U.S. psytrance scene?????

[Guest Zaratustra]

Hi All,

 

I'm from San Francisco and there is a pretty good psy-trance scene out here. You can usually find a psy-party every weekend and there is even Thump Radio which is a twice a month all psy-trance club that gets pretty good attendence and often Headlines top Psy acts like Infected Mushroom, etc.

 

I spoke to the main guy in Infected Mushroom and he said that the San Francisco psytrance scene was the best in San Francisco. New York was #2 but barely there. He said that Mexico and Japan are the places to be for psytrance these days.

[Guest Zaratustra]

Hi All,

 

I'm from San Francisco and there is a pretty good psy-trance scene out here. You can usually find a psy-party every weekend and there is even Thump Radio which is a twice a month all psy-trance club that gets pretty good attendence and often Headlines top Psy acts like Infected Mushroom, etc.

 

I spoke to the main guy in Infected Mushroom and he said that the San Francisco psytrance scene was the best in San Francisco. New York was #2 but barely there. He said that Mexico and Japan are the places to be for psytrance these days.

[Guest Zaratustra]

Ooops Sorry! This thing kept returning an error about invalid email or something like that and I kept re-submitting. Sorry bout that.

[Guest krime]

hell no, us aint got shit for a scene. just small shitty ones

[Guest krime]

i live close to LA and there are some great US based acts out, not to many people have heard of them like psychoid is from Cali, and shit , the scene is growing but it is still very very underground

[Guest krime]

sorry i contradicted my self, the first post i wrote i wasnt thinking when i wrote that let me put it that way...

[draeke]

has anyone a contact for pzeffan (some of you are still on board and maybe dealt with him).

cheers

[alleycat]

There are definitely scenes in the US, in many larger cities, and in states with a more electronic music-friendly political environment. Places like the West coast are chock full of crews big and small doing anything from local bashers to big-name international acts.

 

The problem with the US compared to Europe, is that here we are VERY spread out. Lots of empty space. Combine that with a comparatively poor public national transportation system and you get what we got; lots of regional scenes with regional talent that don't often get play in other regions so much. Dont get me wrong though theres plenty of artists and acts that make it everywhere. Im sure Europe is similar. The ease of getting around Europe and relative cheapness of travel make a continent-wide scene much easier to pull off, and liberal drug laws don't hurt either (the US is of course a terrible place to try to score drugs cheap).

 

There aren't any major psytrance-only festivals in the US that are held annually. Gemini, Gaian Mind and World Bridge would be the 3 major ones that have been taking place annually (this year at Gemini we have Ajja, OOOD, and a bunch of other great int'l artists, Gaian Mind has had Aphid Moon, YabYum, Loopus in Fabula in previous yrs). The lack of consistent national festivals other than the 3 mentioned (and Burning Man which isn't really a psytrance festival though it does have psytrance, usually) seem to hinder a nationwide or even continent wide scene. Lots of Americans play in Mexico and Canada fairly often though the demand seems very specific.

 

The scenes here seem to gravitate towards certain styles as well. The ATL Psy crew love their superfast stuff, the San Francisco scene is famous for their fullon (Chromatone anyone?), in NYC there is a lot of conflict between different party groups who all seem to believe that their chosen style is THE ONE TRUE psytrance, and in between is everyone else. Every region seems to like to party a bit differently, sometimes they play hard ""dark"" stuff 24/7. Some play progressive and morning styles at night. Some are more integrated into the mainstream EDM scene (which seems to marginalize psytrance as 'just raver music').

 

There seems to be a bit of prejudice towards psytrance in the mainstream EDM community. It seems they think its either hippie-dippy peace-love music or drug-taking music. I can understand, you know, making the connection between 'psychedelic trance' and psychedelic drugs. But it is rather narrow minded to just leave it at that without even exploring the possibility that its called psychedelic not in reference to drugs but to itself; that it IS a psychedelic experience. Their loss...

 

The legal situation in this country is less than liberal in regards to young people gathering in dubious situations often including drug use. Legal parties face all sorts of hoops to jump through that make it hard for smaller crews to get a foothold. Often just the name of the style of music is enough to label the whole shebang a lawless drug frenzy.

 

But in my experience the scene here in the US is tight knit, welcoming, mature-minded, willing to go extra lengths to provide partiers with a good time, focused more on the music than money, eager to create a quality space for psychedelic experience. I guess the profit minded crew havent found a way to fleece us yet...

[Twisted D*U*O]

Artistic and psychedelic culture in America as a whole will ALWAYS pale in comparison to other countries. It's about economics and marketing in America. Capitalism has developed a money culture in which if something isn't packaged nicely, advertised properly, and shipped for mass consumption then it's deemed worthless. It's all very profit oriented. And if there's no profit involved, then there had better be some prestige (15 minutes of fame). Other cultures tend to put more value on culture and purpose. They tend to value the longevity of passing down ideals and framework towards something ongoing rather than the immediate need for pleasures. Places like the UK have legislation for things like the "Rave Act" here in the US. They also have similar penalties for drugs. But for some reason, the culture thrives in places like this way better than in the States.

[DangerGirl]

The West Coast of the US has a fairly well developed scene. Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and LA all have regular parties and a strong tribe.

 

Burning Man once had more trance but other genres, particularly dub step, have become the dominant sound. Currently trance on playa can be tricky to to find and sometimes inconsistent.

 

This year I'll be doing a trance night at Camp Above the Limit located in the 9:00 Plaza (9:00 & Wednesday night in a dome filled with giant black light crystals and mushrooms. www.Campabovethelimit.com

 

2011 I will be doing tribal fire at Burning Man deep playa. Currently enlisting those interested in seeing real fire, not propane, on playa along with some banging psy-trance. The art project has already been approved by BMORG.

[the goa constrictor]

Artistic and psychedelic culture in America as a whole will ALWAYS pale in comparison to other countries. It's about economics and marketing in America. Capitalism has developed a money culture in which if something isn't packaged nicely, advertised properly, and shipped for mass consumption then it's deemed worthless. It's all very profit oriented. And if there's no profit involved, then there had better be some prestige (15 minutes of fame). Other cultures tend to put more value on culture and purpose. They tend to value the longevity of passing down ideals and framework towards something ongoing rather than the immediate need for pleasures. Places like the UK have legislation for things like the "Rave Act" here in the US. They also have similar penalties for drugs. But for some reason, the culture thrives in places like this way better than in the States.

 

 

I hope you realize how terribly inaccurate this statement was.

Have you ever been to Europe? The regions in which events were thrown and artists lived, are rather small and local. They have a fairly cheap local airline system too. Flying an artist from Australia, Finland, Japan, or anywhere in Europe, over to America is about a grand per person. In the UK, you could have a party with 7 internationally known and huge artists. To make that happen in the USA, you would need a completely different type of party and scene.

 

Because the UK was able to nurture these artists and this scene 15 years ago, it was able to develop and grow in a way that wasn't happening in the USA. Parties all over the USA have been going off and kicking ass, without profit or prestige, for well over 10-15 years. I'm also rather curious as how you define successful and what it is you're looking for in a scene.