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A Rivethead is a person associated with the Industrial Music scene. Although the culture around Industrial Music was already flourishing during the early Post-punk period, the identifiable stereotype of an Industrial fan would only emerge in the 1990s.

Outside music, the term was already being used since the 1940s as a nickname for American car factory workers, mainly those working on assembly lines. The term hit the mainstream with the publication of Ben Hamper's Rivethead: Tales From the Assembly Line.

The Origins of "Rivethead"
The man responsible for coining the term Rivethead in the context of Industrial Music was Chase, founder of Re-Constriction Records, a subdivision of Cargo Music specialized in Industrial Music. In the early 1990s Chase released Rivet Head Culture, a compilation including several Industrial acts of the American underground scene. This is, allegedly, the first time the term was put in official use on the Industrial counterculture. The problem of that statement is that during the same year Rivet Head Culture was released Chemlab - whose members were close friends of Chase - released their debut album, Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar (1993). This record had a track called "Rivethead".

When asked about the "Rivethead" controversy, Chemlab singer Jared Louche said he didn't remember where "Rivethead" came from, although he states that this song title was in his mind for years. On his behalf, Chase admits he wasn't the one who came up with it, yet he claims the responsability for making "Rivethead" a popular word inside the Industrial Music scene

Criticism
Some Industrial fans rejected the term. Others associated it with cock-rock or metal bands such as Manowar. In the early 1980s, "Rivethead" was a nickname for Iron Maiden fans.

Some Industrial fans find the word suspicious, because it implies "pidgeonholing"; others deem it "overused" and or trendy.

Music
Since its beginning, Industrial Music has often re-invented itself. The eventual broadening of its music spectrum split the fan base - a crack that's widening with each passing year. The club-oriented subgenres (Futurepop, Terror EBM, TBM), for example, don't fare well with the Neofolk crowd, which are closer in spirit to Industrial's founding fathers. There's also the case of Industrial Metal, which is more akin to standard Rock 'n' roll than Throbbing Gristle's electronic maelstrom.

Rivethead fashion
The primary dress style of Rivetheads is inspired by military aesthetics, complemented by Modern Primitive body-modification (tattoos, piercings and scarification) or borrowed visual cues from Goths (mainly androgyny, fetishism and black hair dye), as well as oldschool Punk themes (such as the fanned Mohawk hairstyle, worn by, for example, Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM).

Some argue that a typical Industrial Music fan doesn't resort to a particular "look"; that's an excellent strategy to avoid stereotyping traps. Also, this kind of thinking is in accord to the highly individualistic nature of the music and it's active disdain towards mass culture.

Specifics
Primary colors are black, grey and olive green. Rivethead dress almost always consists of or includes the following:


 * Boots: combat boots, Tanker boots, knee-high military dress boots, steel-toe boots (such as Dr. Martens, Gripfasts or Grinders), which are usually the centerpiece of the rivethead wardrobe. They are alternatively called "shit stomping boots", "stompy boots" or "shitkicking boots"


 * Pants: cargo pants or BDUs, tucked into boots, rolled at the bottom cuffs, or as cut-off shorts. Also, leather pants.


 * Tops: Band T-shirts, Black Wifebeaters, flight jackets, leather jackets ("old school"), Nihilist themed shirts. Bulletproof Vests, Trenchcoats are also frequently seen.


 * Hair: Long and black or natural non dyed bright colors, shaved bald, partially shaved (undercut), or in a few cases, dreadlocked* and cyberfalls*.


 * Female rivetheads: May play along the Femme Fatale look with sexuality as power. Short skirts, military, knee high stilleto boots, vinyl / leather / PVC bustiers and corsets, and lip gloss with less makeup than Goths.  Colorful synthetic pony falls / hair extensions and colorful vinyl are seen but are more known as *"CyberGoth" wear.

Philosophy
Rivetheads often follow some of the following philosophical positions; Survivalism, Nihilism, Existentialism, Posthumanity, Transhumanism, Radical Traditionalism, Man vs. Machine, though they may have different beliefs. Also, they're often more philosophical than religious.

Rivetheads vs. Goths
It should be noted that Rivetheads are different from Goths in ideological and musical terms, as well as in their visual aesthetics.

Goths were a romantic outgrowth of Punk, while the Industrial counterculture was largely a pre-Punk entity: something like a cross between the Dadaists and the Beat Generation.

Confusion regarding the boundaries of those two youth cultures has heightened because of recent (mid-1990s onwards) hybridization between both which has led some people to believe that Rivetheads were actually a Goth offshoot. (Canadian novelist Nancy Kilpatrick calls them "Industrial Goths" instead ). That assumption is incorrect. Industrial counterculture came to be in 1977 while Goth subculture gelled around the London's Batcave club in the summer of 1982.

The rise of cybergoths further contributed to this cross-boundary issue.

Rivethead culture is highly violent in its visuals, but not necessarily in practice. Goth culture is, however, totally devoid of any appreciation for violence. The most important difference is the related types of music. They were grouped due to how small the Industrial scene was plus the fact of dark themes and further the merging of the music.

The Columbine Massacre
In the aftermath of the Columbine massacre, groups such as Marilyn Manson, Rammstein and KMFDM were blamed for the tragedy. (According to a friend of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine shooters listened to the above artists ). Because of their liking for black clothes and trench coats, Klebold & Harris were mistakenly labelled by the media as "Goths", a peaceful, non-violent subculture which became a scapegoat for the ensuing media witchhunt.

The extent of the damage done by Columbine on the American Industrial scene can't be quite measured - being that Goths were (and still are) openly persecuted throughout the country  and Rivetheads, as previously seen, are often mistaken for their cousin youth culture.

Related subcultures

 * Punks
 * Goths

Research

 * A Prehistory of Industrial Music
 * Side-Line: Industrial music forum - Voice out, loud and clear!
 * INDUSTRIAL MUSIC LIBRARY
 * Rivethead Forum
 * industrial.org - electronic experimental extreme noise industrial music & culture

Humor

 * Industrial 101
 * Insta Rivethead Kit
 * Rivethead: The Most Expensive Fashion - SIDE-LINE.COM