The Pastels are an indie rock group from Glasgow formed in 1981. They were a key act of the Scottish and British independent music scenes of the 1980s, and they are specifically credited for the development of an independent and confident music scene in Glasgow. The group have had a number of members, but currently consists of Stephen McRobbie, Katrina Mitchell, Tom Crossley, John Hogarty, Alison Mitchell and Suse Bear.
The Pastels in Tokyo, early 1990s
Stephen Pastel in 1982.
Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent record labels, by the 1990s it became more widely associated with the music such bands produced.
The Chills performing at Indietracks in rural Derbyshire in 2014
British band The Jesus and Mary Chain performing in California in 2007
My Bloody Valentine pioneered the indie rock subgenre shoegaze
The Stone Roses' 1990 Spike Island concert was the highest attendance performance by an independent artist of its time