Thankyou and goodnight

Handed in that essay today. Hmm... let's not talk about that. Hope everyone else did well.

Thanks to all for a fun semester, and particular thanks to the 3pm tute (woo!) and of course Cory! Looking forward to Beyond Rock next semester :)

Blogging has been pretty fun, so much so that in procrastination of actual work and study I've started a new Pretentious Opinionated Wanky Blog About Music, don't know how long I'll keep it up for though!

Hmm...

Abridged version of a web conversation about trance with a fan


Me: what is it about trance that you like in particular

Fan: dunno.. i guess it’s easier on the ears. can listen to it in almost any mood i'm in. as i said, you have hard trance - feel pumped up, progressive trance - when your chill mood, psy-trance - loopy type of mood. i've listened to a lot of music, and i guess this is the phase i am going thru now. i've been thru death metal, metal, punk, hard house, house, 20's, classical, romance... etc… with trance, you can mix a bit of any style of music. create any mood you want

Me: k so it's very much about creating moods as opposed to ideas

Fan: for sure... you don’t hear any idealistic trance songs out there. none about the government and the war and shit... that’s all people expressing their opinion on matters, where trance is about exposing feelings

Me: do you think that's a politic in itself though - that the instantaneous feeling matters more than all the other political stuff?

Fan: you're diving too deep in the matter for me now. not to sound too offensive, but i couldn’t give a crap about politics… a question like this i would just flick off

Emo vs. Doof? Emo turns Doof!!!

Since I've been so very lazy and just been reading other people's blogs instead of posting something of my own, and this is due, I figured I'd post this e-mail interview I did with DJ tyDi, who emerged from the dark side of Emo to the bright phantasmagoric lasers of Trance.


Before you were into trance, or apart from trance, what other genres did/do you participate in (non-dance/ electronica in particular)? What aspects of those genres appeal to you, and do you think they influence your style of trance? Do you incorporate elements of other genres, and do you think those elements appeal to fans who also have tastes in those genres?

Before I even knew about trance I was listening to mainly punk/emo bands... I was a drummer in a punk band but soon developed a taste for bands that focused more on melody & emotion. I don't really think trance incorporates any elements from the punk/emo scene however I do think they share some similarities (that not many people realise)... The use of simple chord progressions & repeated melodic riffs... for example a guitarist might repeat a certain riff for a number of bars because he feels that riff holds or portrays a certain feeling or emotion. Trance producers repeat a particular melody or rhythm because of how it makes the listener feel. For me, any kind of music that makes the listener 'feel' something is good! A good composer can artificially induce emotions for the listener with his or her music.

How were you introduced (by which I mean both being made aware of, and incorporated into) to the music and the scene? What were your initial impressions, in relation to other genres? How do you think the Brisbane scene has changed or developed since you started in the industry, in terms of both artists and audience? Is the industry and scene in Brisbane growing, and what elements of the music, scene and media help it grow? What role does the Family play - do you think the club has helped promote the music, or has the music helped the success of the club?

I was introduced to the scene by simple hearing electronic music in various places and taking interest in it... my interest then led me to find out what DJing was all about. One of my older sister's friends who I later met turned out to be a DJ and I often watched him play at local house parties. Eventually I bought the equipment and forced my way into the Brisbane scene...
The Brisbane scene has changed a lot and is always changing, in the last 2 years electronic music has become a lot more popular and people are becoming more aware of the various sub genres (ie. house, trance, hardstyle...etc)
The scene grows as more and more people become exposed to the music, 'superclubs' such as family are a massive force in the local electronic music scene. The club has helped promote the music and at the same time the music has helped the success of the club... young people often go to the family simply because they turn 18 and hear about it somewhere, they are then exposed to the different styles of electronic music. Particular crowds who like a certain style of electronica often go to the Family purely to see the DJ who plays that style.

Entertainment in Brisbane developed much more slowly than in other metropolitan cities in Australia. You regularly play in Sydney as well as Brisbane, and you hail from the Sunshine Coast. Do you observe many differences between the respective audiences?

Yes, from playing in multiple cities it is easy to spot the differences in each scene... Sydney has the biggest scene for electronic music in Australia with a very diverse taste in styles, places like Darwin are not always exposed to touring DJ's so the diversity is nowhere near as big and the events are never as large.

You regularly play at Family and Gas nightclubs, and you've also played at raves such as Mayhem. How do playing in a club and rave setting differ, in terms of style and audience?

The club and rave scenes are very different... Raves tend to have a lot louder, faster, harder music then clubs. The crowds are often bigger at raves and the events have more of a 'concert' atmosphere to them. Unfortunately raves seem to have a lot of focus on drugs whereas clubs seem to focus more on alcohol.

