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Rivethead

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A Rivethead is a person associated with the Industrial Music scene [1].

Basic Information

The Origins of "Rivethead"

The man responsible for coining the term Rivethead in the context of Industrial Music was Chase [2], founder of the Re-Constriction Records, a subdivision of Cargo Music [3] specialized in Industrial Music [4]. In the early 1990s Chase released Rivet Head Culture, a compilation including several Industrial acts of the American underground scene. This is, allegedly, the first time the term was put in official use on the Industrial counterculture. The problem of that statement is that during the same year Rivet Head Culture was released Chemlab - whose members were close friends of Chase - released their debut album, Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar (1993). This record had a track called "Rivethead".

Outside pop music, the term was already being used since the 1940s as a nickname for American car factory workers, mainly those working on assembly lines [5]. The term hit the mainstream with the publication of Ben Hamper's Rivethead: Tales From the Assembly Line.

Rivetheads vs. Goths

It should be noted that Rivetheads are different from Goths in ideological and musical terms, as well as in their visual aesthetics. Confusion regarding the boundaries of those two subcultures has heightened because of recent (mid-1990s onwards) apparent hybridization between both and the rise of cybergoths - a melting pot of several youth cultures, mainly Clubbers and Goths with a touch of Cyberpunk themes. Rivethead culture is highly violent in its visuals, but not necessarily in practice. Goth culture is, however, totally devoid of any appreciation for violence. The most important difference is the related types of music. Goth is an outgrowth of Punk rock, while Industrial music is a derivative of Electronic music (especially Stockhausen's music) and also "far out" rock music like Krautrock and some avantgarde artists of the 1960s (Frank Zappa, The Velvet Underground, Captain Beefheart, etc). While both Goths and Rivetheads have an attraction to nihilistic ideologies, Rivetheads tend to take a much more destructive and violent approach, but with not necessarily acting on it.

Music

Since its beginning, Industrial Music has often re-invented itself. The eventual broadening of it's music spectrum split the fan base - a crack that's widening with each passing year. The club-oriented subgenres (Futurepop, Terror EBM, TBM), for example, don't fare well with the Neofolk crowd, which are closer in spirit to Industrial's founding fathers. There's also the case of Industrial Metal, which is more akin to standard Rock 'n' roll than Throbbing Gristle's electronic maelstrom.

Aesthetics

Is there a dress code for Rivetheads?

Some argue that a typical Industrial Music fan doesn't resort to a particular "look"; that's an excellent strategy to avoid the stereotyping traps that transformed Punks and Hippies into walking clichés. Also, this kind of thinking is in accord to the highly individualistic nature of the music and it's active disdain towards mass culture.

Others, though, claim that Rivetheads do have a dress code, and that dress code can be identified relatively easy. The sections below deal with the details of this alleged dress code.

The Basics

The prime dress style of Rivetheads is inspired by military aesthetics, complemented by Modern Primitive body-modification (tattoos, piercings and scarification) or borrowed visual cues from Goths (mainly androgyny, fetishism and black hair dye).

Specifics

Primary colors are black, grey and olive green. Rivethead dress almost always consists of or includes the following:

  • Boots: combat boots, Tanker boots, knee-high military dress boots, steel-toe boots (such as Dr. Martens, Gripfasts or Grinders), which are usually the centerpiece of the rivethead wardrobe. They are alternatvely called "shit stomping boots", "stompy boots" "rave boots" or "shitkicking boots"
  • Pants: cargo pants or BDUs, tucked into boots, rolled at the bottom cuffs, or as cut-off shorts.
  • Hair: Long and black, shaved bald, partially shaved (undercut), or in a few cases, dreadlocked.

See Also

Labels

Bibliography

Essentials

  • DI PERNA, Alan. Jackhammer of the Gods. Guitar World, vol. 15, no. 6, p. 54-60; 62; 67; 69; 71, jun 1995.
  • FORD, Simon. Wreckers of Civilisation: the story of Coum Transmissions & Throbbing Gristle. London: Black Dog Publishing, 1999.
  • JÁNOS, Pánczél. Battlenoise: The Blows of Martial Industrial. Hungary: MozgaloM Records, 2007.
  • KEENAN, David. England's Hidden Reverse: A Secret History of the Esoteric Underground. Harrow, Middlesex: Serious Art Forms, 2007.
  • NEAL, Charles. Tape Delay: Confessions from the Eighties Underground. Harrow, Middlesex: Serious Art Forms, 1987.
  • REYNOLDS, Simon. Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. London: Faber & Faber Limited, 2005.
  • THOMPSON, Dave. Industrial Revolution. Los Angeles, CA: Cleopatra, 1994.
  • VALE, Vivian; JUNO, Andrea (Org). RE/Search #6 & #7: Industrial Culture Handbook. San Francisco, CA: RE/SEARCH PUBLICATIONS, 1983.
  • DWYER, Simon. Rapid Eye Movement. New York: Creation Books, 2000.
  • FISH, Mick; HALLBERY, D. Cabaret Voltaire: the Art of the Sixth Sense. Harrow, Middlesex: Serious Art Forms, 1989.
  • MANSON, Marilyn. The Long Hard Road Out of Hell. New York: ReganBooks, 1998.
  • MONROE, Alexei. Interrogation Machine: Laibach and NSK. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2005.
  • UDO, Tommy. Nine Inch Nails. London: Sanctuary Publishing, 2002.
  • VALE, Vivian; JUNO, Andrea (Org). RE/Search #4 & #5: William S. Burroughs, Brion Gysin & Throbbing Gristle. San Francisco, CA: RE/SEARCH PUBLICATIONS, 1982.

Research

Humor

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