Bands whose fans were their own subculture

This doesn't happen all that often,
but i'm thinking about acts like Insane Clown Posse, whose fans the 'juggalos' dress in a specific way and identify as fans of said band rather than simply metal or hip hop fans.

When I was much younger I'd notice tall skinny dudes with shaved heads and black clothes sporting NIN logos on the backs of their jackets. No doubt these guys listened to other music but it was always NIN and they struck me as a subculture in their own right

In central and South America there's a hard core of adamant Smiths fans who, again, identify as worshippers at the church of Morrissey.

Does this sort of thing still happen? What does it take for an act to transcend being simply part of a genre and start being followed like a cult with its own specific subject of fans who dress and behave in a certain way? Any other examples out there?

KISS Army
Deadheads, Phishheads, Dave Matthews Band fans. Yes, all jam bands and probably more blended these days, but at least in the 1990s they all had distinct characteristics.

also all much much bigger in the States than on the other side of the pond, strangely

are DMB fans recognisable as a fan genre

?

milli vanilli
minor threat

xp: eh, maybe less so than the other others I mentioned. I dunno. Definitely not a visually distinct look, except in contrast to other jam band fans. Our sobriquet for them was "whitecaps" after the white baseball hats that were common among their fans in the mid-90s. a "norm-core" vibe. I know they do have extremely dedicated fans though.

could've just called this thread "Terrible people" and saved a few words

Throbbing Gristle maybe?

Parrotheads

Manic Street Preachers?

Parrotheads

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, August 4, 2018 9:36 AM (seven seconds ago)

GWAR

definitely Manics in the nineties

The Cramps
Mothers of Invention

ahem

there's no Cardiacs dress code* as such but everything else fits

*except for The Flower

imago - Do you call yourself Juters? Gytists?

some good photos of numanoids here: http://www.numanme.co.uk/numanme/Numanoids-FAN.htm

A friend went to a Manics fan convention in an exhibition centre in about 2000. The band weren't there, maybe Richie was, I dunno.

HAWKWIND's hawklords

there was once this Bay area psych band "The Grateful Dead" had a small but devoted cult following

imago I'm gonna clean the basement today and dig into the Cardiacs

Nagomu Girls: coalesced around a label started by the singer of the band Uchoten in 1983, a post-punk, goth-girl fashion and music subculture that formed the roots of several later, more well-known factions, goth-lola, early Shibuya-Kei, Fruits magazine, that sort of thing.

http://www.coltranechurch.org/

The Stranglers

The Jam

Depeche Mode

Jimmy Buffet? They all seem to come from Florida and use Hawaiian shirts and flower collars.

Oh wait, those are the parrotheads aren’t they? They’ve already been mentioned. Sorry.

I’m pretty sure we have a dozen of those in latinamerica but I’m blanking out right now.

radiohead

sonic youth

I wasn't aware of a Stranglers subculture- something distinct from early punk?

I don't think of Radiohead or Sonic Youth as having a specific culture around them or look to them, unless:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwilvOyGjdTcAhURw1kKHXBTBlcQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shutterstock.com%2Fvideo%2Fclip-14719336-stock-footage-casual-worker-at-his-desk-using-laptop-in-creative-office.html&psig=AOvVaw2OqxxD-Slqpavc9VELka1U&ust=1533496296341250

unless:

https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-14719399-casual-worker-using-computer-desk-creative-office

yeah i think this is one of those things where there's really only a half dozen or so real examples, they've all been named already, and we should stop now before thread devolves to just "bands who have fans"

the (early-era) who certainly fit here, no?

Turbonegro - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbojugend
Black Label Society? Seems to be a lifestyle thing for a lot of people for some obscure reason.

Grateful dead

the (early-era) who certainly fit here, no?

OTM.

Afrika Bambaata

Insane Clown Posse

Bambaata/Zulu Nation is a really good example

afrika bambaata ?

afrika bambaata ?

http://new.zulunation.com

ADAM AND THE ANTS - even Darby Crash fell into it.

Slipknot maggots

feel like there's one group I can't put my finger on. they dress kinda like clowns, and they rap

You gotta narrow that down. How is their mental health?

Has there ever been a Parrothead who was also a Juggalo?

A JugParrot. Wastin' away again in Insane Posse-ville.

― Pontius Pilates (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, September 2, 2023 10:15 AM (five months ago)

I'm too lazy to look for it, but I swear an ilxor told a story about wandering through the outdoor patio scene when both Buffett and ICP were playing on the same night, and he overheard the pre-gaming Parrotheads obliviously cracking jokes, like "what are these clowns all dressed up for?"

A Juggalo Looks at (a) 40

I am workshopping a new band name, please help

Sane Clown Posse

Insane Clown Pussy Riot

Faster PosseCat

Maybe I left some words out, but The Mad Riot Puffins ? Your fans would be the Puffaloes. I feel we are getting closer to something unprecedented, let's think hard.

https://greenvillejournal.com/arts-culture/upstate-beat-sister-hazel-counts-on-hazelnuts-for-upstate-gig/

I only know this is a thing because someone I knew once referred to themselves as a Hazelnut and I don't think I ever cringed more fiercely in my life.

