In 1990, rock and pop culture was breaking into distinctive circles, splintering off into metal, hard rock, punk, goth, alternative, post-rock, prog-rock, etc. Each of these genres, however, had areas of crossover. Ian Astbury, lead singer of English rock/alternative/goth band The Cult and a man of American Indian heritage had the idea to create a dance and music festival in which these various incarnations of rock music could be gathered to raise money and awareness for Native American- related causes.