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n America scene
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Berzerx
Started Topics :
5
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51
Posted : Jul 22, 2004 22:55
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what do you think is the reason that psy trance is not popular in north America?.
do you like the n America scene ?
  home is where the bong is
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thegooddale
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
26
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626
Posted : Jul 23, 2004 00:42
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I think the main reason is because everything is geared towards clubs. Most club events close at 2am or 4am at the latest. It is very hard to get away with an open-air event here, because as soon as the police catch word of it they are out there enforcing the "rave act", a new stipulation brought to us from Ashcroft and Friends that was buried pretty deep in the Amber Alert bill that was passed not long ago. This "rave act" states that any event in which a promoter sells tickets or charges a cover that has more than 80 attendees and has drug use is considered a "crackhouse", and for providing this "crackhouse" environment the promoters can be held accountable and prosecuted very heavily. We had to deal with this when we brought Neuromotor and we ended up not being able to charge a cover and losing big bucks. Had we been able to charge we would have already thrown at least one more good party since then and the cycle would be allowed to continue, but noone wants to continue to put hard work and effort into something and then lose all the money put into it... It's definitely not about making money, but you gotta keep your head above water. These reasons are making it very tough for us here in Texas, I'm sure elsewhere in the US you will find the same answer.
Another reason... The American dance music culture is dominated by Drum and Bass and House mainly. The trance movement you will find is the more epic euro sound. Also, the whole scene is based on name recognition, and hardly any of the kids into dance music here have even heard of GMS yet. Almost everytime I talk to someone about psytrance they either want to dismiss it as "that old school stuff" or say "yeah, I really dig Juno Reactor and Astral Projection" Infected Mushroom is the underground psychedelic sound here right now, so as you can see we are a little behind... |
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mubali
Mubali
Started Topics :
71
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2219
Posted : Jul 23, 2004 03:07
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Very true... The Authorities are making it more and more difficult to throw open air parties, and with the rising costs of venues (both indoor and outdoor) it's hard to get back financially what you put in. It's very hard to find investors that can afford to lose between 3-10 thousand dollars on an event.
Because of the rampant amounts of clubs and the very commercially marketed Hip Hop, Rap & R&B genres of music, electronic dance music usually gets pushed to the wayside or even dissed. (See Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" where he bags on Moby.)
We also have had to deal with a lot of negative publicity in regards to all electronic music, not just psytrance. Dateline had done specials about "club kids" and underground raves. There is a movie with Macaulay Caulkin by the name of "Party Monster" that retells a tragic story of a club kid that committed murder... There's also the movie "GO" which described the underground party scene and exctasy usage in a very dismal light.
The American media also likes to only report negative sides of events to continue to keep the American populace's attention. (Look at what the networks put on television, Dramas, Reality Shows,shows about criminals and the lengths the authorities go through to apprehend them....etc)
Several of the other electronic music genres also market to a larger group of people and tend to accept "the lowest common denominator" to assure that they at least do not lose money on the venture.
The psychedelic trance scene has always been rather reclusive in regards to newcomers and whereas it has helped the scene here avoid major issues, it also has stifled it popularity amongst the other dance music genres. You will be hard pressed to find any festivals in this country the magnitude of some of the summer festivals happening in other countries. Festivals do happen, in fact I beleive there is one happening this weekend toward the east coast of the states. It's just you won't find 5000 people going to it, or some message board the scale of Isratrance will be promoting it.
A lot of it also has to do with the general American mentality. The US likes to do things on a grand scale in order to cause "shock and awe". Psytrance as a whole caters to a belief that you don't need all those frills to make you noticed. Just be who you are and you will be acknowleged for that.
We are the guys just starting to catch up with the rest of the world, however the way the American Society (and I do generalize on this comment) and authorities are, it is definitely an uphill battle.
There are a few safe havens or Nexus points for the scene and more are popping up left and right. San Francisco and New York are the two that spring to mind first, but Los Angeles has a decent scene, as does North Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Florida (or so I have been told), Boston, Seattle, and Portland. (Forgive me if I have left anyone out.)
An Eagle may soar, but Weasels don't get sucked into jet engines. |
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chrisesca
Started Topics :
3
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40
Posted : Jul 23, 2004 03:53
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Good points made by both thegooddale and Mubali... another reason I think psytrance isn't more popular is that it is Intelligent music... not that booty shit like house, but something that really calls to one's soul and spirit (ok, at least for me and those I know). And I generalize here, but American's aren't necessarily known for their spiritual intelligence... and by that I mean thinking outside the box! (Don't give me shit on that please as petty much everyone here doesn't fall into that category)
And I LOVE the N. American psytrance scene! Ok, so I'm a little blessed (or spoiled) as I'm part of the San Francisco psytrance community... it's funny that when artists / dj's come from outside the US they hear the music we are playing and say "Wow, I can play that here?" ... dark, hard, NON-cheesy music... ahhh, it's GREAT to be in SF! 
