F.A.Q

[mars]

Q: So what is this site all about ?

A: There are 2 main objectives here:

- Reviewing psytrance cds

- Talking about Psytrance (parties, music projects, dj mixes, etc)

There is one forum for each year for cd/lp/eps reviews. There are dedicated forums for specific promotion, but the main forum is "the General".

You needn't register to read the topics. You need to register to write and participate.

 

 

 

Q: When ? What ? Where ? How ?

A: Early 2000 / because the creator loved the music / in Paris, France.

The history of Psynews is HERE.

 

 

 

Q: Are you a company or what ? What will you do with my personal data after I register ?

A: We are just a group of passionate people. Call it an association. We are structured as follows:

- 7 girls and boys from various countries are the moderators with more or less rights. They discuss moderation issues in some specific forum only them can see called "the moderatorium". Moderators are usually members for a long time and have a wise attitude and a good knowledge of the music.

- Mars is the admin & webmaster but has no powers because he's also a label owner, so it's delicate for him to intervene. He may answer some questions on the moderatorium, or share new ideas, no more.

We are non-profit. The ad you can see on the top of your screen was added in september 2007 to pay the dedicated server we're hosted on, and the psynews.org/.net domain names. The forum system itself is an Invision Board http://www.invisionboard.com and we have a perpertual licence for it. This is all legal.

We are NOT gonna use your personal data in any way. Period.

 

 

 

Q: I just registered but I didnt receive my activation email. How come ?

A: We have a problem with that feature and some admin has to manually validate all new accounts. Just be patient, someone is gonna activate it, or if you can't wait, please write to mars [at] psynews [dot] org.

 

 

 

Q: Ok, SO, what is Psytrance ?

A: Ouch, many people wanna discuss about the exact definition of it. Let's say this is a form of techno music that puts the emphasis on psychedelic sounds. Although there are electronic tracks with Psy incluence since the early nineties, many consider it really started in 1995. There must be some topic in this forum about it

 

 

 

Q: What are the most psytrance-active countries ?

A: Israel has always been a very hot spot;

The UK, Sweden, Finland, Germany, France, Russia, Switzerland, South Africa, Portugal, Spain have quite a lot of producers, labels, and parties. Ibiza hosts a lot of non-native artists too.

Brazil, Mexico, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, the USA, Japan, south-east Asia, Australia have a lot of parties too.

Anyway, except most of Africa, Groenland, Antartica, and dictatorships/unstable lands, other countries in the world have a scene. Please check the editions of the booklet "The Trancer's Guide to the Galaxy" to have detailed and complete infos about that.

 

 

 

Q: I see people talking about Goa too. I thought it's a city in India.

A: Right, it is, and it's also considered as one of the places it all started. Many hippies lived there. And this "Goa Trance" music or its early forms were sort of a continuation of the hippy sounds of the seventies and eighties. Until 1998, anyone would name this music "Goa" music, then other forms arrived, called "Minimal" (98-2001), "Full on" (since 2001), "Progressive" (since 2003), "Dark" (since 2006), weird stuff that doesn't even have a name, etc... There is a graph decribing most of the substyles on this same forum.

That said, I heard Goa in India is no longer what it used to be...

 

 

 

Q: What artists/cds would you recommend me as a beginner ?

A: Also a very hard subject. Every style of Psytrance has its famous names. Maybe have a look on the General forum or the reviews forums. You can also check the Twisted label website http://www.twisted.co.uk for example. Not that we own Twisted shares, but their first cd was released in 1996, so they have quite a range of music and their quality is renowned. There are many many many other famous labels like Dragonfly, Hommega, Digital Structures, 3D Vision, Global Trance Network, Phonokol, etc, etc....

 

 

 

Q: Where can I find Psytrance CDs ?

A: Better ask on the General forum for shops in your city, since Psytrance isn't much distributed, like many techno musics.

Else, many online stores sell it: http://www.psyshop.com, http://www.saikosounds.com, http://www.beatspace.com to name a few.

 

 

 

Q: How can I review some CD ?

