Why club culture is important to psytrance

I feel very strongly that club culture is vital for our electronic music industry and allowing it to dwindle would be incredibly short sighted.

Lately I have been feeling the local Club scene in our city has been inconsistent and disconnected.

In the past 6 months I have experienced more cancellations than gigs, this has been due to lack of attendance, or venue issues, or some other reason.

Why do we need club culture?

So why is club culture important?

In my opinion I feel that club culture helps strengthen the local community within a music genre.

New and upcoming DJs and producers have a place in which to grow and start their careers. I also think it’s important to hang out and meet like-minded individuals whilst listening to your favourite DJ spin some tunes in a more intimate environment.

It’s also an opportunity to let go of your week of work and stress, get a little bit drunk and high and then go home, easy peezy. It’s not as big a commitment as an outdoor event but an indoor club event can still keep you in touch with your psy friends and the culture attached to it.

In this day and age with all the shit going on in our world, WAR, DEBT, DEPRESSION… surely this is the time when club culture should be rocking!!!! History shows that many amazing genres of music exploded in tough times such as punk, grunge, acid house.

I believe it’s psytrance’s time to shine through as a meaningful music form to reflect an ever growing group of people worldwide who opt out of conventional thinking and patterns.

Club culture has changed though…

Yes as we get older and our lives change with more responsibilities etc. – but that doesn’t mean that the next generation gets to drop the ball!

Putting together a party is a lot more than creating a Facebook event page and choosing DJs; it takes a lot of hard work and attention to detail, brand building and brand awareness.

Club culture has definitely changed over the years; it just feels to me like some of the kids today don’t really know how to get elegantly wasted and sometimes it can be an absolute shit show.

But is that the fault of the club or their upbringing or just the way things are nowadays?

Girls go out in the worst fitting clothing, and get ‘bergie drunk’…. Guys are not much different.

Why does the new generation not understand the concept of clubbing and dancing the night away?

How can we teach them or is it too late? Club Culture doesn’t necessarily mean, blasting the night away on the entire alphabet, but simply just hanging out with friends surrounded by the music we all like, interesting décor and psychedelic energy to connect with.

So why is the club scene under strain?

Is it about the money or lack of?

Is clubbing too expensive?

Are drinks nowadays too pricey, making people stay at home?

Are people struggling financially more than we let on?

One promoter suggested to me that there are too many parties.

Each suburb in Cape Town has an event Friday and Saturday night and this is spreading the club going public too thin, thus no one has a full night, they say.

I don’t know if I 100% agree with that, because our scene should be big enough to handle it – or maybe not?

Having parties all over town gives DJs and artists a chance to work hard for the weekend and isn’t it cool to go hang out somewhere local?

Northern suburbs, southern suburbs, Cape Town CBD, Stellies, Somerset West…. each region should be able to host a club event each week. The scene should definitely be big enough to support this!

Another friend suggested to me that the scene lacks an actual Trance Night Club. Back in the day we first had Club Logos, then Getafix & Afrogalactic Cafe, and also Rhino Room after that.

This was a known spot to chill, dance, listen to great psytrance and meet cool people. Nowadays we have parties at a venue; perhaps having a specific club that could once again become an institution for psytrancers is the way to go?

I once raised the question “Where are all the kids partying nowadays?”

The reply was “don’t think they are partying, probably NetFlixing and just chilling” – kids today hook up online and there’s no need to go out and flirt anymore, everything in life today is accessible from a click of a dial….

How sad if this is true…. No more going out with your friends and experiencing the chase, is this the next Gen way of connecting?

A DJs perspective

From a DJ perspective playing a set at a club can be so much fun.

Yes it’s indoors, but load up the banging beatz, get everybody hot and sweaty, and everything is contained, hands in the air, screams on the drops and full power energy for a few hours!!!!

Then it’s time to leave the club, the sun hasn’t risen yet but its light outside, the streets are still asleep, and you feel like the only ones alive as you slink home or to the after party.

So what can we do about club culture at the moment?

How are we going to get clubs fired up and pumping? Surely with the way life is at the moment we should be partying more?

Winter is coming, so let’s get clubbing!

Perhaps we as a collective scene should view it as a business or a long term project, and when something gets stale perhaps a revamp or new angle has to be attempted to give it a boost, in everything we do in life one has to keep reinventing, and keep moving, nothing stays the same and the one thing that is constant is change….

Thank You

I do want to say a quick thank to the promoters who are pushing the scene and working hard to bring us a night of fun. This was by no means a dig at those guys who are devoted to building the scene with quality club nights.

See you guys this winter. Let’s keep the love of psytrance alive!

Club parties that are happening this winter (that I know of)…

Pulse @ Somerset West: 1^st Friday every month
Reboot @ Bazinga Bar: Every Friday night
Trancemission @ Durbanville: Every Friday
UltraNoize: Brackenfell – look out for dates
Valley Of Psy: venue TBC
Headspace (formerly held @ Inside on Fire): Tableview – look out for dates
Psy Gasm: Tableview usually held at Daytona Palms – look out for dates
Club Fever: Lansdowne – regular weekend nights

What I’m Listening to: Subverso – He did a stellar performance at closing Easter Vortex 2017.

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Why club culture is important to psytrance