Was reading about The Offspring due to this post here: https://lemmy.ml/post/2628198

As I read their Wikipedia page I noticed that Dexter Holland (lead singer) has a PhD in Molecular Biology. Then I remembered that Greg Gaffin (lead singer) of Bad Religion has a PhD in Zoology.

Is this a trend in Punk Rock or am I noticing a freak coincidence? If not punk rock, is there any genre that stands out in its number of highly educated artists?

  • N-E-N@lemmy.ca
    42·
    1 year ago

    Most professional classical performers have a Doctorate or at least a Masters

  • Io Sapsai 🌱@lemm.ee
    22·
    1 year ago

    Might be talking out of my ass here but prog metal artists tend to have high education, usually in music. In fact I saw a bachelor’s degree programme for progressive metal in the university of Gothenburg!

  • ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca
    14·
    1 year ago

    I have no clue for music, but this reminds me of how people who work in animation tend to have masters and doctorates. The reason for that is because these people worked on creating animation software, something that needs computer scientists and mathematicians, and then transitioned into being animators.

    Maybe people who spend a lot of time studying social and political science end up picking up a guitar?

  • cwagner@lemmy.cwagner.me
    11·
    1 year ago

    Probably extremely incomplete, but Wikipedia has a list.

    • Punk Rock: 4
    • Psychedelic Folk: 2 (I think that’s a winner considering genre size :D)
    • Electronic: 1
    • Metal: 2
    • Rap: 3
    • Jazz: 2
    • Rock: 2
    • Opera: 2

    There are some others without a genre or much information. But at least according to that list, Punk Rock is the winner in total, and psychedelic folk probably wins “PhD’s per Band”

    Edit: Wow, not even my favorite PhD artist and theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder is on the list. Sad. Cassandra: Prophet of the Dark. Though to be fair, that’s more a hobby ;)

  • Yerbouti@lemmy.ml
    8·
    1 year ago

    Hard to tell, I dont believe there is data about this. I was aware of the 2 you mentionned being a punk-rock fan. Original punk-rock values political activism and education so that would make sens. The only other PHD I can think of on top of m6 head, in popular music, is electronic musician Floating Point. Math PHD I believe. I also know some musicians like Flee from RHCP went back to university in their 50s, to study music theory. Now, if you look into contempory music, as well as jazz, it is far more common to get higher music education, in electroacoustic for example. I could name half a dozen composer with a doctorate in composition, only in my city, Montreal.

  • GuitarAbuser@sopuli.xyz
    51·
    1 year ago

    Metal band Insomnium is highly educated, for example their singer Ville Friman is a doctor in evilutionary biology

  • 0x4E4F@lemmy.rollenspiel.monsterEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    I think there is just way too little data on the subject.

    Like, for example, I used to organize some local PsyTrance gigs with DJs mostly (also artists, but the DJ sets were cheaper 🤷) and I know for a fact that at least 1 of the people that DJed on the gigs has a PhD in genetics. The other one, I’m not sure (he said he did have a PhD, but he was just way too plastered at the time to take him seriously).

    I think most of them are genuinly afraid to actually say they’re highly educated in this or that field, because of how society might look at them if they do - you’re a decadent human being, you don’t deserve your PhD. Not to mention that for some of these people, this is like an alter ego for them. Some of them have normal 9 to 5 jobs, just like to do drugs and music on the weekends… I don’t have anything against this, of course, but society views these things differently 🤷.