It’s been one full year. A year of magic, and mayhem. A year of music. A year of dance.
It’s been one whole year of living underground in Vancouver.
I’m talking of course, of the incredible music scene in Vancouver. I’ve witnessed so much; I don’t even know where to begin.
So, I’ve decided to start a series: a breakdown of what it’s like to party in Vancouver.
There’s plenty to talk about.
Where should I start?
Ok got it. Strap in and step into the vortex with me.
The thing about the underground music/nightlife/rave/whatever-you-want-to-call-it world here in Vancouver is that it is truly underground.
Or it is the closest thing to the underground to that you can get to in the modern age. It’s the age of the Internet. People have access to whatever they want and more. If someone were interested to find out more about where the next techno dance party is, it may take a little bit of digging around, but it is relatively easy to find. Vancouver is a small city after all. Even a chance encounter at a bar with a random stranger might take you to a bare-boned, warehouse on the outskirts of the city.
No, the underground here is not quite like the Berlin, Cold War-era dance parties thrown in abandoned factories, in secret, a giant fuck you to the powers that be that were hell bent on creating a society of “order,” that was no doubt destined to doom a generation of young people to a sad, pitiful fate. It’s not like New York or London in the 80s and 90s where the sheer volume of street drugs combined with the number of artists flooding into the city created this alien, chaotic, fractious, tense, but creatively booming environment for new music.
There are elements of that over here of course. Many parties are thrown in warehouses. It’s likely that there are no licenses involved. They are super hush hush. Locations are sent out to the ticket holders the day of the party, only a couple of hours before. It’s secretive, seductive, and exciting.
The parties, while cheap, open-minded, friendly, and accessible are also quite small in scale and size. They aren’t yet on the level of what you might find in the arts-friendly countries in Europe where the festivals galore attract more dance-hungry young people year on year. There aren’t quite yet the big-name, dusk-till-dawn playing, festival headlining artists one might see on remote islands in the Balkans, or in enormous warehouses in Amsterdam or Barcelona. Canada is still small – and Vancouver is tiny – which means the scene here is small too. We don’t yet have the big-name techno artists touring here. Vancouver just doesn’t seem to have the draw for that. Yet.
Now I mean no disrespect to any local producer, DJ, organizer, or collective who might read this who feels that this is a slight to their status in the music world. This is simply how it is for the moment.
If Europe is a thirty-year-old human being operating at the peak of their mental and physical powers, Vancouver is a wide-eyed, fifteen-year-old flooded with hormones discovering this endless pool of energy that lies within reach, and can’t wait for the shackles to be let loose.
Put simply, we are behind in time, and we are catching up quickly.
I’m very obviously not an expert at throwing these parties, I don't know what it takes to organize them, whether palms need to be greased, licenses need to be procured, and whose head needs to be chopped off for the law enforcers to look the other way.
I am a patron of these events. And that’s all I am. I have no skin in the game here. I don’t care who throws the parties. If the DJs are good, the music is what I’m feeling, and the prices are reasonable, I will be there. I feel as though I am privy to the early days of a burgeoning electronic music scene here in Vancouver. I would be silly to box myself into a micro-universe within this micro-universe.
It feels like things have just begun, and there’s an exciting time ahead for Vancouver. Vancouver might be the forgotten city on most artists world tours, but as it grows, and it will, I’m certain that we’ll start to see the headliners make their way out West. The city has all the elements for a great show, it only needs a bit of time to reach its peak.
Rock music might have had its time in the spotlight in the 60s and 70s while the 80s were a time of experimentation. Punk-rock, and hardcore came into the mix, shamelessly deriding their predecessors for their mellow, family friendly music. Disco, and hip-hop came to life in the Bronx. There was an introduction of electronic sounds into the musical universe, and while there were great sounds being created, it didn’t seem like people were ready for it just yet.
Today electronic music is firmly in the spotlight. It’s mainstream. It makes sense; in the modern, technologically-driven world of electronica – of techno, house, drum n bass, trance, psy, and so much more – we are only just getting started. Equipment – both hardware and software – is readily accessible. Scroll through YouTube and there are thousands of videos on music production, how to DJ, encyclopaedic knowledge about controllers, DAWs, and everything else.
It's easy to get started.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone who buys Ableton, has access to DJ decks, and calls themself a funky name on Instagram will be a good musician or artist. Like everything else, passion, discipline and determination remain key drivers to whether one can make it in this business or not. There’s also talent, networking, and of course an element of luck involved. There are no guarantees for anything. The nature of the beast – the drug-friendly, nocturnal, fringe elements of society all together as one – make it a slippery slope for those easily seduced. But for the strong-willed and single-minded it can be rewarding.
And in Vancouver, we are seeing the birth and gestation period of a kind of utopia of partying that might be the inspiration to young, bored, party-hungry, curious young adults in the future. Just as I used to look back at the 60s psychedelic summer of love in San Francisco, and the 90s ecstasy-driven discos of London and wish that I had a time machine to take me back there. That desire has been let go of. There’s something potentially bigger and better I’ve found here.
Every weekend, depending on what you fancy, you could get your music fix. With the click of a few buttons on your phone you could be browsing through an acid techno event, a late-night tech house gig, or a large-scale drum and bass night. Even if you’re not a fan of the music it’s very likely that even one night in the underground will hook you.
The energy draws you in. It’s hard to find other places that are so freeing. There is also so much talent here, and there is a craving for parties like I haven’t quite seen anywhere else.
The community is small, and there seems to be an emphasis on collaboration. Artists, collectives, organizers are in contact with what might traditionally be considered “rivals,” to prop each other up and combine multiple fan bases.
The attendees range from complete novices – wide eyed and grinning at their first event – to veterans of the game, armed with tool kits, fanny packs, sunglasses, and the snazziest new rave gear. And almost every single one of them brings with them an infinite supply of good vibrations.
I have photographed events, worked with DJs, and danced my silly ass off until the cows came home. I am a fan of all of it. I’ve brought people in, I’ve met people there, I’ve been taken to new places by the more experienced. It’s always been a trip.
I am, and so many of us that attend these parties – dancing into the wee hours of the night – are part of something so beautiful. We are all getting in on the ground floor. And I can’t wait to see where this goes.
Perhaps, like all things this too will get old. I might begin to crave for something more, for something bigger, newer faces, creative party ideas, different venues. And maybe Vancouver won’t be able to offer that to me.
But for now, in the dark, rainy, sunlight-deprived city of Vancouver, I’m glad to know that people rave. And they rave hard.