Abstract
This chapter examines singing, voice and authorship for male participants in a popular music scene (New Zealand alternative or independent [“indie”] rock), drawing on musician interviews and discourses around gender and popular music. I argue initially for a homology, based around discourses of DIY amateurism, between punk/alternative music and local discourses of pioneering masculinity that empowered some male musicians in an otherwise homosocial culture. However, “voice” can be defined in conflicting ways: with physical voice often subordinated to intellectual voice (authorship, artistic vision) – the song is central, not the singer. This mind/body dualism draws on traditional Western art discourses, which continue to inform popular cultural discourse and arguably reify existing patterns of gender, cultural judgement and musical participation. Poststructuralist approaches reverse these binaries, but do not necessarily challenge the overall hierarchy. It is important for emergent musical movements to carefully consider how their “voices” will be heard and interpreted.
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Bannister, M. (2012). “But I Can Write Songs Okay”: Male Voices in New Zealand Alternative Rock . In: Harrison, S., Welch, G., Adler, A. (eds) Perspectives on Males and Singing. Landscapes: the Arts, Aesthetics, and Education, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2660-4_16
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