A faint bass rattles the floor. Blue and red beams begin to strike through the hushed room. Lights start beaming faster and faster as your friend seems to be reappearing in your field of vision as spastically as the lights flashing. You turn to your friend whose white shoes are now purple beneath the black light box. A questionable 55 year old locks eyes with you from across the room as you familiarize yourself with your direct vicinity and look down at the overpriced puddle of tequila you’re stepping in. The bass drops and the hundred silhouettes of random strangers’ hands in the air begin to coax your elation as it matches to the beat. There is simply nothing as blissful as a filthy warehouse run rampant with disease and sawdust blasting exotic beats. The pre DJ’s hasty attempt to hype the crowd up while the main act takes their sweet time to make an appearance is greeted by the first beat drop of many to come. To my edm fans, lovers and sweethearts missing this notorious scene, we’ll just say she’s on sabbatical — returning shortly.
Over the past decade, EDM, or Electronic Dance Music, has become the genre of choice for the rising generation of music lovers. The increasing power of technology and computer generated intelligence has manifested popularly in the music department. It has turned celebrities into DJs and average guitarists into titans of beat matching. When you close your eyes mid drop the first thing that enters the domain of your imagination might be the classic Go-Pro video montage of an elite skier shredding some untouched mountainside powder or the POV of a biker asking for death on a rock slide bike trail. Whatever it may be, EDM is definitely a genre of choice in lots of the media nowadays providing a sense of release to listeners, and giving instant emotional and physical release.
While EDM’s background does illustrate a scene that incites drug use, it’s important to understand the origin story behind it. Late one summer, a group of English DJs traveled to Ibiza for a weekend of fun to watch the Argentine-born DJ Alfredo perform. The crowd decided that taking MDMA (a mood enhancing drug known as Ecstasy) made the music feel so vivid that the scene was dubbed “Acid House” (Matos 2016). There are so many subgenres of EDM that it’s almost impossible to name them all with each instrument deeming its category different, but active enthusiasm in the genre makes it easier to learn them all.
If you’re either looking for lo-fi study beats or white noise to dull the awkwardness of your next Bumble meetup, it’s definitely a solid choice with a very happy fanbase. Some of my favorite Djs are Fisher, Tiësto and Tchami. After dedicating some time to narrowing down your favorite sub-genre, go check out the next EDM music festival by you! It’ll be an experience you and your friends won’t forget.
XOXO,
Julia