Why claim indie as the centerpiece?

"Metal" is a good answer to that question, 'cuz the "no, fuck you" is sorta built in.

The "What type of music do you listen to" question is rather easy to respond to for fans of hip-hop, metal or electronica. Or to the kind of braindead people who respond "I like all kinds of music" and then usually means mainstream hits only. Indie fans will never answer "indie".

Personally, I think "Do you have 10 minutes?" is the best answer ;)

"Indie fans will never answer "indie"."

You've obviously never met my girlfriend's sister, who (along with her boyfriend) I use as my default indie strawman. And when I was in high school, I definitely used to say that I listened mostly to indie rock, even though that both was and wasn't true (indie rock and industrial, and that industrial was almost all on indie labels and was a form of rock, but wasn't indie rock, know'm'sayin'?).

As for the question, I usually go with either whatever I've been listening to most recently (today, Notorious Byrds) or a made-up answer like "Fartcore."

Regarding the amoeba-like grasp of "indie," I remember feeling confused one day when my neighbors, all recent immigrants from various SE Asian countries, were playing reggaeton loudly. They'd only ever played, like, Canto-pop (and Vietnamese versions of the same), and I was stuck between thinking "How odd—it's all in Spanish," and castigating myself for racist assumptions.

Indie fans will never answer "indie".

obviously RONG

indie = punks got into the 60s (but you know, before all the trippy stuff)