the best part of it. The best part is when go small. you do whatever the fuck you want. No uptight bean counter from central casting wearing a crisp new Steve McQueen racing jacket, fresh Caesar haircut and still-not-broken-in Vans suggesting your stage wardrobe.
Streaming will try to kill art’s vibrancy. It cares only about engagement. That might not matter to some people. But the people who care will always overturn rocks & logs to see where that noise is coming from.
To quote a close mutual friend of ours regarding sacrificing values to sell records: “Sure, I’ll flick it around a little, but i won’t suck it.”
I love how you drive on, NC.
Yes and yes and yes for smaller, slower, more analog. That's why I love creating art on a letterpress — doesn't get any slower than hand-setting bits of lead spacing between words. Attention being the beginning of devotion, as dear Mary O. once wrote, that work is a contemplative act that doggedly resists the forces that would bow us to AI and the surrender of our creative selves. Fuck the instant-pleasure automated game!
Hi Erin! And ditto to everything!!!
Hi Marko! Come play at the letterpress soon. :)
"Tme for aggressive joy through community" - couldn't agree more!!!
That’s the only plan required, really. Thank you, Neko, for the most inspiring read of my morning. :-)
I've been wondering that for years – why don't musicians only post an album's singles on streaming services? Enforce the idea that streaming is a substitute for radio, not record collections.
At very least, never make bonus tracks available to stream. (Or maybe, only for a limited time. Week of release.) I probably would've re-bought most of the Zeppelin albums, just to hear the extra stuff, but I could sample via streaming, so I ended up only re-buying one.
Yea, why doesn’t that happen?
Yes! Earlier this year, I decided to buy a record player, and when I looked at where I could buy one in Anchorage, I was shocked to see that Anchorage has a record store. How had I been so oblivious!? It has been here since 2014!! I know how I had been so oblivious….streaming. Like many, I always swore I wouldn’t go fully digital, and yet, it eventually came for me and I gave in. Listening to records this winter has brought me so much joy, and a huge part of that is because Anchorage has a local record store. I don’t have to order online, and I can go browse in person. I had forgotten how much I LOVE doing that. Plus the couple who own the shop are lovely.
can't wait for the new record. maybe do a few dates together in '26. YES, smaller !
Small is beautiful, and it almost inherently resists capitalism’s obsession with growth. Growth for the sake of growth is cancer, someone said somewhere. Let’s build our own local systems!
thank you for this analogy!
I read this shortly after the GenX piece in the NYT about creatives. I'm an elder millennial (about as elder as they come, so I have some GenX and pre-internet spirit!), and am really feeling the 'how many ways can we be and thrive in/at the small scale' mode, as I enter early middle age. Support this, this community, and Neko's work (and ever-so-affecting book, which is a treasure to me).
Thanks for mentioning that Times piece. I didn't know about it. It's good and accurate! Though kind of funny that they call us the younger siblings of Boomers. Dude, we're their kids. Front row seats at the hippie parent parade, baby.
Re: smaller and avoiding Spotify…
Deerhoof recently released their latest single on Craigslist! Pretty genius.
Always look forward to your writing. Take care.
Ha! Thats amazing! Go, Deerhoof!
The best part about zines is that they don't leave a digital footprint, so they're not part of the surveillance state!
I have never stopped buying music. I was a fan of St. Louis's music scene when I lived there, and while I can't get to shows (such is life with a small child), I try to support DC's music scene as much as I can through buying music from local bands. It's important to be in touch with your community in other ways too. Last week, I donated four bags of clothes to a local clothing swap, and I picked up a few pieces for myself. It's something I want to do more of. Mutual aid is essential right now as well.
Rob Carmichael is great! I worked with him on the two Mountain Goats records I did the artwork for. An amazing designer and delightful professional to collaborate with. I can't wait to see what you guys do together.
I'm so with you on going small. I've been thinking a lot about the immediate pre-internet subculture of the 80's and 90's lately. My kid's friend's dad started a...substack punk zine? out of that same set of desires and thoughts, after the election. I've been contributing crude ballpoint pen drawings to it. He also turned me on to a new print-only music mag called Record Time that fills some of the void left behind in the absence of Flipside and Puncture.
I'm pleased to say, my students don't need to be taught how to DIY. They're all making zines and taking care of each other. I will say, I am the professor who constantly tells them to boycott Spotify and why. The young artists coming up need to understand the long history of corporate theft of artists' labor, and I will not stop banging that teapot.
November, yes! Rob’s book is out in November ;)
I’ve been so obsessed with celebrating small, indie scenes lately and agree it’s one of the major ways we can resist. And it’s not just music…it’s supporting indie writers, artisans, thinkers, etc. We can punk rock our way out of this! DIY everything. Part of it is maybe me romanticizing the Chicago music scene I sort of missed. I always wanted to see a show at Lounge Ax and to have been at Metro in the ‘90s, but I didn’t move to Chicago until 2000. But there’s still so much good local music and we just need to all be intentional about supporting it because it’s still great and it’s a better way to spend money and time than what the capitalist beast demands.
Thanks Neko! This was a great read
Keep up the good work, Neko!
Reading your book, immersed in your music this rainy weekend in Minneapolis. I have such gratitude for you and how you’ve mined your life to create meaning & wonderful art. Thank you.
I grew up in S Minneapolis near lake street and 30th.
Good morning from a soon to be quite wet small corner of Texas!🤠👋We have a few people here that will resist encroaching evil with aplomb and go down swinging.Stand firm and stay strong!Dance as much as you are able.
I love the idea of going smaller. It will work if people give up Spotify, Amazon, etc. and put money into the hands of artists directly. Buy artwork, pay for Substack subscriptions, support via Patreon, buy records, go see concerts, buy books, go see indie films, etc. For real!!