What is “Rave Culture”?
What started as an underground movement during the war era in the Soviet Union is now a widely used term in the music industry. As the underground music scene revolutionized, a lot of sub-genres were branched out, like drum & bass, house, psytrance and more. So what exactly is rave culture and what is a cohesive element that anchors all these sub-genres under one?
Music has been used as a tool not just for entertainment but for reaching a trance-like state in India for centuries long before the counterculture movement had even begun. While the idea of rave being brought to India from the west is popular, it is no surprise that we have had a fair share of trance-inducing classical music, absolutely homegrown here in India.
To cut it short, rave music is any form of electronic trance-inducing music that connects people to people and their higher selves. Large rave communities have been formed in India not just of music enthusiasts but spiritualists, mystics and not to forget, the layman as well. The evolution of rave in India is quite a story —involving music, politics and (counter)culture, here’s a brief timeline of the same.
The 70s :
With emerging artists both homegrown and from abroad, India saw a peak in live music in the mid-70s. To paint the picture, imagine extravagant rock n roll playing in a sophisticated setting —such was the beginning of a new musical era in the country. Full moon parties were taking place in Goa, with sound equipment being carried by hand to remote, unoccupied beaches and stages being built for jam bands to perform all night long. Places like “Music House” were established in Chapora in the same period, giving this underground scene a more organized platform. However, as every wave has its rhythmic ups and downs, the popularity of these underground music scenes brought light to the presumption of the inclusion of drugs in these rave communities. With the increasing legal pressure and restrictions, the rave culture saw a downfall in India.
The 80s :
It was difficult for this music genre to thrive under immense political pressure, hence a lot of international artists left India to explore alternative places in the 80s. The art travelled with the artist and emerged in Europe as pure electronic music. Bands like Propaganda and Ikraft were on the rise. In ‘85 the artists who had left India followed their journey back to where it started, with the introduction of a new set of music. Instead of mixing the existing style with electronic music or switching to the music that people were already accustomed to, “techno” —which went by the name of “wave music” back then, was introduced. It initially caused some backlash but the combination of energetic trance-like music with a higher purpose both politically and spiritually beautifully bloomed into Indian society.
The 90s :
In the 90s, Arambol, Anjuna and Chapora were already hosting underground music festivals of the same genre and hence, the term “the ancient tribal music of the 21st century” was coined by the ‘freaks’. Goa was also now being called “the birthplace of psytrance”. The love for techno went off-charts and people tapped into the beats of electronic music seeing it for the intricate painting it resembles, layer by layer, as a work of trippy artform. International music found its way to India, with prominent artists/ bands being Shpongle, Goa Gil, Astral Projection, S.U.N. Project, The Infinity Project, Space Tribe and Space Cat performing Goa and psychedelic trance. By ‘98, the underground music scene had already matured, bringing in more flavours to the existing form of techno —from energetic, pumping and powerful to fluid, ecstatic, and even emotional. The genre had sub-genres of its own ranging from experimental to house music and so on, not to forget the brutalism brought in the minimalism through hard rock and dance music. Unfortunately, the political disruptions and war situation in India saw the whole revolution go downhill in the late 90s and early 00s.
21st century :
There was no such progress in the rave culture in the first few years of 2000. However, by 2005, the underground scene not just revived but flourished at a very large scale, more than ever and all over India. This trance music with high beats per minute (bpm) that was mostly played underground started making its way up, to cities, giving it major exposure and recognition. This widespread popularity of electronic dance music (EDM) in India brought up various commercialised music festivals like Sunburn in 2007 and Bacardi NH7 in 2010, among India's largest curated festivals. The rise of EDM paved the way for many homegrown labels like KRUNK and artists like Gaurav Raina, Tapan Raj and Arjun Vagale putting India at the forefront of the global techno music scene. At the same time, international artists like Skrillex, Martin Garrix, DJ Snake, Avicii, Marshmello and more gained popularity in India.
The future of rave?
As more and more artists —both homegrown and international are making their debut in the world of techno, trap, house, EDM and more, we cannot just predict the ever-growing culture in India but easily say that rave is not dead. Though the genre might have lost its root word in the mixing and remixing of various subcategories in its evolution, the true essence of rave still exists in the hearts of millions of people. Hence, it’s not just the artists who are passionate but the audience, too, is now more mature causing the rave culture to thrive across India. Today, we have high-production commercialised music festivals like Magnetic Fields, DGTL, Karacus Marakus etc. across India, harbouring not just well-known international artists but homegrown DJs, who have a better understanding of the Indian audience.
“The cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great-grandmother of tradition," as Mark Twain rightly said, India is the seventh-largest country in the world and undoubtedly, one of the most magical places on the planet.