A rivethead or rivet head is a person associated with the
industrial dance music scene. In stark contrast to the original
industrial culture, whose performers and heterogeneous audience were sometimes referred to as "industrialists", the rivethead scene is a coherent
youth culture Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community.
An emphasi ...
closely linked to a discernible fashion style. The scene emerged in the late 1980s
[Steele, Valerie (2008). Gothic: Dark Glamour. Yale University Press. p. 48.] on the basis of
electro-industrial
Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound ...
,
EBM, and
industrial rock
Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten ...
music. The associated dress style draws on military fashion and
punk aesthetics[Lauren M. E. Goodlad, Michael Bibby: ''Goth. Undead subculture'', Duke University Press, 2007, , p. 69] with hints of
fetish wear, mainly inspired by the scene's musical protagonists.
Origins of the term
Initially, the term ''rivethead'' had been used since the 1940s as a nickname for North American
automotive assembly line
An assembly line is a manufacturing process (often called a ''progressive assembly'') in which parts (usually interchangeable parts) are added as the semi-finished assembly moves from workstation to workstation where the parts are added in se ...
and steel construction workers
[Kate Stevens: ''Freak Nation: A Field Guide to 101 of the most odd, extreme, and outrageous American subcultures'', Adams Media, November 2010, , p. 108] and hit the mainstream through the publication of
Ben Hamper's ''Rivethead: Tales From the Assembly Line'', which is otherwise unrelated to the subculture.
Glenn Chase, founder of San Diego label
Re-Constriction Records
Re-Constriction Records was a division of Cargo Music based in California. The label was founded in 1992 and headed by Chase, who was previously the Music Director at KCR, a student radio station on the campus of San Diego State University. The ...
, is responsible for the term's meaning in the 1990s. In 1993, he released ''
Rivet Head Culture
''Rivet Head Culture'' is a various artists compilation album released on May 30, 1993 by Re-Constriction Records, If It Moves....
Reception
A critic at ''Sonic Boom'' praised the ''Rivet Head Culture'' compilation, saying "it amazes me that band ...
'', a compilation that contains several electro-industrial and industrial rock acts from the American
underground music
Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...
scene. In the same year, industrial rock group
Chemlab
Chemlab is an American industrial rock band formed in Washington D.C. in 1989 by Dylan Thomas More, Joe Frank, and Jared Louche (then known as Hendrickson). Influenced by the pioneers of the industrial genre, such as Throbbing Gristle, Chemla ...
− whose members were close friends of
Chase − had released their debut album ''
Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar
''Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar'' is the debut studio album of industrial rock band Chemlab, released on March 22, 1993 by Fifth Colvmn and Metal Blade Records. It represents the band's only studio release via the label Metal Blade and was reis ...
'', which includes a track called "
Rivet Head". Chemlab singer Jared Louche said he did not remember where the term came from, although he stated that this song title was in his mind for years.
Music
The rivethead scene is remotely related but not directly connected to the industrial music culture.
Industrial music is a genre of experimental and avantgardist music, intertwined with graphical visualization (mostly with disturbing graphical content).
The absence of conventional song structures, such as rhythm and melody, is a main characteristic of the genre, whereas the music preferred by the rivethead scene includes several danceable and song-oriented styles that are sometimes considered ''"post-industrial"''.
[Partridge, Christopher; Moberg, Marcus: ''Industrial, Post-industrial and Neofolk music'', The Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music, Bloomsbury Academic 2017, , p. 206]
''"From the early 1980s onwards industrial music as represented by Throbbing Gristle influenced and was fused with other musical styles, resulting in what can be termed 'post-industrial styles'."'' Like
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...
, the term ''post-industrial'' describes a musical genre that developed distinctly from its roots and turned into several strands of sound, namely
electro-industrial
Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound ...
,
electronic body music, and
industrial rock
Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten ...
, often referred to as
industrial dance music. Those styles differ from traditional industrial music regarding aesthetics, sound, and production techniques.
