Elevating the Underground: Claiming a Space for Indie Music among Bali's Many Soundworlds

In Denpasar, Bali, residents of different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, religions, occupations, and musical tastes are coerced into living in close proximity by the prospect of employment. Correspondingly, the urban environment compels disparate soundworlds to share a populous geographic space. This article examines indie music as a distinct sonic-social intersubjectivity. Juxtaposed with traditional musics, the indie soundworld reveals dissonances and congruencies in musical practices and values within modern Bali. Engagement with indie music serves as a primary act uniting a group of otherwise socially disconnected individuals and creates an elective, localized, and enduring space for belonging.