Wendy Fonarow Explained

Wendy Fonarow
Birth Place:Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation:Anthropologist, professor, writer, A&R
Genre:non-fiction

Wendy Fonarow is a Los Angeles based anthropologist, writer, music industry professional and Professor of Anthropology at Glendale Community College. She is best known for her book Empire of Dirt, one of the first academic monographs on indie music in the context of live concerts.[1] and for her column Ask the Indie Professor in The Guardian.[2] Her areas of expertise include ritual, performance and the music industry.[3]

Life and career

Wendy Fonarow was born in Los Angeles and studied applied mathematics and anthropology at University of California in San Diego, where she also worked at the campus radio station KSDT. At the time the station featured post-punk British bands and underground dance music. Milo Aukerman of the Descendants also attended UCSD at the same time. The band covered the Beach Boys' song "Wendy" for her. The song was later included on The Descendant's album Enjoy!

After graduating, she continued to attend concerts in Los Angeles. In 1989, Fonarow attended the first Reading festival with a new promoter the Mean Fiddler. Mean Fiddler's participation changed the direction of the festival from heavy rock to the burgeoning genre of indie music.[4] As an American, she was unable to purchase tickets internationally and was therefore added to the guest list of the Irish band, Something Happens who gave her backstage access. Her experiences at this indie music festival eventually became the inspiration for her PhD thesis on indie and live music performance.[5]

She completed her masters research on Contemporary Halloween Practices and went on to research the practices of audiences at UCLA.[6] She is frequently cited in and writes for popular media as an expert on Halloween, music, and pop culture.[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

In 1993, she arrived in London to begin fieldwork on indie music and live performance and was introduced to Laurence Bell, the founder of Domino Recording Company. Fonarow was subsequently hired as Domino Records first employee. Fonarow worked closely with artists such as Slowdive, Ride and Mogwai in the initial phase of her research and continued to document indie audiences until mobile phones radically changed participation at concerts. She returned to Los Angeles, and between 1995 and 1997 worked at Reprise Records and at MCA Records as a talent scout and A&R manager while continuing to teach Cultural and Linguistic Anthropology at UCLA.

In 1999, she finished her PhD thesis and in 2006 released a book, Empire of Dirt[13] She has given lectures and keynotes at Cambridge University, Princeton, Columbia University, UCLA, University of Milan, University of Oslo and the University of Edinburgh as well as conferences, including By:Larm, CMJ, SXSW, Music Finland, and EMP in Seattle, NYC, and Los Angeles.

Bibliography

Non-fiction

Influence

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: El Día de la Música calienta motores . europapress.es . May 17, 2010 . Europapress . December 23, 2018.
  2. Web site: Wendy Fonarow . The Guardian . December 23, 2018.
  3. Web site: Wendy Fonarow . swimming.ly . January 21, 2014 . Swimmingly . December 23, 2018.
  4. Web site: The Reading Festival. Richfield Avenue. Reading. August 25-27th 1989. . December 23, 2018 . UK Rock Festivals .
  5. England Made Me . The Word . April 2010 . 86 . 108–110 .
  6. Web site: The Halloween History You Don't Know with Prof. Wendy Fonarow . asweetdoseofreality.com . A Sweet Dose of reality . December 23, 2018.
  7. Web site: TBT: 'Cool Kids' Annoy Neighbors Near '1979 House Party' Thrown At Home Used For Smashing Pumpkins' Hit Video . losangeles.cbslocal.com . June 28, 2018 . CBS . December 23, 2018.
  8. Web site: Fonarow . Wendy . Made of Stone: what makes an American Stone Roses fan tick? . The Guardian . February 26, 2016 . December 23, 2018.
  9. Web site: Jones . Byron . Oasis song tops Best Of British all-white straight male radio poll . themusicnetwork.com . April 4, 2018 . The Music Network . December 23, 2018.
  10. Web site: Rudavisky . Shari . Trunk-or-treat, trick-or-treat or both? . indystar.com . IndyStar . December 23, 2018.
  11. Web site: Scribner . Sarah . Generation X gets really old: How do slackers have a midlife crisis? . Salon . August 11, 2013 . December 23, 2018.
  12. Web site: A generation stuck in the middle turns 50 . www./projects.presstelegram.com . PressTelegram . December 23, 2018.
  13. Empire of Dirt

    The Aesthetics and Rituals of British Indie Music Paperback:, Hardcover:

  14. Web site: Ask the indie professor: Why so many bad band names? . Wendy Fonarow . March 22, 2011 . The Guardian . April 22, 2011.
  15. Web site: Three vs. 3 . Wendy Fonarow . July 2, 2006. mojave3online.com . April 22, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071027025033/http://www.mojave3online.com/addons/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4987 . October 27, 2007 .
  16. Web site: SeBADoH . _tunic_ . October 7, 2012 . December 4, 2013.
  17. Web site: Secret EP by Sebadoh . Sebadoh . December 4, 2013.

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