electro in the Vancouver party scene...

[ffa]

I was thinking about this today, and I realized almost all the DJs in the Vancouver party scene are of the house, progressive, breaks, DnB or evn techno and hardcore variety...

There are almost no electro DJs in the party scene here, nor any parties which list electro as a musical genre among the many genres they have.

There are some electro DJs like myself, Timeline, RC Lair and James E, but we mostly play the club circuit. Whenever I have been booked for a party, I have been asked to play either progressive, house or techno.

Which makes me curious as to why this is. Even Speedgarage, even though short lived, made it huge out here, and there are still lots of people playing Speedgrarage. Heck, that genre has like 5 songs (I am exaggurating here of course), but the selection of tracks in the electro realm far exceeds that of Speedgarage. I LOVE Speedgarage myself, but honesly, it all sounds the same. Electro actually has a lot more variety and musical merit.

So I wonder, how come electro has never made it to the party scene here?

As promoters: how come you don't book electro DJs? Is that because there are not many of them? (I am thinking this the main reason)

As DJs: how come you don't play electro? This music KICKS ass to party too! When I play an electro set at our Lotus Long Weekend parties (club night) the crowd goes OFF!

thoughts?

-f.

[FireWire]

They're all used to their same old boring music regime. No one wants to try anything new.

Go trance and breaks for the next 2,000 years, woohoo!

[ffa]

/\ very true...

but what is wierd is that people gave Speed garage a chance... why not electro? Electro has been around for well over 20 years... it is basically how most electronic music, specially breaks, got started! ie: Kraftwerk doing their electro, then the early electro/breaks-funk of groups Afrika Bombattaa and even Parliament, and the electro-breaks sounds of guys like Cybotron (aka Juan Atkins which is one of the God Fathers of techno) in the early 80s, to the more house oriented electroclash beats of Miss Kittin and Felix The Housecat, Ladytron, Tiga and such...

Anyhow, there is SO much great electro out there... from the straight up dirty electro, to electro-house, electro-breaks, and even proggy-electro... Most of it is very accessible and dancable. It made a huge come back in the late 90s, both in its pure electro-breaks form, as well as the more house oriented electroclash form. The number of amazing tracks produced in that realm in the past 6 years are countless.... My collection just keeps growing :-)

I am just curious as to why no one is giving it a shot here in the party scene....

-f.

[mux]

Well, maybe it would be taken more seriously if it weren't for 'electroclash' fad. man, I wish I could have *that* fifteen minutes back...

[mux]

also, any set that contains Miss Kittin gets the big boo-urns from me. Tiga is coo', Afrika Bambaata is coo', even Ladytron has its moments, but Miss Kittin and her countless, talentless copycats can munch the short end of my Juno-60.

[ffa]

/\ hehehehee... I still use my Speed Garage argument... that fad was even shorter lived, and had like 5-6 key songs that defined the genre (I think I have almost all of the main ones, hehehehe). So why not electroclash? or electro for that matter... Electroclash had more "defining" tracks ;-) And actually, the "fad" is still going... Speed Garage started in 1997 and by late 1998, everyone was sick of it... Lately, it resurfaced as Bassline House, and people started producing it again. Electroclash started in 1998 and is still going, although not as strong as a couple of years ago, but there are still decent tracks coming out all the time.

hmmmmm...

-f.

[mapleleaf4ever]

Interesting thoughts Farshad! I never really thought about that until you mentioned it. Also! I'd never really knew a lot about Electro at all until recent memory where I've been going to BT with you guys. :p I'd heard some tracks a long time ago and just never realized what the hell it was. And I must say I really enjoy the genre now that I have heard a lot more of it and know what's going on. :)

[mux]

Speed Garage only died because, as you said, there were only really 5-6 songs that everyone copied, much like darkstep or techstep. Every electroclash song I've ever heard has had the same lame two-octave arpeggio bassline, gated snares, and some coked-up chick "singing" lyrics about sex or drugs. It bugged me the first time I heard it, it still bugs me the thousandth time I've heard it... fuck that whole genre.

Electro, otoh, in the truest sense of the word, rules.

"Bassline House". Heheheheh. That only exists because of the stigma attached to the name "Speed Garage", which never really made sense in North America anyway.

[ffa]

/\ I agree with the certain electroclashy stuff sounding the all same as you describe it :-) hehehehehe... I actually got sick of that really quickly... you know me and my hate towards "same sounding" music ;-)

But since the resurfacing of electro, there has been a lot of really good electro-house and electro-technoy sounding stuff (that some people would categorize as Electroclash, but rest assured, it does not sounds exactly like Miss Kittin or Mr. Spooner :-) that has come out which totally rulez... I am listening to The Hacker's 2nd album as we speak, and it toally kicks ass! (you would actually like it... Hacker's stuff is totally on the techno tip). And all the singles from Martini Brothers and Chromeo and the like have been nothing less than impressive.

I feel like making bumper stickers that say "give electro a chance" ;-)

-f.

