Emo is a term which is thrown around at contemporary bands often with little knowledge as to what it actually means.
According to Wikipedia (admittedly not a very reliable source at times) emo is a subgenre of hardcore punk music which was used to describe the music of mid-1980’s in the Washington/DC scene. The term ‘emocore’ or “emotional hardcore” was later dubbed for the DC bands. This is where the true term of emo comes into play, these bands were known on occasions to become very emotional during their live performances, such as crying etc. An example of these bands was ‘Beefeater’ or ‘Embrace’.
However this term has always been very loosely applied and has been used for a huge amount of bands, often used as a sub genre to describe a band, for example, emo/rock/punk. What must be looked into is why this genre is so loosely applied; is it because of the elements of perceived emo style in music? Or is it based around other factors such as visual aesthetics.
I believe that while emo may have been a genre in the 1980’s, it has been created in today’s music through visual aspects, in particular fashion. ‘Emo’ has distinctively taken on its own certain style. We often find ourselves now been pumped with this term and its associated image through the media. For instance I was watching MTV the other day and there was an ad for a new pink ipod in which an animation of an emo was used in which he was dressed in black, with the stereotypical ‘fringe’ and eyeliner. I wonder if emo has now become a term which is established through the media’s portrayal to the public; that people gain their perceptions of what it means to be emo through the visual images they receive through media.
Emo has allowed music labels and clothing companies to market their products to this new “in” fad for a lot of young people. I would be curious to no the fashion and visual asthetics of these true 1980’s emocore bands to be able to compare if this has rubbed off in the emo “image” today of whether it has come about in other ways.
I feel it is very unfortunate for a lot of bands who are dubbed emo as the term now has a negative stigma attached to it. I do not believe the term emo is adequate in summarizing the genre of a band due to its lack of definition as to what the genre is. Both My Chemical Romance and The Ataris have been accused of being “emo” and both have denied arguing they see themselves as rock and punk rock respectively.
Overall, I think the term emo should be applied with more care. The term is not solely reflective of a style of music rather the fashion /visual asthetics and ideologies that are attached to it.
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its certainly true that emo has been warped from its beginings as an offshoot of old hardcore music with more emotionally charged lyrics, to the fashionable kids that you glare at when passing Aotea Square on a saturday.
I'm not particularly a fan of the music or the fashion, but its interesting how it really has become a commercial product and as a term has spread so wide.
It would seem that MTV has played a large part in this, and the example which immediately springs to mind is Green Day. GreenDay were always popular to an extent, but then when they released their last album they were clearly jumping on the emo-fashion bandwagon - black clothes, fringe, eye liner.
Being far from their golden days of 'Dookie' (a classic record) theyve clearly played on the emerging emo culture to reach a new teen fanbase, although perhaps alienating their old fans?
the majority of people wouldnt have a clue about emos hardcore-related origins, as it really has evolved into just anothre fashion trend. a friend of my 13 year old cousin made the remark "i think im gonna become an emo" sums it up really.
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