psytrance vs. rave culture

Suomi trance has a bit of a crazy structure too. Honestly, I like the formula though. It's a structure I appreciate a lot, that shows up in other styles too. Like London acid stuff from the 90s, or some hard techno. If it gets rid of too much of it's trademark trance structure... well it'll be something else altogether.
 
Damien said:
From what I've seen being in the rave culture and looking into the Psytrance culture it seems the main difference is setting. Raves are more of an urban thing where psytrance is more of a foresty/nature type thing.
Click to expand...

I am tempted to agree, but then again, come to the Bay Area, where we throw psytrance raves quite a bit, at least in the last year...

And they have been some of the most epic parties, at my favorite venues I must say.
 
I definitely feel like psytrance fans have a bit of elitism to them (and this comes from a psytrancer), as if their music is more "enlightened" or "conscious" than other music, I prefer it to many other forms of dance music, but I see this real conflicted viewpoint where individuals simultaneously profess to be psychedelically minded but are really restrictive in their musical tastes.

"well it'll be something else altogether. "

Some of it is something else altogether, I really enjoy artists who are pushing the boundaries of their genre, though i do enjoy some more restricted more restrained by traditional trance structure psytrance, though I really hate the ever increasing risset tone style rising note people put in alot of melodic psy for buildups as well as the rapid fire kick>drop off> drop the beat again break downs, some psy is riddled with cliche.
 
They're definitely a different vibe.

Basically the main difference is that a lot of people are on, or have done, psychedelics and seem to dance differently.

When you're on acid at a Psy Trance party and can see/feel the music reaching out to you and everyone seems to be getting it and reaching back through their dancing, it makes it something else altogether.
 
where do you live? what parties are you going to? not all "raves" are filled with drugged out kids. try the underground.
 
psytrance heads are some of the biggest druggies in the scene in my opinion. i don't know that i'd necessarily categorize them as "respectful" of drugs... maybe "indulgent".

i am fond of psy culture though because it tends to attract hippie types and i myself am part hippie.
 
I've been to a few underground psy parties held in semi-squats, advertized solely by word-of-mouth or by flyers that are handed out at other psy parties, and I have to say psytrance is one of the biggest druggie genres out there. The only time I've actually seen someone shoot up in public was at such a party. Trust me, there may be alot of goaheads who only smoke weed/take psychs but they bring in a shit ton of hard drugs on the side. Even 'trashy' drugs such as booze, amps, coke or opiates, though it's usually teenagers who are into shit.

I'm talking about the Belgian (Flemish) scene here, which is all about oldschool.

Really depends on the party though. Some psy parties are jammed with hardcore druggies, fuck-ups, people skipping school on thursday to catch a party on wednesday evening, people selling drugs, etc... And other times it's the other way around, you see lots of "real" psy people, lots of "travel agents", no hard drugs in sight, and you seem to recognize almost everyone.
The best parties are the ones with fewer than 200 people. :D
 
Last edited:
Earthcore used to be Australia's biggest psytrance party (doof). I attended the last one in November. It was fun but I couldn't help but feel amidst the biggest drug binge I'd ever been to. Within seconds of stepping onto the dancefloor, my friends and I were offered drugs by some jacked up Israelis. Don't get me wrong - that was great acid and I had a blast, but that was only the start of it.

Come sunrise, it seemed that most people had conked out, which is stark contrast to the doofs I'm used to where everyone seems to come out at sunrise. A shame really, because the best music of the party was played at about noon on Saturday.

Same thing again on Saturday night, only people would have been even more trashed.

I don't know how many people I saw wearing ammo belts loaded with bulberators and nangs. I lost count. And the pile of empty cartridges on the dancefloor was just disgusting.

Oh and to top it all off, people were driving their cars around the site in such a state. My girl and I were standing outside the bar on Sunday morning. Out of nowhere, people had taken their cars down to where we were so we moved forward a bit. Ten minutes later, one of those cars backed into the fence right where we were standing. They didn't seem to notice they had run into a fence so they revved harder, and pushed it in. We could have been killed.

