From Indie to Shoegaze: An analysis of the San Marcos music scene

By Joaquin Lewis

Local Music Journalist

Music trends have been long known for their inherent unpredictability, shaped by the constantly evolving tastes of listeners. Attempting to forecast trends becomes especially difficult as listener preferences become more niche and specialized. With access to accurate data being scarce, individuals resort to various methods such as empirical research, palm readings and intuitive guidance to anticipate these changes and their proactive response to them.

Traditional market forecasting methods can still offer valuable insights, provided they are applied with the appropriate data. This article presents an analysis of the San Marcos music scene, drawing from comprehensive first-hand data relating to the artists, venues and genres of performances spanning the last 18 months. Using a biannual timeline, capturing data from January 1, 2023, to March 30, 2024, this analysis aims to shed light on the evolving landscape of the local San Marcos music scene.

Looking over the past 18 months, I’ve been able to compile a list of bands that have most frequented the music scene. While this list excludes performances outside of San Marcos, it does provide a fairly accurate overview with familiar names such as Window Shop, Lady Luck and Soma Jerome being featured. Though this compilation does confirm the enduring popularity of indie music in the community, a closer look at the data when analyzed by genre reveals a notable shift in the overall scene.

The indie music scene has remained relatively unchanged over the past year, maintaining its established presence in the San Marcos community. However, what’s particularly interesting about this analysis is the increasing number of Shoegaze/Hardcore bands gaining traction in the music scene. With bands like Demure, Elegy, Corinth and Lady Luck having played pivotal roles in nurturing this growth, San Marcos has started to show signs of an emerging consumer demand that local booking talents have been uniquely positioned to meet.

Traditional venues like The Porch and Jack’s Roadhouse have historically been the main venues for music in San Marcos, with other venues like Studio San Martian and The Davenport also in the mix. This remained relatively unchanged until 2023 when venues such as Private Park and Alchemy Records began to gain traction with DIY booking talents. With the popularity of The Porch’s usage now being rivaled, this emerging shift in Shoegaze/Hardcore scene can be attributed to these new venues and the booking talents behind their use.

Considering that historically, the most popular months for performances in the spring in San Marcos have been March, February and January (in that order), it’s reasonable to say that this larger shift observed in 2024 so far can be fairly relied upon. Documentation of this shift has already reached the KTSW’s local music staff through interviews and coverage, further emphasizing how this evolving DIY music scene has answered the demands of an audience previously overlooked.