Draft:Fashwave
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Last edited by Kaliper1 (talk | contribs) 38 days ago. (Update) |
| Fashwave | |
|---|---|
 A U.S. Department of Labor image using vaporwave-inspired design and nationalist iconography, echoing fashwave’s form of retrofuturism. | |
| Etymology | Portmanteau of fascist and wave (as in vaporwave/synthwave) |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Mid-2010s, online far-right communities (primarily 4chan and The Daily Stormer) |
| Typical instruments | |
| Derivative forms | |
| Fusion genres | |
| Other topics | |
Fashwave (from “fascist” + “wave”) is an online-centric microgenre of electronic music and a visual art aesthetic associated with far-right extremism. Musically, it is largely instrumental and draws heavily from the synthwave/vaporwave sound palette of nostalgic 1980s-inspired synthesizer music.[1] However, in a recent revival, Fashwave have taken more influence from Hardstyle and 90's era Eurodance.[2] In isolation, the sound can seem innocuous or indistinguishable from its synthwave/vaporwave origins.[3]
However, fashwave artists infuse the genre with overt fascist and white nationalist content through other means, primarily in titles, imagery, and sampled audio.[4] While vocals are rare, many producers from its early introduction incorporate spoken-word samples from speeches by neo-Nazi figures, or contemporary radical right politicians, as well as militaristic sound effects.[5]
Characteristic
[edit]| External videos | |
|---|---|
 The Fire Rises trailer by HyperJumper, an example of fashwave-style imagery (YouTube) |
Visually, fashwave is defined by a striking retrofuturistic aesthetic that closely mirrors the vaporwave/synthwave art style. Common motifs include neon grids extending toward a horizon, 1980s-style digital sunsets, outrun sci-fi cityscapes, chrome text and vaporwave’s signature glitchy VHS tape effects. These are often juxtaposed or overlaid with explicit fascist iconography. Commonly the Black Sun (Sonnenrad) symbols, stylized Iron Crosses and other Nazi emblems, images of Hitler, Mussolini or other historical fascist leaders, and slogans like "Blood and Soil".[4][5] Fashwave graphics freely appropriate the stock imagery of white supremacist propaganda for instance, idealized portraits of "traditional" white nuclear families and WWII-era imagery but rendered in lurid pastel color palettes with synthwave’s "synthetic gloss” and layered irony.[5] A recurring visual trope is the use of classical white Greco-Roman statues or busts, a visual icon taken from vaporwave art; in fashwave these marble figures are repurposed as exalted icons of an idealized Western civilization and racial heritage.[6][5]
Fashwave music production tends to be DIY and digitally native. Tracks are often produced by anonymous or pseudonymous creators on platforms like YouTube, SoundCloud, and Bandcamp using common software tools, such like FL Studio,[7] or other digital audio workstations, without much professional polish.[8][9][4]
History
[edit]Vaporwave
[edit]Fashwave started with the adoption of the aesthetics of vaporwave
2020s resurgence
[edit]Eurodance
[edit]_(14763565495).jpg?lang=en)
Hardstyle influence
[edit]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Bullock, Penn; Kerry, Eli (2017-01-30). "Trumpwave and Fashwave Are Just the Latest Disturbing Examples of the Far-Right Appropriating Electronic Music". VICE. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ^ Dazed (2024-06-18). "Save Europe: the alt-right movement spreading hate with dance music". Dazed. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ^ editor, Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing; this, former staff writer for the Forward Before; Times, he worked for The New York; Sana, newsrooms in; Ramallah; at, Beijing Contact him (2017-10-26). "Introducing Fashwave, The Techno Soundtrack Of The 'Alt-Right'". The Forward. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ a b c Hann, Michael (2016-12-14). "'Fashwave': synth music co-opted by the far right". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ^ a b c d Macnair, Logan (2023-06-28). "Understanding Fashwave: The Alt-Right's Ever-Evolving Media Strategy". GNET. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ^ Enkvist, Jan (2024). Fashwave’s Role in Building and Maintaining Community in Far-right Online Spaces (PDF) (Bachelor’s thesis). Uppsala: Uppsala University, Department of Musicology. p. 48. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ^ ""Fashwave" Is Fascist Synthesizer Music and Yes, It's an Actual Thing - LA Weekly". 2016-12-19. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ^ Larsen, Jeppe Fuglsang (2022-05). "The Identitarian movement and fashwave music: The nostalgia and anger of the new far right in Denmark". Popular Music. 41 (2): 152–169. doi:10.1017/S0261143022000022. ISSN 0261-1430.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Die visuelle Kultur des (neuen) Rechtsterrorismus | Antifaschistisches Infoblatt". antifainfoblatt.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ^ "Save Europe: the alt-right movement spreading hate with dance music – dokmz". 2024-06-18. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
- ^ Dazed (2024-06-18). "Save Europe: the alt-right movement spreading hate with dance music". Dazed. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
- ^ Homeland Security [@DHSgov] (2025-12-20). "This Christmas, our hearts grow as our illegal population shrinks" (Tweet). Retrieved 2025-12-21 – via Twitter.