The point I'm trying to make is psytrancers can go a lot harder on the drugs than ravers. I don't know of many ravers who can party for several days straight.

Actually come to think of it, Earthcore was just a big outdoor rave with psytrance. NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH A DOOF.


P.S. DnB doofs > psytrance doofs.
 
Most people talking shit have not been to a real psy trance event. As a psy DJ and promoter I can assure you its a way different feel from raves. Raves are people who show up for drugs, don't care about the music, and just get faced then leave. Psy has music enthusiasts and attracts an older more mature crowd, partly because children cannot access remote location where these events are held. Although i do see alot of drug use at psy events it is always in a responsible way. I went to a prominent 1000+ person 4 day event last year and there was not a single freakout, fight, hospitalization, etc... Basically most people can handle their shit or they quit by their mid 20s and up.

Raves are just lame to me now, too many children and too many dirty pills. I stick to psy where the music is real and the drugs are aplenty, without the drama.
 
Lol. That didn't sound at all pretentious... not one bit

Yes, because we all know how unimportant young people are to a healthy underground.

I know plenty "children," ie. people between the ages of 13 and 17 who can and have hiked up logging roads before. And played records too.

It's this exact superiority complex that pisses me off about certain sectors of the culture.
 
Nibiru said:
I know plenty "children," ie. people between the ages of 13 and 17 who can and have hiked up logging roads before. And played records too.
Click to expand...

Reminds me of a rave friend who went with her mates to a multi-stage non-psytrance doof by public transport. I think they hiked 14km from town, or some epic distance like that. I don't think they hitched a lift. I commended them.
 
I definitely feel like psytrance fans have a bit of elitism to them (and this comes from a psytrancer), as if their music is more "enlightened" or "conscious" than other music,
Click to expand...

qft.
IME, people into psytrance talk much more shit about ravers/other types of music and events than the other way around.

It's always...."what you REALLY need to do is listen to/go to/etc....". I appreciate the enthusiam and all, it's just the condescending tone that often accompanies it that really gets under my skin.

Case in point:

Most people talking shit have not been to a real psy trance event. As a psy DJ and promoter I can assure you its a way different feel from raves. Raves are people who show up for drugs, don't care about the music, and just get faced then leave.
Click to expand...

I could just as easily say he's never been to a really good rave/party.

And its that tone that him and his people are the only one's throwin the 'real' psy events, or care about the music.
blech.
I think i just threw up in my mouth a little.

But maybe its just an even further extension of the way jungle/dnb heads look down on the progressive/trance/house etc within the rave scene itself.

Maybe there's always assholes who have to feel like their tastes make em better than other people.

Funny thing though....those happy little plur-bunny raver happy hardcore types(though not my thing) seem to never have anything but a smile for anybody. Imagine that.
 
I'm way into jungle, but I don't really look down on other sounds and crowds. I just don't dance if I don't like it.

As long as the crowd is right into the music and not the drugs or drama more, and the crowd isn't fighting or ripping people off, then it's all good even if the sound isn't quite my thing. I'll just walk to the other stage. Hopefully they'll be playing something different.
 
MordecaiLives said:
so i have to admit, i am NOT a fan of rave culture.

i think raves are just an excuse for pseudopsychonauts to get fucked up and wear next to nothing under the guise of music and art culture.

Triad Dragons i'm looking at you...

but anyway, i love being with people and dancing. so, i was wondering if some fellow music aficionados and psych enthusiasts could catalogue the differences between psytrance and rave culture for me.

I've been staying away from these psytrance events based on my poor impression of raves.

i want to party with people that love music, and are respectful of drugs.

is psytrance culture what i'm looking for?
Click to expand...

you have been going to the wrong raves man. all about PLUR here on the west coast.

