Neil Halstead
Videos
Page
Neil Halstead is an English musician, widely known as singer, primary songwriter and producer and guitarist of shoegaze band Slowdive. He has been hailed by AllMusic as "one of Britain's most respected songwriters", and Time Out as "one of Britain's greatest songwriters".
Halstead performing with Slowdive in 2014
Shoegaze
Videos
Page
Shoegaze is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volume. It emerged in Ireland and the United Kingdom in the late 1980s among neo-psychedelic groups who usually stood motionless during live performances in a detached, non-confrontational state. The name comes from the heavy use of effects pedals, as the performers were often looking down at their pedals during concerts.
Shoegaze's name is in reference to how many guitarists in the genre stare downwards at their pedals
Scottish band Cocteau Twins (pictured in 1986), helped define what would become known as shoegaze, credited with the development of "a sound that would become the gold standard for enigmatic, ethereal indie-pop"
My Bloody Valentine performing live in 2008
Deafheaven brought blackgaze, a black metal and shoegaze fusion genre, to prominence with the 2013 album Sunbather.