Letters to the Editor

• A little hipster knowledge is a dangerous thing

  [Read the article: I'm obsessed with being a hipster]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  Sounds like the Letter Writer got off to a late start, dabbled briefly, was ejected from the hipster world and feels a sense of loss. You, my friend, didn't learn enough. Hipsterism is not a 101 undergrad class you take and then you're finished. There are people out there who have PhD's of hipness and you can't cram for their tests the night before. Sorry.

  So you were expelled from Williamsburg University of Cooler-Than-Thou. What I suggest is that you home-school yourself. Keep enjoying your music, keep finding kitschy little things you like, read your non-mainstream books. Self-educate. You've heard of the internet, right? You don't have to live next to a vinyl record store to get turned on to the cool bands anymore. Go get on the Art-of-the-Mix website (artofthemix.com) and get involved, do some trades.

  How about making some art? There's online art, there's mail-exchange art, there's Found.com where they send in funky found objects and do cool stuff with them. If you're a nerd then I'll bet you're quite savvy with online communication. HARNESS THE NERDNESS IN THE PURSUIT OF HIPNESS.

  Don't worry about labeling and categorizing people...it's not worth the effort. Don't worry about being good enough (either you already are, or you never will be...I suggest you choose the former). Don't worry about having the right shoes or whatever -- though I do suggest you start with good, well-made shoes and work from there.

  Remember that there's a big difference between true coolness and trendiness/fashion. Fashion was invented as a way for classes to maintain a visual separation from other classes. Things were made that were so rare and expensive that only certain people could get them, and they were changed often enough that by the time other classes caught up or saved up enough to emulate, it was too late. That's fashion and it applies just as well to trendy hipsterism. You'll end up wasting all your time trying to keep up instead of actually enjoying and developing a richer appreciation for the handful of things you truly enjoy.

  So anyway, you moved out of Williamsburg, right? You have to admit, it's kind of grimy there. Have you been to Jennifer Connelly's bar? Do you know the building where Henry Miller wrote "Tropic of Cancer"? Those are in Williamsburg. But I'm sure plenty of famous people lived in Brooklyn Heights (or wherever you live) too. It can't be that much different. If you jones for Williamsburg then go walk around there on weekends and hip out. Who says moving away makes a difference? It's not like there's actual hip dust there that will stick to your skin.

  Hipness is something that comes in cycles. The word "hip" goes back to the 1950s and beatniks. Those dweeby men with their black-framed glasses were really just nerds wtih creative spirit. What do you think Robert Moog was? A big nerd who played with electronics and made keyboards that everybody eventually wanted. Who was Syd Barrett but a shut-in nerd who lived with his parents? All those prog-rock bands like Yes were just big dorks. Yet they made some fantastic music for a while. Meanwhile, the bands where all the members were cooler-than-thou? Their music mostly sucked.

  The indie-rock bands? They mostly suck. There are a few good ones here and there, but they're copying each other too. They've got the copycat disease. Sparklehorse's singer starts using an affected, creaky, whispery voice and soon everybody's using that voice. How many indie-rock bands have strived to sing like Thom Yorke? Half the indie bands nowadays are emulating music from the 1980s! That's hip? (Granted, some of it is good -- Deerhunter, 120 Days...)

  What music do you like? Wanna trade mix tapes? You scoff at Coldplay, but do you remember when they were good? Their first album, with the song "Yellow," had some moments. They were right there alongside Yo La Tengo and other bands. I'll bet they're not even all that bad now; it's just that we scoff at them for becoming successful. How could they possibly be hip when they're sold at Wal-Mart? Oh noes!

  I used to wear Doc Martens, I used to wear jeans with a tapered cut, I used to have hair in my eyes. Then those things became uncool and the shoes wore out and I threw away all those clothes. Now they're probably cool again. None of it matters. When we die we will all rot and smell, whether hip, nerd, square, jock, or geek.

  What kind of person are you? How do you treat other people? What do you achieve in this life? There are many things to explore and nifty culture (to me music is like the most colorful drug ever invented) is just one of those things.

  Permalink Thursday, April 12, 2007 02:28 PM