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Indie kids + god in america

autopilot disengaged

20:41 / 18.08.05

ok, so i'm interviewing Sufjan Stevens for Plan B magazine, and am planning on doing it a little like this -

as some of you may be aware, Sufjan (who has also played with the Danielson Famile) is a christian musician whose ambitious project to produce an album about each of the 50 states is becoming more and more religious in focus. now, he's not recognised by the contemporary christian music industry 'cause he's more a cult figure whose lyrics are more open to ambiguity and etc than the thrashing choirs of firestream.com.

so, i'm going to ask him about his relation to the christian music scene, but more importantly want to focus on the audience that has embraced him - this being college radio and indie rock culture.

now, if this was the uk, i'd assume most of these people wd be atheists, creating an interesting relationship between the two. but maybe this isn't the case...? just how religious (or, as in the UK, non-religious) are these groups likely to be?

how holy are yr campuses, yr obscurist record shops?

02:03 / 19.08.05

Well, I think "indie" (as much as there is one indie scene) is a lot more tolerant of Christianity than most other subcultures, which simply seem to have Christian doppelgangers. Pedro the Lion was a big deal in indie at a certain point, and he originally marketed Christian. It's the sincerity thing. But in general, I don't think the religious stuff plays any major role in the culture -- it's not like there were any church fliers or pro-life literature floating around the club when I saw Pedro the Lion play (as opposed to when I saw the Christian punk bands a couple years ago). Death Cab for Cutie were supposed to open, but the bassist's grandma died or something. Then again, I first heard about PtL* from a born-again Christian girl who found my mp3.com site and though we sounded similar. It's a Venn diagram deal, I think. Two crowds that find a common ground.

* Does that monogram mean anything to you? Around here, it's associated with televangelism -- PTL being "Praise the Lord," a TV ministry set up by I think the Bakkers.

autopilot disengaged

06:16 / 19.08.05

hm. ok, thx grant - PTL wdn't have meant anything to me till i started to research this stuff for the interview, but i've come across the various flavours of televangelism and the like now...

i guess my main question relates to the fact that over here, i imagine there'd be few subcultures as indie less likely to be religious - and few areas as less likely as campuses...

i'm just wondering it, fundamentally, some mutual patronisation is going on here...

06:56 / 19.08.05

I think in the states you'll find we have a Christian subset of every music genre. It's a skill. Should this be in music?

autopilot disengaged

09:41 / 19.08.05

not reeeeally - my biggest interest is the average religious make-up of american college students.

09:50 / 19.08.05

Groovy, then here it shall remain. Have you tried webcasts of sundry college radio stations? Seeing who's got Relient K in heavy rotation?

autopilot disengaged

09:58 / 19.08.05

no, but i did listen to some Reliant K. my religious tolerance dropped about ten points. that said, i did find myself muttering 'Jeeee-sus', so perhaps they were partially successful...

essentially, i was just wondering about those of y'all who've attended (or are attending) college in the US, how visible christianity (for the purposes of this article) is around campus and in the college population - how well-integrated or pervasive its influence is.

is a college kid in the states just as likely to believe in God as the average joe? 'cause that's really alien to my experience of the UK higher education system.

10:18 / 19.08.05

I've been to three US colleges, going on four. In my second one, I was swept up by a terribly charming girl who took me to her church and who I would've adored hanging out with, but it seemed like our conversations always turned back to Jesus. Whenever there's a club fair, there's usually a couple christianty related booths. However, I have no idea how connected this is with indie rock. `

In the nineties, I used to listen to a college station, WXCI, which was the best station in the area, far and away. I never heard a single religious song on the station. I didn't hear any Christian rock on the college station at Tulane, but then I only tuned in for my friends' shows.

The thing with indie rock lately is that it's hard to tell if the lyrics are about Jesus or a chick, you know? Par example, Relient K, "Be My Escape" or whatever it's called. You just can't tell. No names are mentioned, no gendered pronouns either. I'll try to tune into the radio stations around here- (NC State, UNC-CH, and Duke). I'm sort of in one of the holes of the bible belt at the moment- lots of worshipful folk, but plenty of godless sinners as well. Anyway. I'll check it out and get back to you if you like.

autopilot disengaged

10:26 / 19.08.05

fundamentally, though - of those who expressed a preference - what kind of percentage of college-goers wd you say wd identify as believers (in whatever modest way)?

10:30 / 19.08.05

Hmmm... tough to put a percentage on it. I'd say maybe ten percent at my wee public liberal arts college, if that. It was a rather whimsical school, and we were most of us prone to vagueness in virtually all things. I couldn't speak for Tulane or Albany- too large, and I didn't meet enough people. As for UNC, we'll just have to see.

17:41 / 19.08.05

At Miami U. here in Ohio, we have a large amount of Fundies. In fact i believe this campus has the largest Campus Crusade group in the country. We also have a very active Young Republicans group. I don't think this a normal trend in college campuses though. Miami sits pretty much smack dab in the middle of Middle-class America, so i think that accounts for its sizable christian population. I don't know if i could pinpoint a percentage though.

17:52 / 19.08.05

autopilot, I would say Christian indie rockers make up exactly 47.892345439% of college-age indie rocker types in these United States of America.

autopilot disengaged

19:47 / 19.08.05

now *that's what i'm 'talkin' 'bout'. good work Q. i'll want satellite photos on my desk by 2300 hrs GMT - oh, and a backrub.

...you're lucky we brits don't understand irony...

23:24 / 19.08.05

Flannel Jacket:1992 :: Christianity:2005

Goodness Gracious Meme

00:23 / 20.08.05

there'd be few subcultures as indie less likely to be religious

You think?

I'm not convinced, at all, from my limited(ie personal, anecdotal, from stuff I've written) experience of the indie scene.

To bastardise Richard Smith, Indie is the uber-Millwall of pop music - Keep it White, Keep it Straight.

There are exceptions, but I can't easily imagine indie being less receptive to a Christian audience than to a black/queer one.

11:21 / 20.08.05

The white hets of indie don't like to think of themselves as dreary social conservatives, though. Maybe they're freaked out by non-whites and/or non-hets and don't want to be around them, but would they ever say so?

P.S. Christian != racist/homophobic. Even Christian Rockers.

11:21 / 20.08.05

Well, homophobic is a lot more likely. Still.