[FireWire]

If you want people here to give electo a chance, then follow these 4 easy steps:

1. Suck promoters' cocks all day and night.
2. Be prepared to swallow whatever they have to offer. It only makes your chances of getting electro played out better.
3. After you've sucked all the promoters dry, ask them if they could give you slot at their next party for you to spin electro.
4. Pray and hope to whatever God you believe in that people will accept electro.

As I said, if you follow those 4 easy steps, then promoting your new genre is going to be a success.

[soma]

I love electro, I;ve been collecting alot of electro breaks and house over the last two years and do play it out from time to time.

dj "Oliver" is one local that is know for his electro house sets but I can't say I've heard him play that style at a party resently.

great point !

[ffa]

Firewire: ... or do what we usually do: throw your own party ;-) hehehehe... like I said, the only places I hear electro are at our club nights... we have not thrown an all night party in a long time, but I am sure when we do our next one, I will see to it that there is a good dosage of electro...

I have never been one to suck other promoter's cocks ;-) Back in the day, I wanted to DJ more, so we started our own promo company, Intimate Productions, and started throwing our own club nights (biggest one was Cheeky) and parties.... Once we did that, then we had the attention of other DJs and promoters... that has been my philosophy. Too bad I am old now and don't have the same energy to throw parties and promote electro ;-) hehehehehe.. I guess for now electro @ our Lotus Long Weekend series will have to suffice for me... damn it... Or may be other DJs and promoters will start to take notice... (I am hoping for that :-)

-f.

[Grapes]

Dunno why, wish it wasn't the case. Electro rocks my socks off.

Only half joking when I say this but.. maybe it's because the only proper way to dance to electro is like a robot?

[Cdn_Brdr]

^I'm so happy I feel like doing the robot dance!!!

There is so much good electro out there right now and the newere stuff that is coming out is A+ material. Farshad knows what's up when it comes to the elector tunes... with a little help from his friends of course ;)

[amanda rude]

I love the electro sound...
Anyone know Joseph Martin from Kelowna?
He has a bad ass electro house collection. It blows me away!

[automatic]

electro never hit it big in the rave scene because peeps there do jib and e, not coke.

nuff said.

[axion]

^^
i agree with auto. i think electro appeals to a much older & different crowd, the type of crowd that would never be seen at a rave. i think electro has a huge potential, just only at certain places.

dont worry though, it will catch on here. as soon as the east coast scene is done with it, we'll pick it up.

[Chewy]

johannes Gerhard plays electro house type stuff.. he is a resident at the red room on saturday nights.. i seen him paly once.. and it was pretty fuckin good... then again i was messed up at the time.. but it stil was fun...

[ffa]

/\ yeah, I know John... good friend of mine... he plays proggy stuff, with some electro-prog/house in there... but I was referring to the party scene, not the club scene mostly... Seems like all the local electro DJs are club DJs.

electro never hit it big in the rave scene because peeps there do jib and e, not coke.
nuff said.

Auto: you know what? After writing this thread last night, the same thought came into my head... electro has that 80s synth pop feel to it, and that whole 80s thing just is not an "e" or "jib" thing... so you may be onto something here ;-)

dont worry though, it will catch on here. as soon as the east coast scene is done with it, we'll pick it up.

hahahahahhahahaha!!!! ;-)

-f.

[automatic]

the other thing is that to enjoy eighties nostalgia you have to remember it....if you started kindergarten in 1990 then chances are it means nothing to you.

[automatic]

that and the "romulan haircut eyeliner scarecrow" crew won't be caught dead at a "rave" until vice magazine declares it ironic once again.

[dj_soo]

Originally Posted by automatic

the other thing is that to enjoy eighties nostalgia you have to remember it....if you started kindergarten in 1990 then chances are it means nothing to you.

Still waiting for a full 90s revival... that's going to be hot.

[shift]

I dj and produce electro. I recently did an electro house remix of Timeline's "Lipstick" with my production partners that is due to be released in the near future.

Personally I'd love to hear electro more at parties, and I'm definately going to have to come out to check out your night sometime soon man. I've heard good things...

[stabmyhead]

Originally Posted by FireWire

If you want people here to give electo a chance, then follow these 4 easy steps:

1. Suck promoters' cocks all day and night.
2. Be prepared to swallow whatever they have to offer. It only makes your chances of getting electro played out better.
3. After you've sucked all the promoters dry, ask them if they could give you slot at their next party for you to spin electro.
4. Pray and hope to whatever God you believe in that people will accept electro.

As I said, if you follow those 4 easy steps, then promoting your new genre is going to be a success.

Where do you come up with this crap? Your posts are filled with so much uneducated and ill-informed garbage that I can smell the horrid stench of stupidity from the main page of FnK.

Come down to the Lotus on any night and you will see that Farshad doesn't need to suck and swallow some promoter's penis to get people going off to this genre. I rarely miss a night at the Lotus as I know I am going to be getting my groove on any night I'm there. Intimate Productions has quite an established and loyal following, so I highly doubt Farshad will be getting down on his knees any time soon.

So I suggest you save your simple four easy steps for when you are trying to get a booking.

[Royal_Phunk]

Originally Posted by ff

Lately, it resurfaced as Bassline House, and people started producing it again. -f.

I think i play some of that shiz i love electro basslines!