One More Time – The resurgence of electronic dance music and culture in my life

It’s interesting to note just how many electronic music artists and big-name DJ’s I’ve now seen perform live. Until June 2010, and despite my long-time passion for EDM, I had not seen any DJ’s perform live other than Paul Oakenfold, Tiesto, and Above & Beyond. Although these are definitely a few of the best to see, and their shows were epic, I was nowhere near ready to settle. It seemed too much music, too much life, and excitement was yet to be heard, seen, and experienced! Still single, and always young-at-heart, I’ve been fortunate to witness not only a resurgence of dance music culture in the U.S., but have experience it in my own life over the past 2 years. Over the past year+ I’ve had the opportunity to see a number of talented artists perform live at small local events in Arizona and massive raves like the Electric Daisy Carnival in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

As far back as 1992 I can remember falling in love with the sounds of House, Techno, Deep House and Progressive which were all a huge part of the rave culture in my home town area of Los Angeles. Although hip-hop, alternative rock, and pop seem to overcrowd and dominate the music scene from 1995 – 2005, I held true (albeit quietly a times) to my love for EDM! Trance quickly became my favorite, as I gravitated to the sounds of Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, and Above & Beyond- a natural progression I assume from the more heavy-hitting underground house beats I use to love in high school.

Back in the mid 90′s it was all about Bad Boy Bill, Richard Vission, DJ Irene, and other artists like Human Resource producing the rave hit, “Domniator“, and who can forget Alpha Twins with Speed Racer or the Sesame Street techno remix (I still remember all the sesame street t-shirts and rave candy kids wore back then). Guess what, take a look around… it’s BACK! Also, let’s not forget Moby, The Chemical Bothers, Prodigy, Daft Punk, and others that blew up in the later part of the 90′s (also among my favorites)!

For a while (1998 – 2005) I wondered if the whole scene would ever come back in a more mainstream way, and if electronic music would ever be big (particularly in the U.S.) as it always seemed to have been in Europe and other parts of the world. I can’t tell you how many pure dance radio stations have come and gone in the U.S. over the past decade, but I digress. I’m happy to say times are changing. Here we are, it’s taken a while, but it’s definitely back in a BIG way. Honestly, for me, it never went away. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t get married or have kids to soon, right? I’m still single and able to enjoy this resurgence of dance music culture, nightlife, and energy- to PLAY US OUT (what does that mean, to-play-us out…haha, gotta love the Mau5). Plus, not only is the music better now, the audio and visual experiences are far better, the venues are bigger and safer, and I can go on and on! I believe the 20-teens will be THE decade of electronic music. Long live the DJ! (Oh, and yes, I was in this crowd in the picture below and it was EPIC!)

So, one night when reflecting on my recent experiences I developed a list of all the DJ’s or electronic artists I’ve seen and the places I’ve been. I’ve also added a couple more to the calendar for 2011 (Deadmau5 on September 1st and Tiesto in Concert on October 29th)…

….and if the world ends in 2012 (which it won’t), I can rest assured knowing that I’ll be going out with a bang- I plan to attend The Ultra Music Festival in Miami (for the first time) and the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas (for the 3rd time), as the great Daft Punk would say… 

One More Time!