The Korg MicroKorg: An Icon of 2000s “Indie Sleaze” sound
The era of Indie Sleaze music was a period where someone could make a song with Garageband, upload it to a blog and blow up. All without social media.
Bedroom production was here and being on a budget was no problem.
An instrument that went hand in hand with that, was the Korg Microkorg.
Portable, easy to program and play, and affordable.
Don’t ask me. Ask anyone from Tame Impala, LCD Soundsystem, Cut Copy, Phoenix, and even The Killers.
Well, you can ask me on this Instagram post I did recently.
Why was this budget instrument so prevalent
Released in 2002, the MicroKorg was initially marketed as a versatile entry-level synthesizer, perfect for hobbyists and cash-strapped musicians. With its compact build, vintage-inspired wooden side panels, and a price tag under $500.
More importantly, the MicroKorg was a democratising force. It allowed musicians with little to no technical background to create classic synth sounds.
The microKORG's affordability was a key factor in its widespread adoption. Korg product training manager Richard Formidoni notes, "The goal was to design an affordable, powerful and easy-to-operate synthesizer that anyone could use".
This was due to it being a modelling synth, basing its sound and the synth presets on classic synth sounds. To be technical, it uses DSP (digital signal processing) technology.
This cool 2009 Guardian article identifies the importance of this instrument to the 2000s music scene, even at the time.
Perhaps most significantly, the microKORG democratised access to electronic sounds. Ian Svenonius, in his book "The Psychic Soviet," argues that rising housing costs and the Global Financial Crisis in 2009, led to a shift from traditional instruments to more compact electronic ones.
Its MIDI capabilities allowed integration into home recording setups. Meaning you could pirate a DAW (digital audio workstation) like Ableton Live from Piratebay and record away.
The Sound of Indie Sleaze
This thing was everywhere in the 2000s. You can literally hear it distinctly in synth lead-driven songs from the era like Hearts on Fire by Cut Copy and The Pulse by Digitalism.
Several notable bands and musicians have utilised the Korg microKORG in their music. Tame Impala incorporated it on their debut album Innerspeaker, particularly for the songs "Expectation," "Alter Ego," and "Jeremy's Storm."
The Killers' Brandon Flowers used the microKORG's A28 patch on their 2004 hit "Smile Like You Mean It."
Liam Howlett of The Prodigy featured the microKORG on their track "Girls" from the album Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned.
The late EDM producer Avicii was known to use the microKORG, as was Calvin Harris, who has been spotted with it in his studio setup.
Trent Reznor, frontman of Nine Inch Nails, has also been associated with using the microKORG. Experimental electronic musician Flying Lotus has incorporated it into his work, while Matthew Healy of The 1975 has included it in his setup. Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós has also integrated the microKORG into their sound.
James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem called it an "idiot box" he could program like "nobody’s business," using it to replicate sounds crafted on powerful vintage synths for live performances.
The Korg Microkorg is literally the first thing you see in the music video of Heads Will Roll by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs:
The Legacy of the MicroKorg
The Microkorg is still used today, over 20 years since it was released.
People still make patches that you can upload into the Korg Microkorg today.
Not only that, Korg just released the Microkorg 2 with new features like a loop recorder, Auto-Tune-style pitch correction, a harmoniser for vocal effects, and improved vocoder functionality.
More importantly: it’s affordable.
While indie sleaze is admittedly just some made-up word made up by Gen-Z in the Tumblr-era nostalgia, this instrument captures the sound from the 2000s indie scene.
The MicroKorg endures as the genesis point for making music with a cheap synth, a Macbook, and a cracked version of Ableton.