We need a new reset. A change on what was.
Dance music is a youth culture movement. From a sociological point of view fans dress a certain way, they move a certain way, they listen to a certain kind of music, have their own lingo, go to their own peculiar places, have their own trademark pills of joy and live every moment their own unique way that is not part of the popular culture. Dance music has always been that. A subculture of sort, at best of times balancing itself successfully between the underground and pop culture.
We need new heroes. Not because a new decade means something special and demands change. Time after all is a continuum. Nothing changes on New Year’s Day. But we need new heroes because western electronic dance music as we know it today is getting tired.
Look at Google Trends for example. Search interest for “EDM” worldwide reached its peak in Sept 2016. In the US it reached its peak much earlier in May 2014. These were the times of the Chainsmokers and the Martin Garrix’s. Good ol’ days, one may say. Now the search interest is about 40% of that peak, both worldwide and the US.
Is electronic dance music dead then? Far from it. EDM has been going since the mid 80’s starting from Chicago, lighting up the UK clubs, and subsequently the rest of Europe. EDM is not dead, but the current circle needs to close; if it is not already closed. There are other crowds which are far hungrier for the music than we are in the west. Look at the UK for example when EDM seemed to have peaked back in May 2013.That is a whole 7 years ago. Now the search interest is 20% of what it was back then. Of course Google Trends is not the end all and be all of what is happening in the real world. But it does represent a tool to look at exactly that…trends and how things change over time. And we do know that these trends are reflected in real life. Look at all these clubs that closed down in the last 2–3 years in the UK. Other countries are far hungrier to consume the sound and they will bring their own unique local stamp in what is perceived as a global youth culture.
We need new heroes. Artists who will excite us because they are hungry for success. Because they have not bottomed out. Because they are not afraid of experimentation. Because they have nothing to lose by trying something new. Once someone is made then it is human nature that their best work is behind them. Facts. The Chainsokers, Zedd, deadmau5, Tiesto, Armin van Buuren the list goes on…. Do you ever think they will produce their best work in years to come? Sure they are talented and have the capacity to produce the odd banger but…that’s it. They fulfilled the gap that existed when they first came into the scene. They fulfilled their inner artistic needs as well. And they have secured a good way of living for them and their families. They have nothing more to give to you and me. Sure, they will produce more records. Sure they will have a massive following for years to come. But time is an unforgiving great equalizer. At best their fans will remember their best work with nostalgia. Only a few DJ’s will keep on showing up year after year because they actually love, and breathe dance music. In any case most of the mega artists have now moved to dance/ commercial pop productions on their transition to popular recognition and radio play, others to a hybrid of dance and rock; basically back to their pre EDM roots. Rock on, as they say…
We need new places to dance. From the Warehouse in Chicago, to UK raves in strawberry fields, to mega clubs in Europe, Ibiza, and beyond, and festivals we have seen it all. Festivals dominated dance music in the last 15 or so years. What with Tomorrowland producing iconic scenes of the mainstage in YouTube streams, with EDC moving to Las Vegas, With Ultra keeping the city vibe in its Miami festival. Festivals are on the millenial’s Instagram bucket list. They are glorifying everything and making everything large. Larger than it is. The photos, the fun, the stages, the excitement, the perpetual motion, the fast-edited after movies in YouTube.
This year with the pandemic we are having a gap year from all this. The hashtag save the summer ( #savethesummer ) did not age very well ! Everyone has moved online trying to sustain themselves. Trying to keep the fans interested. Trying to keep the fans from forgetting them. Sometimes I sense a touch of desperation. Only EDCLV will possibly happen in October; that remains to be seen. The masses of course want to go out, want to dance, have fun, make new connections. But all is required is a brand new festival providing a brand new concept to prop up early next year or even this year and fulfill that itch. Car raves anyone? Twelve months is a long time to have a gap year. Perhaps smaller intimate clubs will make their return. Somewhere you only get to see and hear one resident DJ and you go every weekend with a club card. Who knows? After all, Berghain has replicated this model successfully.
We need new ways of dancing. Are you not tired of the smoke and confetti cannons, the fireballs, the Co2 cannons, the fireworks. Sure, they are great but… The laser show, the lasers are pass’e. They have been going since the late 80’s Sure they are bigger and better now, sure they are spectacular but they are still lasers. Eric Prydz has created an amazing new show with Holo but this is just him. We need a revolution in entertainment. Technology usually gives the way forward The large video walls and powerful computing enabled the birth of Vjing in the mid 2000’s and then we had all the wonderful and amazing visuals since. So where is the next step in entertainment?
We need new music. What was the last dance music sub genre these last ten years? Big Room around 2014–15? Future Bass and Future House in 2016? After that we had a remix of the same old ingredients, a bit of house, a bit of techno, a bit of trance and a bit of bass and breaks. The names change but the ingredients are always the same. We need new sounds, something to freak out when we first hear it, something to turn our head when we first listen to, and say loud “What the f**k is that? I want more. Give me more !”
And we need new scenes? One artist will not be able to make a new sound. California in the US and the Dutch scene in Europe dominated the last ten years because they made their own local scenes and they supported each other. And so with each new record release they brought their friends in and the scene grew organically and exponentially. And then it grew even further and attracted more talent from all over the world. But eventually like everything in life it outgrows itself, it repeats itself and people move on. I hope in some part of this planet right now young kids are getting connected, gathering every weekend in small bedrooms, or local bars and spinning new music made for themselves to have fun. Not to sell. Not to pose. To have FUN. And every weekend they get joined by more friends because their music is fresh. I hope I get to discover that music too as soon as possible.
We need a reset. And perhaps this gap, this summer is that chance. The fans that were teenagers in 2010 are now in their mid 20’s. Those of you in your late teenage years back in 2010 must be nearing your late twenties now. Life will hit you and them soon and there will be new priorities. One by one their friends will move on in life and they will have less choices of going out. Do I go out on my own? Is my love for dance music that strong? Or was I there for the jam and Molly? Some of course will stay. I can testify to that. Most will just fade away and remember the good times.
Is that reset coming? I sure hope so. Let’s find our new heroes, dancing with them in new ways, in brand new places we never dreamt before, with a rad new sound, doing things a bit different than before. Nothing stays the same forever. Fact. Life is a circle. Fact. What grows, then shrinks, and then grows again. Fact. Let’s keep our excitement and our compasses tuned in to what is coming. Because one thing is for sure. It certainly will.