From the Basement: A History of Emo Music and How It Changed Society

A Look at the History of the Emo and Indie Music Era

Explore the cultural, social, and psychological factors surrounding the genres. Though songs can be timeless, music is often a result of the era in which it was created. The 2000s in music gave rise to indie, emo, and punk rock, carrying an emotional tone that has resonated with listeners ever since. Originally appealing to a small selection of music lovers, this music era now holds a significant place in the history of rock.

The relationship between music and mental health. Music leaves its mark on the world by touching the hearts and minds of its creators and listeners. This book explores that connection and takes a look at what emo, alternative, and indie music did for the mental health of musicians and listeners.

Inside stories from the music legends themselves. The voices of the rock musicians who contributed to these genres of music are just as important now as they were then. Author Taylor Markarian includes both her own interviews with bands and those from outside sources to provide an oral history and offer an authentic portrayal of these underground arts.

Markarian's book offers a comprehensive look into genres of music that have been simultaneously mocked and admired.

Discover in From the Basement:
• The beauty and legitimacy of the gritty, wailing music that evolved into indie, alternative, and emo
• Insights from conversations with favorite emo/indie bands of the time
• The impact these genres have had on the millennial generation and today's pop culture and mental health
• Extensive coverage of bands like Save the Day, Dashboard Confessional, and My Chemical Romance

If books such as Please Kill Me, American Hardcore, Meet Me in the Bathroom, and Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs have rocked your world, then From the Basement: A History of Emo Music and How It Changed Society should be your next read.

|Following in the footsteps of music history/biography texts such as the infamous Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk and Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto, From the Basement details the rise in popularity of rock in the early 2000s. From cult loves like The Early November to giants like My Chemical Romance,From the Basement explores what it was that made indie & emo touch the hearts of so many people. Using first-hand accounts and interviews, the narrative content will be analytical and exploratory. From the Basement starts off by examining the mainstream and then grows into the sub-genres such as street political punk (Anti Flag), screamo, the more aggressive emo offshoot that got popular at around the same time, as well as the labels and the key figures that helped make this era what it was. Lastly, From the Basement will go into the cultural, social and psychological factors surrounding the genre; what 'emotional' music really is and the simultaneous admiration and mocking of the sad content therein. You were a black sheep if you listened to those bands, but they also made it onto MTV and now their music is on everyone's best throwback playlists. The fashion and aesthetic of the time also follows that same storyline. You were a weirdo if you wore black nail polish, but then it became a fashion craze. People thought this type of rock was whiny, and a good part of it was. People thought it was immature, and a good part of it was. People thought those adjectives were negative, but From the Basement will explain why they're not—the beauty of the gritty, wailing music that evolved into indie, alternative and emo.