Indie Rock in Exile: The Search for National Identity in the Music Videos of Arseny Morozov

• In Event: Music and Memory I: War and Media

Abstract

This project examines the music videos of renowned Indie Rock songwriter Arseny Morozov (Sonic Death, Padla Bear Outfit, Arseny the Baptist) in the context of his emigration following the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. My interdisciplinary approach includes some aspects of journalism (personal interviews with Morozov, the narrative of his emigration), film/media analysis of his music videos (and reflections on the phenomenon of the YouTube channel as a body of work), and broader considerations of the dynamics of identity and subculture. Important themes include the workings of digital/physical media, the complexity of cultural inheritance as a dissident, and the importance of subculture as a space which fosters counter-hegemonic identities such as alternative masculinity.

Author

• Jay Hadfield, Ohio State U