WHAT IS ANTI-FOLK?

So what does anti-folk actually mean anyway?

In the early eighties the American folk music revival which stared in the 1960s had waned and the genre was stagnant and boring. The protest songs that emerged during the Vietnam War and feminist and civil rights movements were dated and new songs weren’t responding to the current culture. According to Lach who is the artist credited with starting the anti-folk movement “folk had gotten stale and commercialised and overblown and wasn’t telling the truth.” The new anti-folk style that emerged in New York rebelled against this inertia.

Anti-folk is an incongruent genre as each performer brings his or her own distinct style and ideas. Sometimes critics dismiss the style as “punk on guitars.” While many anti-folk musicians were influenced but British punk bands and certain ideals and influences are represented, the genre is definitely folk music as it is indigenous to certain people at a certain time. Characteristics of the style include a raw and experimental sound and an unconventional approach to song writing. Lyrics often mock the seriousness and political tones of earlier American folk music and draw on youth angst and experiences from daily life.

When the genre first appeared in the 1980s artists were banned from traditional ‘folk’ venues in the East Village in New York as the sound was too unconventional. One performer called Lach took it upon himself to create some new venues to support new musicians trying to get a foothold in New York City. The Sidewalk Café still exists as the centre of the scene with over 100 muscians performing at the New York Anti Folk Festival each August.

Some well know artists include: Regina Spektor, Beck, Mouldy Peaches, Ben Kweller.