Is Grunge Making a Comeback? Fender Weighs In

Date:2020/3/4 11:28:09 Hits:

If you’re a child of the ’90s like me, one look at modern fashion and you realize that things are looking very familiar. And if you find yourself checking out the bands that are starting to make waves on the charts, you’ll find things are also starting to sound very familiar. From the stripped-back production, raw and honest lyrics, and rugged guitar tones, the hotly debated genre of grunge seems to be rearing its beautifully ragged head once again.

Since Sweetwater is a company full of musicians and engineers that are more than a little obsessed with gear, this got us thinking, “If the fashion and music are making their way back onto the charts, are the gear trends following suit?” And what better way to find out than to ask the company that was at the forefront of the original movement?

With their offset guitars being a prominent choice in the alternative/grunge genres, Fender has long been associated with the fuzzed-out riffs and modulated cleans that fuel all things alternative. So we reached out to Senior Vice President of Fender Products Justin Norvell to ask what gear trends he’s noticed, which artists are leading the charge, and if grunge is indeed making a comeback.

Sweetwater: Grunge and ’90s-sounding alternative seem to be on a resurgence in fashion and music lately. Fender made a major impact on that music the first time around. Are you noticing the same thing?

Norvell: It’s really interesting. We’re really seeing a resurgence in grunge, but even some of the adjacent genres, like post-punk, shoegaze, and some of the new-wave stuff like Joy Division and the Cure. It seems like, cyclically, those eras of music come back around. People are talking about their influences, and those influences happen to be bands like Joy Division and Johnny Marr from the Smiths, or Kurt Cobain.

You’re also seeing a lot of bands get back together, which is also helping revitalize the format. Smashing Pumpkins are realigning. And the next tier of bands are getting back out on the road — bands like Quicksand and My Bloody Valentine. I think that’s all coming to a head.

A lot of those legacy acts and players you’ve mentioned have Fender signature models. Have you noticed a renewed interest in those instruments and the gear those players were using?

One hundred percent! And I think that especially with the grunge tunes, the Jaguar and Jazzmaster. People are definitely interested in, not only who they are and what their body of work is and what they play, but what they’ve done to their instruments to make them unique. The Johnny Marr, for instance, has different pickups; it’s completely rewired differently; it’s got a different bridge on it. There’s so much going on there.

And guys like Johnny Marr — especially when you listen to modern indie rock like Real Estate and Diiv, where there’s a lot of clean arpeggiation — the world’s come back to him as the godfather of that type of playing.

What newer bands are leading the charge?
The really big bands that are defining that sound right now, you’ve got Royal Blood, Courtney Barnett from Australia — she plays a Kurt Cobain signature model for that Pavement meets Nirvana type sound — and guys like Ty Segall who play that very garagey, cool, loose rock. And then on the side of more straight-up grunge, I’d say Fidlar.

And then with the more ethereal and dreamy post-punk and shoegaze thing, there’s a band from Philadelphia called Nothing. They play a Jazzmaster and Strat. And it’s super heavy guitars, but with super melodic and beautiful vocals. It’s a really nice juxtaposition. And then bands like Diiv mine that ’80s/’90s arpeggiated chorusey guitar sound.

What other gear trends has Fender noticed in relation to this shift in rock?
Fender was the brand of choice the first time. But it was mostly Jazzmasters, Jaguars, and Mustangs, because those instruments had fallen so far out of favor in the ’80s that they were the low-cost option. I mean, Kurt’s Jaguar with the two humbuckers in it, he bought from The Recycler magazine for like $400.

All of that together is why that was the defining sound of that genre. Since then, it’s imprinted a sonic signature on indie rock that “these are the tools you want to play this type of music.” And it follows through to a ton of more current and younger bands. It really is just completely coming around again.

Even though its popularity may ebb and flow, what is it about the electric guitar in general that keeps it vital through the decades?

I think that the guitar is by far one of the most personal and expressive instruments. I think that you sit at a keyboard, you sit at a set of drums. But a guitar rests against your body, and the subtle vibrations help the guitar become a part of you. You wear it, the aesthetics of it, and there’s the image element to it.

But it’s also just the way that, if five of us got together with the same guitar and we each played the same series of notes, they would sound different coming out of each of us. There’s something where a beautifully played guitar speaks to people on a very visceral and emotive level.

And each style of guitar reacts differently and has its own idiosyncrasies.

That’s something that people who are attracted to Jazzmasters and Jaguars like. There are overtones that ring when you strike a chord because of the length of string behind the bridge. The imperfections make up the personality and character. And I think that’s been a hallmark of this movement and genre for a long time.

What has made those models the go-to gear for these ’80s and ’90s-style genres?
Jags, Jazzmasters, and Mustangs have that super swimmy and liquid, lightly seasick tremolo that you really can’t replicate anywhere else. And I think that’s a big part of those sounds. There are things that you can do on those instruments that you can’t do elsewhere. And you can be someone like Nels Cline, and bring that grunge sensibility or post-punk sensibility to a band like Wilco, and incorporate it and have it work.

Also, Spotify put out an article a while back that said that we’ve basically cemented our musical tastes by the time we’re 33. So as generations move on, there is that anchor. That’s why these instruments, from an aesthetic and sonic standpoint, and from an artist association and inspiration standpoint, continue to reign supreme over a whole generation of people.

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