Become a ray of darkness in an otherwise unbearably sunny day. |
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psyfi
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
14
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49
Posted : Jul 23, 2004 05:55
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speaking of psytrance scene on west coast... is it bigger than on east coast? lately we've had a few organizers like ecliptic trance and omnitribe crews and others who throw pretty good parties but mostly in new york and inside. theres a possibility that I'll be moving to palo alto area next year, so i was wondering what the scene is like over there. do you have any monthly's, weekly's, outside parties?
thx |
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chrisesca
Started Topics :
3
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40
Posted : Jul 23, 2004 06:14
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I've never been to any parties on the east coast so I can't really compare size etc, but I can tell you that the San Francisco bay area (of which Palo Alto is part of... south bay) has The Best Parties around! Inside, and outside. Club, underground, nature, beach, renegade it's all here.
There are 2 weeklys that go on in the city (SF): Synchronize on wednesday nites (free unless one of the international acts in town plays -which has been known to happen -- Neuromotor's played 3 or 4 times!), and Rotation on thursday nites ($5 cover and a different bay area collective hosting each week) both are great fun.
During the spring and summer there are several outdoor parties, some one nighters, some weekends. And throughout the year there are numerous parties put on by the many collectives here. I'm sad to say that the monthly put on by (((THUMP))) is no longer, but they will be making parties several times thru out the year and they are sure to be amazing.
Hope that makes the bay area more enticing for you psyfi! 
Become a ray of darkness in an otherwise unbearably sunny day. |
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DiMiTry
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
70
Posts :
2299
Posted : Jul 23, 2004 08:19
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hehe.. this must be the most popular topic in this forum.. at least by the amount of pages. we could probably fill a good-sized book with it.
be happy! |
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mist
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
68
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642
Posted : Jul 23, 2004 20:09
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i don't know... i think it's better to try and work with the establisment than against them. (legal) outdoor venues are very hard to come by here in dallas, tx.... so we take it to the clubs. by doing so, we've been able to expose people to psy who probably would have never had the opportunity to hear it otherwise. thus, our listening base is growing... to the point where we're actually getting psy trance on the radio now. and pretty regularly at that. the sound is growing. psy djs are being booked for more then just exclusive psy parties. and we've just been offered a weekly event at another club. as opposed to the monthly we do now.
some people complain. "psy is for outdoor, not clubs." "psy is for psy people only." whatever. it's texas. take what you can get! at least we get to listen to our music loud! in an established LEGAL venue! if they don't like it, they don't have to come. but it's there. and we're loving it!
Are you connected to yourself?
http://soundcloud.com/justincaseboy |
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chrisesca
Started Topics :
3
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40
Posted : Jul 23, 2004 22:34
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I agree with mist that psy isn't just for outdoors, or just for psy people... last year at Burning Man I was at one of the psytrance parties we held and saw this cowboy guy GETTING DOWN hardcore to psytrance! I mean doing the cowboy dance and everything. Now you Know he would never have been exposed to psytrance otherwise and he was having The Best Time Ever. That made it all worth while... after all, That's what it's all about right?
I've had some of the best times at parties in clubs. Sure there's something to be said for underground venues, either outdoors or in, but then you run the risk of getting busted and closed down, and that really sucks ass when it happens. Fortunately I've only been to 1 party in the past 6 years that's been closed down due to the police (lucky I know!)
~M.o.E.
Become a ray of darkness in an otherwise unbearably sunny day. |
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thegooddale
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
26
Posts :
626
Posted : Jul 23, 2004 23:00
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I disagree with you on this one Mist... The vibe and the atmosphere of those club events in Dallas are terrible... This is speaking strictly from experience. Club One is not fun and even Talamasca live was no good because it was at Deep Ellum Live. Everything suffers from the compromise of moving a psy event indoors. In Austin we will be working more with the Awarehouse, but it will never be good like the parties in San Marcos or the lake.
I think that my main point is that psy is great for a reason and I love it for a reason... Although it is completely about the music, it is about the music because of the experience the music gives the people enjoying it. I have never been able to feel that experience in a shitty club with a staff that is there for money and has no clue what's going on...
I think that settling for these mediocre club events will not further our scene here... In conjunction with an open air party every now and then they could be a uselful promotional tool and somewhere we could hang out and get down... But, as a focal point of our scene, I think that events that aren't everything we want out of them are going to just make us jaded and discourage us from thinking this scene is anything but dead...
Darkness Eternal Eclipsing All Light,
jeff |
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mist
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
68
Posts :
642
Posted : Jul 23, 2004 23:37
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this is exactly the mentality i'm speaking of.
me, i'm glad i have a place to go and listen and dance to loud psy...
Are you connected to yourself?
http://soundcloud.com/justincaseboy |
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rayo
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
11
Posts :
29
Posted : Jul 24, 2004 01:13
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I AGREE WITH ALL U GUYS, IS NOT 2 FAMOUS, MAYBE IS CAUSE OF THE LAW, THERE WAS A SITE THAT WAS REALLY COOL ABOUT CANDY RAVERS, DOES ANYONE KNOW ABOUT IT? www.plur.cheekfreak.com please let me know about it ok? thnx
:::Theres a DiStOrSiOnEd magikal land where we r all victims of FUN::: |
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David(KIVA)
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
36
Posts :
487
Posted : Jul 24, 2004 01:57
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