Wendy Fonarow

Wendy Fonarow was born in Los Angeles and studied applied mathematics and anthropology at University of California in San Diego, where she also worked at the campus radio station KSDT. At the time the station featured post-punk British bands and underground dance music. Milo Aukerman of the Descendants also attended UCSD at the same time. The band covered the Beach Boys' song "Wendy" for her. The song was later included on The Descendant's album Enjoy![4]

After graduating, she continued to attend concerts in Los Angeles. In 1989, Fonarow attended the first Reading festival with a new promoter the Mean Fiddler. Mean Fiddler's participation changed the direction of the festival from heavy rock to the burgeoning genre of indie music.[5] As an American, she was unable to purchase tickets internationally and was therefore added to the guest list of the Irish band, Something Happens who gave her backstage access. Her experiences at this indie music festival eventually became the inspiration for her PhD thesis on indie and live music performance.[4]

She completed her masters research on Contemporary Halloween Practices and went on to research the practices of audiences at UCLA.[4][6] She is frequently cited in and writes for popular media as an expert on Halloween, music, and pop culture.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

In 1993, she arrived in London to begin fieldwork on indie music and live performance and was introduced to Laurence Bell, the founder of Domino Recording Company. Fonarow was subsequently hired as Domino Records first employee. Fonarow worked closely with artists such as Slowdive, Ride and Mogwai in the initial phase of her research and continued to document indie audiences until mobile phones radically changed participation at concerts. She returned to Los Angeles, and between 1995 and 1997 worked at Reprise Records and at MCA Records as a talent scout and A&R manager while continuing to teach Cultural and Linguistic Anthropology at UCLA.[4]

In 1999, she finished her PhD thesis and in 2006 released a book, Empire of Dirt[13] She has given lectures and keynotes at Cambridge University, Princeton, Columbia University, UCLA, University of Milan, University of Oslo and the University of Edinburgh as well as conferences, including By:Larm, CMJ, SXSW, Music Finland, and EMP in Seattle, NYC, and Los Angeles.

• Google Scholar finds 235 citations of her book and 31 citations of her 1995 article (as of December 2018).
• She suggested the name of the band Mojave 3[14][15] inspired by the Mojave desert near Los Angeles
• Sebadoh's "Secret EP"[16][17] and Album "Defend Yourself" were recorded in Wendy Fonarow's Indietopia Music Studio in Adams Hill, CA.

• "Ask the indie professor" column in The Guardian
• Official page