Up + Adam with Adam Montiel

Up + Adam with Adam Montiel


Such Great Bytes: How Indie Music Got Cool Before It Counted

August 21, 2025

This morning on Up+Adam, we take it all the way back to when “indie” wasn’t a playlist category—it was a movement. Adam sits down with Chris DeVille, longtime music journalist and Managing Editor at Stereogum, to talk about his incredible new book, Such Great Heights.


From blog rock to Bon Iver, from Phoebe Bridgers to the almighty O.C. soundtrack, this is a nostalgic, clever, and heartfelt conversation about how indie rock didn’t just soundtrack a generation, it defined it. Adam and Chris dive into the hunger of indie artists, the weird brilliance of the LimeWire years, what makes pop music feel so empty now, and why indie rock still offers something real in a world full of filters.


Whether you were burning mix CDs in the early 2000s or just discovered Pavement last week, this episode hits.


Buy the Book:

Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion – Amazon


Follow Chris DeVille:

Stereogum – Managing Editor

Twitter / X



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