Most music fans are used to being unfairly summed up by the contents of their iTunes library. Heck, we even engage in a little playful stereotyping ourselves from time to time. To wit, back in July we posted “A Field Guide to the Musical Tribes of the 21st Century,” a response to an opinion piece in The Guardian that suggested that thanks to the Internet, we’re now living in a brave new world where the territorial tendencies of fiercely protective fan bases (and the labels that come along with them) are no longer relevant. We begged to differ. We’re willing to bet that UK-based designer Jonathan Williams — who created this series of illustrations of “musical tribes” to accompany a recent piece in Q magazine — would understand where we were coming from. Click through to check out his visual representations of everyone from Little Monsters to Mod Dads, and let us know if you spot yourself in there (and who you’d like added to the list!), in the comments.
Little Monster. Image credit: Jonathan Williams for Q magazine
Bro-Stepper. Image credit: Jonathan Williams for Q magazine
Earnest Pitchforker. Image credit: Jonathan Williams for Q magazine
Bus Kid. Image credit: Jonathan Williams for Q magazine
Old Raver. Image credit: Jonathan Williams for Q magazine
R&B Queen. Image credit: Jonathan Williams for Q magazine
Pop Fiend. Image credit: Jonathan Williams for Q magazine
New Metalhead. Image credit: Jonathan Williams for Q magazine
Trust Fund Troubadour. Image credit: Jonathan Williams for Q magazine
Mod Dad. Image credit: Jonathan Williams for Q magazine