As I am sure you are all aware, Korn got their start by playing formal dances, called Kornballs.

oh my god Hazelnuts that is the greatest

Trying to think of a sadder band to stan for.

Nickelbackers.

Hüsker Düers. Rüsted Rooters. Milli Vanillists. Cutting Crewmen. Bizketeers.

O wait... Children of the Korn.

The Maroon Fivesome

The Fishmansons

David Grayniacs

Canadian Mike Watt fans, the fIREHOSErs

428 posts and no mention of Insane Clown Posse?

it is always a surprise to still see ppl rep so hard for Turbonegro

maybe they have erection

it is always a surprise to still see ppl rep so hard for Turbonegro

The Turbonegronis

Iirc Henley/Frey fans call themselves Eaglets

imagine... you're a young eagle.. and your parents are don henley and glenn frey

the culture/fashion holding pattern thread had me thinking about this question again and about how we still haven't come up with any good examples of this phenomenon

the great unanswered question of ilm

I know it's not a band, but stumbling onto Instagram reels of young people in 2025 keeping the dancing, fashion and social clubs going makes me wonder if "northern soul" might be a response.

any other examples of subcultures that are subcultures?

Okay, I probably deserved that, but I'm not aware of a subcultures that are still surprisingly thriving thread.

I did hear about this one band that hasn't been mentioned yet. Can't remember their name. I'll get back

proud to have made the first clueless ICP double-up itt

Swifties?

Sure, Swifties are what Taylor Swift fans are called now, but early in her career, her fans mainly identified as fans of the genre "Ingenue Country-Pop," abbreviated ICP.

Or sometimes they used a sobriquet derived from the jugs of water that Swift kept on hand backstage to stay hydrated during her energetic concerts.

I heard she branded the water as "Tay-Go"

On a microscopic level there were a bunch of hippie-era bands that were simultaneously bands and communes. The Incredible String Band, Gong, Hawkwind etc. but especially The Incredible String Band. Or at least they squatted together and had a circle of followers. Hawkwind was the house band of Frestonia, an independent nation that had its own air, its own transport - bicycles - plus access to water and shops.

What they lacked in numbers they made up for in intensity. Ditto Charles Manson's Family, and to a lesser extent Jim Jones' crew in Jonestown. Jim Jones pioneered the chopped and screwed style and invented purple drank. He was the first black president, predating Bill Clinton by twenty years.

Along similar lines there are probably several hip-hop bands that raise funds on the side by selling drugs and/or killing people, again probably not in huge numbers but what they lack in numbers they make up with the willingness to kill and die for their colours. It is surprising in retrospect how much media in the 1960s was convinced that rock music would become a new world religion, with Mick Jagger leading the children of the world into a new level of consciousness etc.

Which of course didn't happen. I think you need a combination of a solid visual identity, absolute loathing from the mainstream - so you're a rebel, an underdog - and an awesome stream of top music, which is why Iron Maiden had such a strong following. The Insane Clown Posse at least had the first two things. But a religion offers eternal life or at least spiritual salvation, which is something missing from modern music.

“Hip-hop bands”

In case anyone is paying attention to that nonsense, the Incredible String Band never squatted anywhere.

I just FPd and moved on, but yes

C’mon Ashley is harmless.

I admit my annoyance is subjective

the Grateful Dead was basically one giant drug trafficking operation and they probably have some bodies buried somewhere

https://bsky.app/profile/theonion.com/post/3llwxbtowtl23

https://theonion.com/artist-profile-morgan-wallen/

Ingenue Country-Pop

This is genius btw

thinking about this: what about the Dropkick Murphys? They started out as a Boston street punk band, but have morphed into an Irish pride pop-punk band beloved by middle-aged chuds from the suburbs who absolutely worship them— like it’s definitely a thing, at least in the mid-Atlantic and New England.

i saw them a few times back in the day, but then a few years ago went with a childhood friend (who is no longer a friend, sadly) to see them open for Rancid and I was shocked at the number of people who were there just to see them, and also the correlation of Dropkick fans to Trump stickers on brand new SUVs in the parking lot

That’s a good one. But have you considered Insane Clown Posse?

and also the correlation of Dropkick fans to Trump stickers on brand new SUVs in the parking lot

Which given the band has been ripping into Trump lately is hopefully causing said fans a lot of cognitive dissonance:

https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/03/20/dropkick-murphys-ken-casey-trump

a lot of cognitive dissonance

Dropkick fans

or, as they're commonly known in boston, the "irish/celtic processional."

Sinatra / Bobby-soxers

There was a persistent psychobilly subculture in the UK throughout the 80s which I guess was birthed by The Cramps.