At a time when independent artists in the music industry have more power and control over their careers than ever before, “What is INDIE?” tries to determine just what it really means to be ‘indie’. The film features interviews with indie music experts including Panos Panay, Derek Sivers and Suzanne Glass, as well as with 20 artists including Penny Lang, Ember Swift and Paul Cargnello.

In defining what it means to be ‘indie’, as well as looking at the changing landscape in the music industry, the film ends up being a rallying cry for indie artists, and has been hailed as ‘inspiring’ and ‘empowering’ by artists worldwide.

Without any prior background in film (except for watching Super-Size Me “way too many times”) and funded entirely with his own credit cards, Montreal director Dave Cool has taken the film from a small do-it-yourself project and turned it into an indie success story in its own right that continues to turn heads in the music and film industries, even catching the attention of CNN.com, Newsweek Magazine… (Sonicbids)

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“Indie” carries with it a variety of connotations as filmmaker Dave Cool explores in his new documentary, “What Is Indie?” According to wikipedia, “the term indie is short for “independent” and refers to artistic creations outside the commercial mainstream, without the support of a major record label, major movie studio, or other source of a large budget.” For the documentary, the Montreal-based Cool traveled over 2400 miles and spoke with dozens of musicians and business people from the independent industry. In so doing, Cool deconstructs the definition of “indie,” in a film that should provide hope to do-it-yourselfers everywhere.

The documentary explores some of the pros and cons of working outside of the music establishment, listing positives such as freedom, creative control, artistic integrity, and the opportunity to learn the ropes by wearing so many hats. The major indie obstacle is of course, lack of money, but Cool also lists obscurity, lack of connections, and the perception that the indie musician possesses inferior talent, as other roadblocks.

The strength of the movie comes however, in it’s nuanced definition of what “indie” really is. After much discussion, Cool culls the opinions of various indie musicians and concludes that “indie” is really more a philosophical point of view than a status. Rather than waiting or even hoping for a big break from a major, “indie” artists have a proactive ethos that says their not waiting for anybody. And this, says Cool is the wave of the future in music. Ironically, the documentary quotes major league stars like Peter Gabriel, Chuck D, and Keith Richards to illustrate the sea change. (Amazon)