Geek rock (also known as nerd rock or dork rock) is a musical subgenre derived from

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

and

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

within the

nerd music Nerd music (or geek music) is the overall category of music collecting the musical genres that grew from nerd culture; different styles that share the same common ground. Origins The earliest example was filk music, from the 1950s onwards, pl ...

group. It is a sister genre to the

chiptune Chiptune, also known as chip music or 8-bit music, is a style of synthesized electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video game consoles. The t ...

-influenced

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

subgenre

Nintendocore Nintendocore is a broadly defined style of music that most commonly fuses chiptune and video game music with hardcore punk and/or heavy metal. The genre is sometimes considered a direct subgenre of post-hardcore and a fusion genre between metal ...

and related to other branches of nerd music such as hip hop's

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 ...

and

contemporary folk Contemporary folk music refers to a wide variety of genres that emerged in the mid 20th century and afterwards which were associated with traditional folk music. Starting in the mid-20th century a new form of popular folk music evolved from tradit ...

nerd-folk Nerd music (or geek music) is the overall category of music collecting the musical genres that grew from nerd culture; different styles that share the same common ground. Origins The earliest example was filk music, from the 1950s onwards, pl ...

. Geek rock is characterised by the standard instruments of rock music often combined with electronic and unusual instruments; references to geek culture and specialised, yet often mundane, interests; and an element of humour. Specific subgenres of geek rock range from those related to elements of geek culture, such as the

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

–based

wizard rock Wizard rock (or Wrock) is a type of novelty rock music themed around the ''Harry Potter'' franchise. The music was largely prevalent in the United States in the early 2000s. Wizard rock initially started in Massachusetts with Harry and the Potter ...

, and those related to elements of rock music, such as the punk rock variant called nerd punk.

Characteristics

Geek rock is characterised by strong use of both

electronic instruments An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronics, electronic circuitry. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is pl ...

and more atypical musical instruments, such as

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

s or

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

s. Lyrically, the genre is generally characterised by subject matter that covers topics such as geek media

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

(including science fiction, comic books and video games), academia, technology and related topics. Kyle Stevens, co-founder of Kirby Krackle (along with

Jim Demonakos Jim Demonakos (born 1977) is an American director, graphic novelist, musician and event organizer noted for his work in comic books, conventions, and documentary films. He is most often noted as the founder of Emerald City Comic Con and co-fou ...

), expands this to include any passionate interest, saying in a 2013 interview: "To us now, what we consider or genre of 'nerd' or 'geek' rock means anything we are really passionate about, whether that be traditionally geeky subject matter or a song about how we’re really into tacos. In essence, they’re love songs directed to whatever we’re really passionate about."

Irony Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into ...

self-deprecation Self-deprecation is the act of reprimanding oneself by belittling, undervaluing, disparaging oneself, or being excessively modest. It can be used as a way to make complaints, express modesty, invoke optimal reactions or add humour. It may also be u ...

and

humour Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

are major elements. While mainstream rock music tends to be aspirational, representing things the average male audience member wants or wants to be, geek rock celebrates the mundane, common things that its audience members would find familiar.

History

The first band to describe themselves as "geek rock" is believed to be

Nerf Herder Nerf Herder is an American rock band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 1994 by Parry Gripp (vocals, guitar), Charlie Dennis (bass) and Steve Sherlock (drums). They describe themselves as a "geek rock" band, and are known for simplistic ...

. The success of

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a d ...

' 1990 album ''

Flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

'' may have begun making geek culture and geek rock more mainstream. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' has referred to They Might Be Giants as "Nerd-Rock Kings". Similarly,

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...

has been called the king of nerd rock. The label "proto-geek rock" covers both similar musicians performing before the term was established and those that were adopted by geek culture but were not strictly part of it themselves. Alex DiBlasi contends that

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

is the archetypical geek rocker and antecedent of geek rock. Earlier

filk music Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to 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-1970s. Etymology and defin ...

was based around fans performing at

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expres ...

s. Geek rock, however, is not necessarily connected to conventions in the same way and, while often still connected to fandom, is more adjacent to the fan community than an out-growth of it. Geek rock musicians are professional rather than amateur and band members need not be fans themselves. For example, Chicago ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

''-based band

Time Crash "Time Crash" is a mini-episode of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on 16 November 2007, as part of the BBC One telethon for the children's charity Children in Need. Written by Steven Moffat, it sta ...

was started by ''Doctor Who'' fan Ronen Kohn but the band's drummer, Andy Rice, had not seen the TV series until some time after the band started. This was made possible by equipment becoming more affordable and the growth of the internet. The term "nerd rock" was previously used as the title of a 1977 sketch on the American sketch comedy series ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'', named by writer

Anne Beatts Anne Beatts (February 25, 1947 – April 7, 2021) was an American comedy writer. Early life Beatts was born in Buffalo, New York, to Sheila Elizabeth Jean (Sherriff-Scott) and Patrick Murray Threipland Beatts. She has described her parents as "b ...

after

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

appeared as the musical guest star. She is on record as thinking, while watching his performance, "this isn't punk rock; this is nerd rock." The sketch was the first in their " The Nerds" series following the same "nerd" characters. Geek rock, and related genres, have grown large enough to support

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

s such as Rock Comic Con.

Derivative forms

Some subgenres and derivative forms of geek rock are focused around specific parts of geek culture and fandoms. Others are based on

subgenres Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

of rock music.

Nerd punk

Nerd punk is a fusion of

and punk rock. It shares the characteristics of geek rock with the fast-paced songs, hard-edged melodies and singing styles of punk. Bands include

The Descendents The Descendents are an American punk rock band formed in 1977 in Manhattan Beach, California, by guitarist Frank Navetta, bassist Tony Lombardo and drummer Bill Stevenson. In 1979, they enlisted Stevenson's school friend Milo Aukerman as a si ...

and Thundering Asteroids!

Twi-rock

Twi-rock (or twirock) developed from

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this il ...

fandom with bands such as the Bella Cullen Project. While initially successful, and entering into a rivalry with wizard rock, the twi-rock genre turned out to be short lived.

Time Lord rock

Time Lord rock (or trock) was developed by British band

Chameleon Circuit This is a list of notable or recurring items from the BBC television series ''Doctor Who''. C Celery The Fifth Doctor wears a sprig of celery in his lapel. He claims that he is allergic to certain gases in the praxis range; if those gases w ...

in 2008. It was directly inspired by the existence of wizard rock. Time Lord rock was initially dominated by British and Australian bands but the genre has spread to the United States with groups such as

, Legs Nose Robinson and singer Allegra Rosenberg.

Wizard rock

Wizard rock Wizard rock (or Wrock) is a type of novelty rock music themed around the ''Harry Potter'' franchise. The music was largely prevalent in the United States in the early 2000s. Wizard rock initially started in Massachusetts with Harry and the Potter ...

(or wrock) developed from

fandom in the United States with

Harry and the Potters Harry and the Potters are an American rock band known for spawning the genre of wizard rock. Founded in Norwood, Massachusetts, in 2002, the group is primarily composed of brothers Joe and Paul DeGeorge, who both perform under the persona of t ...

in the early 2000s. The subgenre has since expanded internationally with hundreds of bands and established its own music festival, called

Wrockstock Wrockstock was a yearly music festival featuring wizard rock, music inspired by the world of Harry Potter.

List of geek rock bands and solo artists