The online Belgium Underground application unfolds an imaginary map brimming with intersecting stories that portray the substance and depth of a musical and artistic field entirely its own: the musical underground scene. A leap into the past, albeit with a contemporary and light-hearted touch, packed with nuggets of information waiting to be discovered. An original project that delivers an intertwined view of a little-known world through literature, music, artwork, etc.
The application has details of 3,000 ‘players’ from the Belgian scene: musicians, DJs, producers, artwork designers, record shop owners, etc.
Labels and bands, all interconnected
Explore the network around each artist; browse the underground scene from one person to the next, through connections that link musicians to bands and bands to labels.
Detailed and well-documented fact sheets, galleries and an integrated player
Each solo artist or band has been given their own fact sheet, chronicling the broad outlines of their career and including a variety of music clips. A large number of these fact sheets also come with a gallery of previously unpublished pictures, and around thirty also link to an original video clip as well as archive footage.
Explore by genre, whilst keeping track of your browsing history
There are several ways for you to explore the application, whether you decide to peruse the map at random or to delve into any one genre in particular. Six categories also deliver a historical journey, each representing a key moment in the history of the Belgian underground scene, and offering a quirky take on the development of musical life in Belgium. Then again, tracing your personal journey is just as easy, as the application automatically keeps track of your browsing history.
Smart search system
The application has a search engine that makes it easy to find each element of the map and will take you there with a single press of the button.
Explore the various eras
The application can also be turned into a timeline that shows when genres and bands appeared (and sometimes also disappeared), providing a year-by-year snapshot of the underground scene.
A geographical map of the sites of the Belgian underground
A geographical map shows some fifty or so mythical sites of the Belgian underground scene of the 1970s and 1980s. A text retraces the historical context and the local goings-on, be it a concert hall, a club or a record shop. In addition, ‘Caravane collective’ has put together a photo report of the local site as it exists today.
Keep up with the latest news from the Wallonia-Brussels music scene at the Wallonie-Bruxelles Musiques website.