Gothic culture - gothic subculture

Gothic culture: "Music (dark, depressing), appearance - lots of black, white faces, black eyeliner, crucifixes, churches, cemeteries."

Before and during the first half of the 1980s, some of the mostly British sounds and images of the immediate post-punk climate crystallized into a recognizable movement. Although various factors were involved, there is no doubt that the music and its performers were most directly responsible for the emergence of the stylistic characteristics of Gothic culture.

The roots of Gothic culture

The most important starting point of Gothic culture was probably the images and sounds of the Bauhaus, especially the single "Bela Lugosi's Dead", released in 1979. characteristic themes that still pervade the goth subculture today, from dark mournful musical tone and tempo, to lyrical references to the undead, to deep eerie vocals, to a dark, twisted form of androgyny in the appearance of the band and most of its followers. In the period following these first signs, a group of new bands, many of whom played gigs alongside each other from time to time, were placed by the music press on a stage temporarily labeled post or sometimes positive punk and eventually goth. In addition to the constant relatively loud presence of Siouxsie and Banshees and their familiar The Cure, the most important acts were Bauhaus, Southern Death Cult (later known as Death Cult and finally The Cult), Play Dead, The Birthday Party. , Alien Sex Fiend, UK Decay, Sex Gang Children, Virgin Prunes and Specimen. From 1982, the last of these was heavily involved in the London nightclub known as The Batcave, which eventually became the initial melting pot for many of the bands and fans associated with the nascent style. Most notable, perhaps, was the further development and establishment among the performers and their following of the variants of dark femininity pioneered by the Bauhaus, Siouxsie and Banshee. A particularly important and enduring addition to the style was Specimen's use of torn fishnet and other sheer fabrics in the form of tops and tights. The club also acted as a magnet for the music press to follow punk to find, communicate and eventually create any possible successors. It appears that the term "goth" was mentioned in passing by a number of contributors, including Tony Wilson, producer of Joy Division and members of both Southern Death Cult and UK Decay.

As the music and style spread across Britain and beyond through the music press, radio and occasional TV appearances, record distribution and live tours, more and more nightclubs were hosting numerous teenagers adopting the sounds and styles of what was soon to be became commonly known as the Gothic culture.

By the mid-1980s, a Leeds-based group called The Sisters of Mercy, who met in 1981, began to become the most famous and, in fact, influential group associated with goth culture. While their visuals were stylistically less extreme and innovative than Specimen or Alien Sex Fiend, they reinforced many of the themes of goth culture in its heyday, especially dark hair, pointed boots, and tight black jeans. and shades often worn by band members. Radio, press and television graced not only the Sisters of Mercy, but also the violent offshoot of The Mission, as well as Fields of the Nephilim, All About Eve and The Cult. Equally high status has been given to constant new material from true veterans, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure.

However, by the mid-1990s, goth culture appeared to have exhausted its time in the media and commercial spotlight, and had all but disappeared from the public eye. However, the strong attachment of many members to the style of the goth subculture ensured its survival on a small scale. All over Britain and beyond, a new generation of bands arose that relied on small specialist labels, media and clubs and were motivated more by their own enthusiasm than by any realistic hope of breaking into the public eye or making significant money.

Gothic bands

Gothic culture and darkness

The goth subculture revolved around a general emphasis on artifacts, appearance, and music, which were considered respectively dark, macabre, and sometimes creepy. The most obvious and important was the overwhelming and consistent focus on black, whether it was clothing, hair, lipstick, household items, or even pet cats. In terms of appearance, the theme was also the tendency of many Goths to wear white foundation on their faces to offset the thick, usually extended black eyeliner, cheekbone blush, and dark lipstick. the number of bands in the early 1980s. Goths also tend to expect their pubs or clubs to be especially darkened, often with stage smoke for added ambiance.

Original and new Gothic culture

While a significant number of the early elements were apparently alive and well, the general theme of dark and gloomy also developed in different ways. A vogue arose on the scene for objects that were relatively marginal to the style of the original generation, but nonetheless fit the general themes with which their images and sounds were associated. For example, after the general theme of gothic was established for a while, many developed its logical connection to horror, drawing on various imagery originating from dark fiction such as crucifixes, bats, and vampires, sometimes with derision. shyness. so sometimes not. Sometimes this development was due to the overt and direct influence of media products. The popularity of vampire literature and horror films, for example, was especially boosted in the early 1990s by Hollywood films such as Bram Stoker's Dracula and Interview with the Vampire. The appearance of vampire protagonists in such films reinforced the Goth male fascination with bleached faces, long dark hair, and shadows. Meanwhile, for women, the general representation of eighteenth and nineteenth century fashion elements in such fiction further encouraged the adoption of certain clothing styles associated with the Gothic revival of the time and the Victorian period that followed.

In addition to being more varied than practice in the early 1980s, by the late 1990s there were also more obvious violations of the emphasis on dark imagery than was the case in the 1980s. In particular, while black remained predominant, brighter colors clearly became more acceptable in terms of hair, clothing, and makeup. What began as a somewhat humorous and deliberate transgression on the part of some people has led to a growing trans-local acceptance of the previously hated pink as a complement to black among the Goths in Britain.

Gothic and related subcultures

Along with punks, indie fans, krusty and others, in the 1980s and also in the early 1990s, goths often considered their band as one of the specific flavor entities under this umbrella. Although the use of the term and the physical association of Goths with punks, Krusty and indie rock fans were less common, select music and artifacts associated with the latter have been preserved by goth culture. Predilection for certain bands or songs associated with indie, punk and crunchy scenes was also quite common among Goths. It is important to note that in both appearance and musical tastes, only certain "external" elements were visible, and they tended to take their place alongside more characteristic subcultural tastes. There were also overlaps with rock culture in general, as many goths wore T-shirts from their favorite bands, which, while containing subculturally distinctive bands and designs, resembled those worn by rock fans of different stylistic persuasions. Due to certain stylistic intersections, in the late 1990s there was also a growing, albeit not unanimous, acceptance in goth culture of limited examples of music associated with extreme or death metal. While generally much more aggressive, masculine, and thrash guitar-based, these genres had taken on some of the characteristics of gothic culture by that time, in particular the prevalence of black hair and clothing, and horror-inspired make-up.

Goths: identity, style and subculture (dress, body, culture)