[Reed, Alexander: ''Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music'', Oxford University Press, 2013, , p. 161]
Aesthetics
The rivethead dress style has been inspired by
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
aesthetics, complemented by fashion "that mimics the grit and grime of industrial sectors in major metropolitan areas"''.'' Additionally, it borrows elements of punk fashion, such as a fanned and dyed
Mohawk hairstyle,
and
fetish wear such as black leather and PVC tops, pants and shorts partly supplemented with
modern primitive
Modern primitives or urban primitives are people in developed, or modern nations who engage in body modification rituals and practices inspired by the ceremonies, rites of passage, or bodily ornamentation in what they consider traditional cultu ...
body modifications such as
tattoo
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...
s and
piercings.
Occasionally, rivetheads emphasize a
post-apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...
,
dystopian influence, often inspired by movies, e.g. ''
Mad Max
''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic action film series and media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ''Mad Max 2'' (1981, released in the Unite ...
'' (1979), ''
Escape from New York
''Escape from New York'' is a 1981 American science fiction film, science fiction action film co-written, co-scored and directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Adrienne B ...
'' (1981), ''
Gunhed'' (1989), ''
Death Machine
''Death Machine'' is a 1994 science fiction horror film written and directed by Stephen Norrington. It stars Brad Dourif, Ely Pouget, William Hootkins, John Sharian, and Richard Brake. Rachel Weisz, still early in her career at the time of ...
'' (1994), and ''
Strange Days'' (1995). Several movies, such as ''
Hardware'' (1990), ''Strange Days'' and ''
Johnny Mnemonic'' (1995), feature music tracks by
Ministry,
KMFDM
KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project. ...
,
Diatribe,
Stabbing Westward and other bands associated with the rivethead culture. Other influences include sci-fi archetypes such as
Lupus Yonderboy
Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Commo ...
and
Razorgirl, characters from the
Sprawl trilogy
The Sprawl trilogy (also known as the Neuromancer, Cyberspace, or Matrix trilogy) is William Gibson's first set of novels, composed of ''Neuromancer'' (1984), ''Count Zero'' (1986), and '' Mona Lisa Overdrive'' (1988).
The novels are all set in ...
by
William Gibson
William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, hi ...
.
Below some basic characteristics of the rivethead dress style. As a divergence from the extravagance of youth cultures such as
New Romantic,
goth,
cyber, and
steampunk, the idea is to make a statement with as few fashion components as possible. The rivethead look commonly is unadorned and epitomizes a direct reflection of the social environment ("street survival wear").
Male
* Tops: Black, gray or olive
tank tops,
[Jonathan S. Epstein / David A. Locher: ''Youth Culture. Identity in a postmodern world'', Wiley-Blackwell Publishers, 1998, , p. 115] plain
t-shirt
A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...
s, band shirts, sleeveless shirts (sometimes with the sleeves ripped off),
tie-dye crinkle or burst pattern shirts; black
leather jacket
A leather jacket is a jacket-length coat that is usually worn on top of other apparel or item of clothing, and made from the tanned hide of various animals. The leather material is typically dyed black, or various shades of brown, but a wide r ...
s (frequently painted with band
logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...
s), and MA-1
flight jackets.
[Raven Digitalis: ''Goth Craft. The Magickal Side of Dark Culture'', Llewellyn Worldwide, 2007, , p. 37]
* Pants:
Cargo
Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...
and
BDU
The ''Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote'' or BdU (Eng: "Commander of the U-boats") was the supreme commander of the German Navy's U-boat Arm (''Ubootwaffe'') during the First World War, First and Second World Wars. The term also referred to the Comma ...
paratrooper pants, ripped jeans, vintage shorts, often but not always black or
Woodland camouflage; usually tucked into boots, rolled at the bottom cuffs or worn as cut-off shorts. Black leather pants and bondage pants are sometimes worn.
[Lauren M. E. Goodlad, Michael Bibby: ''Goth. Undead subculture'', Duke University Press, 2007, , p. 76]
* Footwear:
Combat boot
Combat boots are military boots designed to be worn by soldiers during combat or combat training, as opposed to during parades and other ceremonial duties. Modern combat boots are designed to provide a combination of grip, ankle stability, an ...
s,
steel-toe boots
A steel-toe boot (also known as a safety boot, steel-capped boot, steel toecaps or safety shoe) is a durable boot or shoe that has a protective reinforcement in the toe which protects the foot from falling objects or compression. Safety shoes a ...
or low shoes, such as
Dr. Martens, Gripfasts,
Grinders and Underground shoes.
