What Are The Elements Of Steampunk Music

So to start with let me just say that there is no defining element to Steampunk music. Steampunk music is different to every individuals interpretation of it. The only true definition could be; “Music created by Steampunk fans, or music that Steampunk fans find invokes the atmosphere they expect from a Steampunk setting or aesthetic”.

Ok so that didn’t really answer the question did it? Well how about this…

Steampunk music as I see it more often than not consists of a mixture of genres. Usually a mixture of genres from various periods in music history. Be it Ragtime with Punk Rock, Industrial and Neo-Classical, Chamber music and Electronica, Swing and Hip-Hop, or any other variety of combinations. The only constant element that must be present is some form of vintage (19th or early 20th Century) musical influence.

Another problem lies in the fact that their are plenty of Steampunk ideas in individual songs or albums, but not nearly as many bands that stick to that formula on a regular basis. In the early 70’s, Prog-r ock bands like The Moody Blues, Klaatu, and King Crimson started mixing heavy amounts of classical arrangements into their more rock oriented formats creating what I consider the first signs of Steampunk music. Next… in the late 70’s and early 80’s artists like Kate Bush, Thomas Dolby, David Bowie, Paul Roland. Also The Trees, Laibach, The Stranglers, The Damned, and many others began refferencing more esoteric and vintage sci-fi/fantasy influenced themes in both their musical arrangements and lyrics. Finally in the 90’s their was a movement in the Gothic-Rock subculture to a more “Victorian” or “Romanti-Goth” style of music (often labeled simply as “Darkwave” or “Ethereal”), which would prove to be a major influence on the later “Steampunk Subculture” and the musicians who attributed their styles to it. Not to mention Trip-hop and various genres of electronic music which often incorporated classical and film music samples.