Twenty-five years of independent, underground, or punk rock music-making in St. John's, Newfoundland, have been defined by geographic isolation. In tracing a historical record of the small city's punk/indie scene, this project seeks to evaluate recent academic discussion surrounding the role of collectivity in artistic 'independence' and examine the impact of prevailing international aesthetics and changing communication technologies on local practice. The self-containment and self-sufficiency of the St. John's music community, largely the product of the city's isolated position on the extreme eastern tip of a large island off the east coast of North America, provide a unique backdrop against which to foreground a discussion of the distance between indie/punk rhetoric and reality. I contend that 'scene' in popular and academic use refers to the casual aggregation occasioned by similar interest and shared location, while 'community' hints at effort, co-operation and productive support.

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