NME on DIY

Jack Penate - Spit at Stars

NME have been championing London's (re)emergent DIY scene since... well... since doing so seemed like it might shift more magazines than yet another Oasis feature.

Slated one month, feted the next - that's music journalism for ya folks.

But fair dos, in his interview with this week's front page pairing, Jack Penate and Kate Nash, NME journo Mark Beaumont has summed up the current youth/music zeitgeist rather nicely, albeit with reference to its commercial front-end:

'What the arrival of this four-headed [Jamie, Lily, Kate, Jack] flounce-pop beast signifies...is the birth of a new breed of pop star - fun, frolicsome and (crucially) aspirational. Think about it - what does the media tell the spangly vested 10-year-olds singing into their hairbrushes these days? The pussycat Dolls tell them they'll never be a pop star because they're not anorexic/pretty/buxom enough. The X Factor tells them they'll never be a pop star because they'd have to beat four million people in a six-month contest to win the chance and even then you'll probably not sell enough and get dropped inside a year. And what do Jamie, Lily, Kate, and Jack tell the teary little dreamers? They tell them they can be a pop star - they merely need to pick up a guitar/PowerBook/sampler and play.'

These DIY pop stars are the vanguard of the Diginative generation. They've grown up with mobiles and MSN. They've graduated from the University of Myspace. And now they're plying their DIY trade in the big wide world beyond the little square screen.

If technology that scares the shit out of your parents has become a boring second nature, then boshing out a few notes and lyrics is hardly going to present much of a challenge.

Watch out for DIY Diginatives in the art, film, fashion and business worlds. Their fearless, entrepreneurial spirit knows no bounds.