Nerd music (or geek music) is the overall category of music collecting the musical genres that grew from

nerd culture A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted, or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly t ...

; different styles that share the same common ground.

History

Origins

The earliest example was

filk music Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to Science fiction fandom, science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-197 ...

, from the 1950s onwards, played by fans at science fiction conventions. Towards the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, other styles of music developed. Factors that made this possible were the increasing affordability of equipment, the growth of the internet and the increase in the nerd-geek demographic.

Nerd folk

Nerd-folk (also nerd folk, geek-folk, or dork-folk) is a musical genre derived from filking that features humorous original songs involving geeky topics performed in a folk style. Laser Malena-Webber and Aubrey Turner of

The Doubleclicks The Doubleclicks are a nerd-folk musical duo based in Portland, Oregon and Los Angeles, California, consisting of siblings Laser Webber (formerly Angela Webber and Laser Malena-Webber) and Aubrey Turner (formerly Aubrey Webber). They first bec ...

credit

Marian Call Marian Call (born February 24, 1982, in Gig Harbor, Washington) is an American singer-songwriter based in Juneau, Alaska. Call is known for her songs containing themes of geek culture, as well as her rise to popularity through the use of th ...

and others with creating the genre. The genre is related to filking and other nerd music genres such as

nerdcore Nerdcore is a genre of hip hop music characterized by subject matter considered of interest to nerds and geeks. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot has the earliest known recorded use of the term (to describe this genre) in the 2000 ...

hip-hop and geek rock (alternative rock).

Events and festivals

The music festival Nerdapalooza (2007–13) described itself as "the first of its kind to invite all genres of the nerd music movement under one roof, including nerd rock, nerdcore hip hop, chiptunes, and video game music." Other conventions and events such as MAGFest and Rock Comic Con have since hosted nerd music acts of a range of styles.

References

External links