Don't hate us jus cause you don understand us. Thats immature.
 
plur/taz

for the record im a goa psy dj and i live goa. ill adopt the hardcore junkies slogan and make it my own: Goa Till I Die.

raves and psytrance parties are the same damn thing. and i would agree with others than trying to separate the two is just trying to be elitist.

i mean....since when is glowsticking to some sick acid beats a bad thing?????? and whats wrong with people getting fucked up at a celebration of music and dance?

I can remember being a drum n bass event recently (Planet of the Drums) and the club that held it had a zero-tolerance stance on glow sticks. I mean wtf? I saw many people dropping e (literally taking the drug right there the dancefloor) and yet the bouncers were violently kicking people out for waving glowsticks.

if having a glow stick makes me "childish" then hell yeah i'll be childish. its a fucking RAVE why is everyone being so serious??

And yes, I know many psy trance communities are about truth and enlightenment and freedom against the oppressors, but thats what the original raves stood for as well.
 
Last edited:
MordecaiLives said:
Triad Dragons i'm looking at you...
Click to expand...

Haha I take it you're from the Denver area? Triad Dragons is a joke, it's a couple guys that got together and decided to capitalize on all the teenagers looking for an excuse to take drugs and get fucked up. It's also an opportunity for their own dj's to have a place to play (Tragikk, Dragon, etc...)

That being said, Triad Dragons raves are usually massives, extremely publicized and commercial and have generally lost the underground element that I think of when I think of true "rave culture". If you're looking for a good "rave" type experience, I would recommend going to something that's not promoted by Triad Dragons, Floorbangrs, or Polygamy productions.

If you do in fact live in the Denver area and like to party, PM me and I'll show you a good time.
 
theWorldWithin said:
Raves are people who show up for drugs, don't care about the music, and just get faced then leave.
Raves are just lame to me now, too many children and too many dirty pills. I stick to psy where the music is real and the drugs are aplenty, without the drama.
Click to expand...

you speak of ppl talking shit about your psytrance, and then you go and talk shit about the rave culture. You are no more "mature" than any of the "children" that go to raves.

I can assure you, as a promoter myself, that ppl do not show up at raves just for drugs. The music is just as big if not bigger. You can get fucked up on e outside of raves, you dont have to have one to roll.

You complain of ppl coming to raves just for drugs and then you yourself remark on how many drugs are at psytrance events, doesn't make sense my friend.

As a DJ you should be promoting the foundation belief that is PLUR. But you choose instead to insult the urban rave scene. Immature imo.
 
PsyGhost said:
for the record im a goa psy dj and i live goa. ill adopt the hardcore junkies slogan and make it my own: Goa Till I Die.

raves and psytrance parties are the same damn thing. and i would agree with others than trying to separate the two is just trying to be elitist.

i mean....since when is glowsticking to some sick acid beats a bad thing?????? and whats wrong with people getting fucked up at a celebration of music and dance?

I can remember being a drum n bass event recently (Planet of the Drums) and the club that held it had a zero-tolerance stance on glow sticks. I mean wtf? I saw many people dropping e (literally taking the drug right there the dancefloor) and yet the bouncers were violently kicking people out for waving glowsticks.

if having a glow stick makes me "childish" then hell yeah i'll be childish. its a fucking RAVE why is everyone being so serious??

And yes, I know many psy trance communities are about truth and enlightenment and freedom against the oppressors, but thats what the original raves stood for as well.
Click to expand...


I totally agree with you. I could not have said it better myself. Raves, psy, and the act of taking MDMA or LSD is all about returning to a time of innocence and pure joy and truth, which is what childhood is all about.

PLUR
 
Aaaah psy trance is shite just boring & repetative, listen to some real trippy shit try Chasing Shadows - Dr Sin or The Widdler - Go Ask Alice 100% more intense and more mind blowing than psy any day
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top