Who are your influences, locally and globally? How, do you consider, was trance introduced to Brisbane, in terms of people, media and transitions from other subgenres of dance/electronica? Does trance in Brisbane differ from its origins in Europe, and how do you adapt your global influences to your own work? Are there particular aspects of the music which have less/greater appeal here in Brisbane ? Are there aspects of the music unique to Brisbane, or does Brisbane trance simply mirror the global trance scene?

My main influence is the UK trance scene in general. Europe is a lot further ahead then Australia with electronic music, so I keep my eyes open for what is doing well over there, what is popular and what is new and exciting. When I hear something new coming from the UK scene that I like, I take note of why I like it and try to incorporate those new elements into my live shows... Whether it is new tracks or new ways of writing tracks, maybe certain way of creating a bassline, etc... I am not sure exactly how Brisbane was introduced to trance, I would say it would have started with interest in electronic music in general... Eventually sub genres would have started to appear and become separate tastes in electronica for certain people. I personally think that Brisbane is very behind with trance... Australia is a long way behind the UK with electronic music in general. Most of what is starting to become popular in Brisbane has already happened overseas a long time ago.

***more to come soon........***


Here is tyDi's myspace.

A bit of feng shui - changing the setting

Because I am so studious, I decided that I'd spend my Saturday night conducting primary ethnographic research... by going to a party. Okay okay, so that wasn't my motivation, but I found some relevance to Trance subculture in any case.

At the 21st birthday party we had some CDJs (like decks, but for CDs instead of vinyls) set up, and had two fine local DJs (one who regularly plays at the Family nightclub) mixing up some House and Trance for us. It was interesting to observe the music away from a club/rave setting. No lasers, visuals or drugfucked individuals. And I guess most partygoers were there for drinks and chats with the birthday girl rather than for the music. Nevertheless many appreciated the music as some sat and listened, while many others danced the night away. I observed a slightly different ambience in a house party setting, in that the rollercoaster of emotions expressed in Trance music weren't as prominent, because they are usually emphasised by lasers and visuals. The style of dancing was also more communal and interactive, compared to in a nightclub where everyone seems to be very much in their individual mind frames, I guess because everyone was familiar with one another and concerned with each others' company more than the music itself.

Anyway those are my observations (then again I wasn't in the most observant state), yet to make any inferences based on them - I guess it's even debatable whether the party was really a subcultural activity - but maybe it'll all be relevant to my essay somehow...

Behind the Bling - for fans of things "hippity hoppity"

Okay now this has nothing to do with Trance whatsoever, but relevant enough to the course so I figure it's worth a post. Was fortunate enough to win free tix to an advance screening of Dave Chappelle's Block Party at the Dendy last night, and thought I'd give it a bit of a rap.

The film is by French director Michel Gondry, genius behind such music film clips as Bjork's Human Behaviour, Daft Punk's Around The World, The Chemical Brothers' Star Guitar, Kylie Minogue's Come Into My World and The White Stripes' The Hardest Button To Button, among many others. It follows funny-man Dave Chappelle in documentary style as he organises a block party in the New York suburb of Brooklyn with hip-hop stars Kanye West, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Dead Prez, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, The Roots, Big Daddy Kane and The Fugees. Chappelle also goes back to his hometown of Ohio and gives a bunch of local characters the opportunity to go to New York to join the party. However, most of the duration of the film is occupied by actual performances by the artists, juxtaposed with footage of Dave interviewing and jamming with the artists and fans.

Despite not being a huge hip hop fan myself, I found it to be a really fun, interesting and enjoyable film. It didn't have a plot or blatant message as such, and perhaps therefore lacked momentum, but I thought it was an uplifitng exposition of the spirit of the Brooklyn community empowered through their solidarity, their joy in dancing and the political themes in the music. I could appreciate that behind the whole bling "pimps and 'hos" image, there were culturally significant roots to (some) hip hop music. In fact, I even bought the soundtrack today, though I'm yet to listen to it.

For those who despise hip hop altogether I guess I'd advise against seeing the film as the performance footages get quite long, but if you find it tolerable then I think there's some enjoyment to be gained from it, if not for the music (there are also occasional jazzy bluesy bits) then for Chappelle's comicality.

Dave Chappelle's Block Party - Official Site
Director File - Michel Gondry

And so it begins...

Hey funky chickens!

Welcome to my research blog on Trance subculture in Brisbane for MSTU2000. This is my first time blogging, so to all you reading this, thanks for sharing the experience.

So this post is basically just a test to see how it all turns out, nothing in particular to report. Hopefully during the next 5 weeks I'll post some interesting stuff and maybe even get some feedback hey?

Enjoy, and for more research blogs on various subcultures check out Music Subcultures and the Media. Peace (Love, Unity, Respect) out all.