At 7/5/12 08:30 PM, HeavenDuff wrote:
Maybe my understanding of Industrial is wrong. If it is, explain me how. I'm open :)
You have a bit of insight I haven't thought about before, but I think you are also far off. Industrial music itself is not very mainstream. Only two bands really got THAT big, and those are Rammstein and Nine Inch Nails, but both of those bands are hybrids with Electronica and Alternative respectively, which were gaining popularity at the time. Industrial itself can't be defined really. Some Swans could be called Industrial. As could Whitehouse. Coil, Feotus, Throbbing Gristle, and a whole plethora of other bands that sound nothing alike. Like Punk and Metal, it's mainly through scene and association that things get lumped into the genre. Like Swans connection with No Wave, Gristle's support of workers rights, and the whole BDSM stuff. It's also a bit about the bands behavior on the stage. If Swans didn't play so loud and aggressively, they probably wouldn't have been called Industrial. If Coil didn't have such sexual behavior, they wouldn't be called Industrial.
And as for commercial, that's a stretch. If you truly believe that, then no amount of explaining will really help. It's only through listening to some Industrial bands you will get it. Listen to any of the bands I mentioned above, PM yurgenburgen (or whatever his username is) or ZeroAsTheLimit for some recs, or ask on Metallum. I'll just say this, black metal is a tad more mainstream than most Industrial. As for the insight you had, Industrial fans tend to buy and collect shit, but that's rarely a result of Industrial music, but rather the person's tastes.
But really, Industrial isn't a genre. It was really painful to write all the stuff above. Ask 10 "Industrial fans" what Industrial is, and you'll get 10 different answers. I have the more punk attitude of "who gives a shit?" while I proceed to bang my dick on pots and pans to TV static.