DOI: 10.17903/fk2/sdqgql
title: Musical Identities: Life-stories of musicians and bands of the Greek independent rock scene.

description: A. In general The aim of this research (conducted in Athens between 1990 and 1993) is to investigate the meaning and function, at a mainly psychosocial level, of musical activity in the context of the Greek independent rock scene. Musical activity is defined as the creation and formation of a music group in order to publicize this music and achieve social recognition by the micro-environment of musicians and, if possible, by a wider audience. As for the independent stage, it is a psychological, social and evaluative space: the various participants (musicians, audiences, room owners, record producers, concert organizers, etc.) are recognized as members of this category without necessarily knowing each other and have various common customs, rituals and references. Among the latter, the capital position is occupied by self-positioning outside the major mass cultural currents (mainly rock) and the (more or less "militarized") rejection of these currents. B. Theoretical and methodological conditions I wanted to look for the meaning of musical activity in the articulation of the mental and social factors that led individuals to it. Musical activity is produced by a specific course in which elements are intertwined mentally, family, culturally and socially. The method used in collecting the material is life storytelling. This method favors the emergence of all the aforementioned aspects of human reality, as it is placed at the level of individual-society interaction and allows the expression of the (subjective) conception of social reality. The eighteen people who told me their story are not representative of a population that is described with statistical clarity. What stands out here is the relief presentation of the psychosocial dynamics that determine their path. The latter has two aspects: (a) a production aspect of the subjects (causal mental, cultural, social order) and (b) a "feedback" aspect, energy on the system, (less or more creative) self-production of the subjects. C. Overall presentation - Findings The first chapter presents an overview of the literature on the issue of both rock music (history, sociological approaches) and other areas that are either directly related to it (mass and youth culture and vendettas, margin and active minorities), or can enrich its understanding (mainly anthropological dimensions and perspectives). The second chapter presents some information regarding rock music in Greece (penetration, installation and treatment of this type of music), as well as regarding the independent scene itself (demarcation, description of its main "institutions": musicians and bands, places and concert modes, record companies, special independent press). This chapter also attempts to regard the independent scene as a "tribe" (according to Maffesoli's theoretical model), that is, as a sociability or "existential network". The third chapter presents in general the position of the biographical approach in the social sciences and its main principles. The issue of mediation groups (which allow the individual to experience his / her individuality and to register in the social environment) and the contribution to the psychosocial perspective are also discussed. Finally, the methodological and "practical" peculiarities in the conduct of this research are presented. Regarding now the major axes that emerge from the analysis of the narratives: The fourth chapter is dedicated to musical models and their use by the listener - first - and then musician. This use is dual and complementary: - on the one hand, the musical references (musical preferences) play a primary role in the formation of the musical-social identity of the listener (they lay the foundation for the further development of his musical identity), - on the other hand, this listener, answering the call of the music creation, goes beyond both the capacity of the listener (level of identity), as well as these references themselves (stylistic level). The result is the formation of the music-social identity of the musician-creator (incomparable, unique, according to the principles of the theory of social originality) with his own personal style of music creation (based on musical references and at the same time exceeds them). The fifth chapter describes the way in which musicians negotiate the issue of the possibility of completely spontaneous self-expression (undiminished core of "rock ideology") through the use of the music code (which largely refers to the ability to play the band's music and guarantees its social survival). Music creation,like music production and activity in general, they appear here as a symbolic meeting place of the two former. In fact, the goal of the musician is to put the code in the service of spontaneity, so that the musical activity is not experienced as a enslavement of desire by the rule. The sixth chapter describes the social combinations (musical-social experimentation that begin at the level of the company with criteria not necessarily of a musical nature) which end in the consolidation of the specific group-group, "we". The latter is described as an entity that transcends the individuals that make it up by allowing them to identify with each other (love relationship), identify with it (the band is power) and refer to it as an organism, whose existence and formation imply organization, interactions and group experiences. The seventh chapter presents the issues related to the notification of music and the social existence of the band in general. The musicians here project their most important ideal: to be placed outside of commercial criteria and at the same time to experience the absolute exchange with their audience. The audience, especially at the time of the concert, is a place of collective identification and a mirror in which the band imagines the ultimate reflection of its every movement and creative act, culminating in the merging and abolition of the roles of musician and listener. However, there is a desire to "control" this somewhat chaotic communication, which refers to a willingness to negotiate with the reality and the problems of (each) social contract. The eighth chapter proposes a broader model of understanding music activity as an attempt to take our subjects out of the world of Others (where they existed as children and as music consumers): enrolling in society through the clothing of the musician's identity is a revision of re-formulation (with possible repetition) of the relationship between the generations, a will to integrate into reality in general - even if the relationship with it is defined somewhat contradictory and / or negative, ie through the will to maintain self-sufficiency and belief that the present identity of the subject is eternal. In conclusion, this research attempts to describe aspects of the psychological, cultural and social dynamics that identify a series of psychosocial processes that lead our subjects from a position of hetero-defined listener-consumer to a position of independent and self-determined creator. The formation of a band, the social existence within the independent scene, the musical identity in short, is not just a "professional" goal, but the principle that governs the organization of the narration of the personal (but also group) history of the subjects and gives coherence to the (on mental, symbolic and social) level "adventures" of their existence. The history of this musical identity is the expression of a simultaneous effort - autonomy in relation to the redefinition and dependence experienced at the mental and family level (child, adolescent) and socio-cultural (listener, passive recipient), - and registration in a new, "socialized", space of existence (albeit relatively "protected" and "protective"), the independent scene, which (supposedly) allows the realization of dreams and, above all, integration into reality.