A: There are rules in the pinned topic of every year. Just look at other reviews, but my advice is you put write you really felt, with all your feelings ! By the way, we are an independant organization, we have no pressure of any "lobby" of any sort. Good or bad, your opinion is interesting. Just stay polite with the artists who spent some time making that music (most of them I mean).

 

 

 

Q: Where can I find Psytrance parties ?

A: Every country has some website with some forum or planning or calendar. For example:

Israel: http://forum.isratrance.com

UK: http://www.accessallareas.org/cgi-bin/whatson.pl

France: http://skyforum.ayzo.net/trancegoa.html

Belgium: http://www.psychedelic.be

Usually entrance fees range from 10 euros to 30 euros. Festivals entrances range between 40 and 120 euros.

Festvals happen in the summer, or for special events like solar eclipses. The Burning Man festival in California, USA is also partly related to the Psychedelic movement (it's much more than only that movement and only music actually).

 

 

 

Q: Isn't that techno/hippy stuff related to drug abuse ?

A: There's no denying there are drugs in Psytrance parties. Fortunately the majority remains clean. I'm afraid to inform you there are also drugs in any other party. From LSD to Speed, passing by Cocain, Psytrance parties are hit by this shit as much as the other styles of music and parties. Even Bjork concerts !

Oh yes, while I'm thinking about it, if you happen to see on some TV show people high on drugs dancing in some open field they took by force, to the sound of very hard boom boom music, if you see these guys with big dogs selling drugs just aside, this is NOT a Psytrance party. This is obvisouly another form of much more radical techno, but not Psytrance, and if I were you I wouldn't try to attend one of these.

Fact is since 1995, the media have kept on destroying all the techno music based on a few assumptions, like the drug use, the sound volume that may damage the audience audition, security concerns related to party locations... Our movement has a big problem of recognition. We still wonder why it's much harder to organize a Psytrance party rather than a Reggae party where the level or professionalism in the organisation and drug use is more or less the same.

Well, anyway Psynews.org strongly condamns the use of drugs and doesn't allow drug topics on its forums ! This is clearly written in the forum rules you can find on the top of each forum and you may face immediate and permanent ban if you tresspass against this rule (There are other rules too, check them).

 

 

 

Q: Would you let my child attend to some Psytrance party ?

A: If your child is below 18, no, because the organizer may get into trouble if there is a control. The sound volume is also quite high.

Else, regarding security, there is no risk. Depends in which country you are of course, but basically, our movement is peaceful.

If your question was more related to drugs, well, it all depends whether your child's friends he/she's going with are reliable and if your child knows how to say 'no'. I don't mean some dealers are gonna rush on him, no way, I mean your child will obviously be introduced to thse parties by some relative, that may have the habit of taking some drugs and that may also want to introduce him/her to them. the first parties are very important because they will determine how you kid will behave in the next ones. Personnally my mom told me drugs were a bad thing when I was a kid, and I knew what to answer to some "proposals". I've attended to hundreds of parties since 1996 and my best memories were with 100% good music and 0% drugs. If a party is shitty anyway, taking drugs will make it even shittier. Better go to sleep instead.

 

 

 

Q: I would like to contribute to the inner workings of this site, can I ?

A: Well, these inner workings summarize to moderation and trouble sorting. We'd better appreciate if you reviewed some music. This is much more valuable.

Else, you can be a nice and proactive memebr for some time, show you're really wise, and next time some moderator seat is free, just apply, you may get it. This is not a gift though...

IF you are skilled with Java EE technologies, please contact mars, Psynews3 needs you !

 

 

 

Q: How can I change my username or login?

A: Ask one admin, like mars.

 

 

 

Q: How can I change my email?

A: There's a facility in "My Settings". Access it via the drop-down menu next to your name in the top-right corner. It will trigger email validation. If this doesn't work, ask one admin, like mars.

 

 

 

Q: How can I cancel my account ?

A: Sorry to hear that... You can ask mars or one of the moderators.

 

 

 

Q: How can I ask for more questions like these to be answered ?

A: Reply to this topic with your new question, and it it's valuable enough for the community, we'll put it here.