The Indie-Nerd Neutral Zone

Some social cliques seems to hold a certain liking for others. From the loose but obviously apparent link between fans of bad 90's pop music and those mysterious people who are keeping Pop Idol in business, to unbreakable symbiotic links between rappers and convicted felons. When Nerd and Indie come together it's a mesh of contrast and constancy being pressed together with the most powerful and abundant force present in both; an overpowering delusion of grandeur. Not completely unlike a Human-Klingon hybrid.

These unique creatures have very obvious characteristics which makes them easy to identify and thus begins a short list on "How to Spot a (N)indie".

1. Social Interaction
A Nindie has inherited the socialite abilities of the average indie person but sadly has kept on the talking points of a nerd. This means that unlike a Nerd, a Nindie may certainly strike up a conversation with you at a gig or party, the problem being that not only will the conversation either involve Star Wars or Open Source but the Nindie will blindly assume (like indie folk) that what they are talking about is the most interesting thing you've ever heard.

2. Habitat
Nindies are found in a wide variety of indie-nerd locations, but the difference is in why they go there. While a Nindie finds the same amount of joy simply being in an Independent Record Store as you average indie person, that joy can be superseded by something like seeing the "Spaced Out" album


3. Clothing\Markings
These take a keen eye to spot. While a Nindie appears identical to any other indie folk they are often not wearing an obscure band T-Shirt but instead an obscure cartoon or sci-fi show. It's also not uncommon to find a Linux penguin where some would expect a witty button badge.

4. Plans
One question that be definitive in the identification of a Nindie:
"Any plans for Friday night?"
While it's far from unusual from someone to spend a Friday night playing games with friends the way in which this question is answered is critical. Here's an example.
Indie Person: "not really, no good gigs on so just going play some games with a few friends"
Nindie Person: "Yup, new add-on came out for Neverwinter Nights and i've got a level 40 monk that.... etc."
The difference is in the detail, also most people don't consider a LAN party to be "plans"

5. Gigs
A Nindie at a gig is an odd thing indeed. He's the kinda guy how has spent literally days of his life queuing outside the apple store every time a slightly lighter iPod is released and so is very confused when people spend the early part of the gig hanging back near the sound booth, instead of rushing to the front. The indie in him may keep him from beating till he reaches the front but he will generally be found looking confused and disoriented in the middle of the venue somewhere between the hard core fans at the front and the cooler Indie folk at the back.