Originally coined as a barbed description of the on-stage style of Moose frontman Russell Yates, shoegazing soon became a loose catch-all for bands playing in a particular style in the early 90s: droning, whirling guitars create a wall of (sometimes) distorted sound, while vocal melodies blending with those guitars. A few of the bands knew each other quite well, and used to turn out to support each other at gigs, which brought shoegazing a new, equally insulting label: “The scene that celebrates itself”.

Shoegazing soon burned itself out, unsurprisingly putting up little resistance in the face of the more obvious and extrovert charms of the 90s indie scene that would itself become Britpop.

In recent years, though, sensing that perhaps Shoegazing held untapped potential, a new breed of artists have taken it up and into new directions, combining those tried and tested effects pedals with electronica, and ambient dream-pop sounds to create a 21st century take on Shoegazing, often dubbed nu gaze.