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It's still incredibly common for kids to form bands. Especially in Scandinavia which still has a massive band (particularly metal) culture. And especially if those kids were raised by metalhead, grunge, emo, etc parents. Which, fortunately for our case, every other person in gen x was one of those things, and the new generation of kids forming bands was raised by them.

It's just not promoted by popular media. It's not played on the radio. MTV doesn't play music anymore. Apple music and spotify or whatever push slop to the top because it's what's most popular. There's not a bunch of independent record shops anymore because physical media is less popular, etc.

All that aside, it's easier than it has ever been to create a band. If you go on spotify or Apple music right now, plug your favorite artist into the search bar, and create a radio station based on content *like that*, you'll find someone new. You'll find new people if you dig deep enough into YouTube. You'll find new people if you go to metal concerts or what have you and support the opening act. You'll find new people if you branch out online and ask people in the know about new acts. You'll find new people if you make the right friends who are also in the know.