Non-heroic DIY in the (new) no future: Reflections from the Basque Country

Abstract

The present article explores the changes and continuities in the Do It Yourself (DIY) ethos and practices in the Basque Country from the 1960s to the 2020s. In this context, music has had an outsized importance, linked especially to social and cultural movements. We base our analysis in previous works, cultural analysis, and in debates and round tables that we have organised with several young musical bands. The four decades from 1960s are characterised, therefore, by a heroic DIY ethos and practices, inspired by counterculture and nationalism. In the present day, we can talk about a different line on DIY, which paints it as non-heroic, something less idealistic and more conformist/conventional usage of DIY, driven by the new no-future ethos of trap music and online culture.