* Hair: Partially shaved (
undercut),
flattop
A flattop is a type of haircut where the hair on the top of the head is cut and styled upright to form a flat profile when viewed from the front or side.
Styling
In the most classic and mainstream style of flattop for men and boys, the hair ...
,
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
* Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
* Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...
or completely
shaved. Sometimes long hair in combination with undercut or
dreadlocks
Dreadlocks, also known as locs or dreads, are rope-like strands of hair formed by locking or braiding hair.
Origins
Some of the earliest depictions of dreadlocks date back as far as 1600–1500 BCE in the Minoan Civilization, one of Europe ...
.
* Accessories:
Teashades and
Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses. Battle Dress Uniform-style or military belts; bracelets and
dog tag
Dog tag is an informal but common term for a specific type of identification tag worn by military personnel. The tags' primary use is for the identification of casualties; they have information about the individual written on them, including ...
s; fingerless leather gloves; sometimes jewelry that incorporates industrial elements such as nails, screws and cogs. Suspenders, or "braces", normally worn hanging off trousers or shorts.
* Body modification: Primarily piercings and tattoos.
Female
Rivetgirls may dress along with the ''
femme fatale'' look:
sexuality as power. Common are fetish wear, such as black
PVC and
leather
Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...
corsages,
miniskirt
A miniskirt (sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, separated as mini skirt, or sometimes shortened to simply mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a ...
s, ankle-deep or knee-high
stiletto heel
A stiletto heel, or just stiletto, is a shoe with a long, thin, high heel. It is named after the stiletto dagger.
Stiletto heels may vary in length from 2.5 centimetres (1 inch) to 25 cm (10 inches) or more if a platform s ...
boots;
less makeup than Goths
and 1980s New Wave fashion girls, who were also an influence on the late-1980s/early 1990s rivetgirl style (cf. fishnet tights, stilettos, Dr. Martens low boots). Often dyed hair (black, sometimes red or blonde) that is long, short, spiked, partially shaved (see
Maria Azevedo of
Battery and Yone Dudas of
Decoded Feedback) or dreadlocked (see Anna Christine of
Luxt). On the other hand, the female rivethead fashion look may be and often is identical to the tough style of the male rivetheads (
Tank Girl aesthetic; military wear
such as tank tops, paratrooper pants and combat boots
). Kim X, co-founder of California-based music label
COP International
COP International, also shortened to ''COP Int'l.'', is a music label, based in Oakland, California.
Initially, the label was founded in 1991 by Christian Petke (a.k.a. Count Zero of Deathline Int'l.) in Frankfurt, Germany. A few months later, K ...
, compared the female rivethead attitude to the
Riot grrrl movement.
Comparison with goth subculture
The rivethead scene of the 1980s and 1990s was different from the
goth subculture in ideological and musical terms, as well as in their visual aesthetics. Confusion regarding the boundaries of those two youth cultures has heightened because of the late-1990s "multi-subcultural" cross-hybridization, which led people to incorrectly believe that rivetheads are an offshoot of the goth subculture. Canadian novelist and author
Nancy Kilpatrick labelled this youth-cultural overlap "industrial goth", as does Julia Borden.
[ ( − ''Note'': In the heyday of the rivethead culture, the term "industrial goth" as a description of a youth culture did not exist).]
Goths are a dark romantic outgrowth of the punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
and post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...
movements that emerged in the early 1980s while rivetheads developed from the industrial dance music scene that came to be in the second half of the 1980s, hand in hand with the media success of post-industrial artists such as Skinny Puppy, Front 242, Front Line Assembly
Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The band's members ...
, Ministry, KMFDM
KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project. ...
,[ and Numb. The rivethead scene is a male-dominated youth subculture] that shows a provocative, insurgent as well as socio-critical approach. The Goth subculture is ''“equally open to women, men and transgendered people”'', and frequently devoid of any interest in ethical activism or political involvements.
See also
* Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and c ...
* Electronic body music
* Industrial music
* List of industrial music festivals
References
External links
A Prehistory of Industrial Music
{{Rock festivals
Youth culture
Underground culture
Industrial music
Musical subcultures
History of fashion