The Electronic Music scene has changed our lives - SHARE YOUR STORY - share your contributions to [email protected] OR Use the submit button below - Please include a FAVORITE ARTIST and any social media that you would like us to link to in your submission.
This its why I love #edm its not just about the music it’s more about the passion and love that people give to each other. When you go to a rave you are never alone any and every one can be your friend all you have to do is say hi. #plur #edmfacts #edmculture #edmlove #edmlifestyle #edmfact #plurfriends #plurwarriors it’s true I have made friends across the U.S. and we still talk about shit till this day! Tag your friends you met at a rave :)
Trance Producer ShAD0w Shares His Passion - "The EDM Community is About Celebrating All Types of People"
ShAD0w-
I think electronic music is special. It's different. It's super creative, constantly evolving, often breaking new musical ground. It's current, alive, and celebrated by one of the most amazing and creative communities on Earth.
I discovered and quickly became "addicted" to listening to trance music at about age 16. It was especially helpful in times of dark feelings: I would put on my headphones and escape into an electronic song. I really liked the feeling of the kick drum beating the fast tempo--it helped to take my mind off what was bothering me. At the same time, the synth chords evoked the same emotions I had been feeling (I would pick songs based on this match). Due to the structure of the songs, the chords and tones in the song would build up to a climax of that feeling, and then a dissipation as the song ended. This emotional release was so important to me, and I could only find it in this type of music. I also liked the high energy and strong feelings in it, because that was what was in me at the time as well.
My experience in EDM was mostly spent enjoying the music with a few close friends, and listening on my headphones in every setting imaginable. It helped me feel less alone in darker times, and gave me a place to diffuse emotions that I found difficult to express in social situations.
As time went on, my bond with the music and general culture grew much stronger. And finally, at some point in high school, I decided that I wanted to write trance music. I feel a need to contribute and help others feel the same way I do when listening to songs that I love. My goal is to create something that is musically deep, artistically honest, and evocative of a feeling that is strong and satisfying to the listener. Five years and almost 100 songs later, I am at Berklee College of Music to learn as much as I can about songwriting, professional production, and any other tools I think will be useful on this journey.
One of my more popular recent posts on Soundcloud is a song called Ostige Lys (Norwegian: eastern light). It is a collaborative work created by myself and a musician named Kyle Miller. Kyle was on electronic guitar and I was playing Sylenth1 on my computer keyboard when we hit on an idea that we both really liked. We made a draft recording and started to flesh it out over the next couple weeks. Our collaborative process was to stay very true to the feeling we both felt from the original idea (found in verse 1 and chorus 1), and slowly but surely, we carefully channeled eastern light into the song. As we neared the song's completion, we were facing tight schedules, but somehow we got the final recordings in before he departed for graduate school in another country. We are both very happy with how it came out.
EDM is something that gives my life meaning. I love it so much. I know I am not the only one. In the future I hope it is something more people can experience and take into their lives, because it is so rewarding, in so many ways.
"I want to say something about this experience. I’ve been in a pretty abusive relationship for the last 4 years or so, I’ve been struggling with self-harm and anxiety for as long as I can remember. If it weren’t for getting out of that relationship, I would have never gone to EDC. Ever since I…"
We love to see artist express their appreciation for the community and the scene. Above & Beyond, known for their tear jerking emotional trance hits like Small Moments, are well known for their positive commitment to their fans.
Sadie, the lucky fan who “pushed the button” for the infamous “Sun and Moon” drop at this years EDC Las Vegas, tells her powerful story of how electronic music has changed her life, and how this surreal experience impacted her.
Hey,
Another day where I wake up in a panic, great. I shake off the feeling of panic and try to go on with my automated life. I go to my first job, work from 7am until 3pm. I lift heavy boxes and objects, take care of a lot of manual labor and empty a truck. I'm covered in sweat and dust and have to pull myself together and get ready for my next job. I shower, grab something to eat, and put on my pizza delivery outfit. I spend my night delivering pizzas to ungrateful people who refuse to tip me until I can finally go home and attempt to sleep. By the time I get home it is already half past midnight, and I can't sleep yet again.
Every day of every week is spent this way, including weekends. I clock in 80-90 hours a week, I have money in my pocket, I have some college courses under my belt, but I still feel empty. I am alone, I am depressed. My family thinks I am wasting my time working, I have no friends to speak of, and it is hard for me to relate to 'normal' people. If I attempt to relate to someone my own age I feel as if I missed a milestone or two, even with my overall 'success' in life. I begin going down a very steep spiral of depression, and contemplate finally ending my life.
Everything I read about the rave scene was negative. I grew up surfing the internet into the wee hours of the morning learning about new forms of music, industrial, hardstyle, EDM in general was not new to me, but I never went out into the scene fearing the worst of the crowd: drugs, open sexuality, and police attention. I never realized that there was a group of people that may not understand everything about me, but they accept me none-the-less. I didn't have this feeling that I needed to fit into their cookie-cutter mold of what a 'raver' is to be a part of the group. I was shocked. I wasn't alone anymore, and in fact found some of my best friends through the rave scene. The thoughts of ending my life were quickly replaced with how I can throw a party for all my friends, the thoughts of never having company were replaced with a pool of people that will gladly return my texts or messages. Every negative thought I had about my self-esteem, every strained relationship, everything was soon replaced by positivity and love.
- And that was all done without drugs -
Over time, I quit my second job, became a promoter for a renowned group, and started working up the ladder. Low and behold, there are people out there that value my work ethic, personality, and opinions. I haven't been able to make a career out of it yet, but I actually have something to work towards now. I have something in my life that offers both short and long term rewards, and gives me the drive I need to continue going. Never in my life did I think I would change as a person from something as simple as going to a club and dancing. Nowadays I don't have a crushing feeling of loneliness, which in turn changed the way I interpret social situations. If someone doesn't want to interact with me, that is their loss. I have an army of people that love me for me, so when I go into public with a piece of kandi on, or a shirt representing something from the EDM scene and someone tries to ruin my day, it doesn't work anymore. I can happily accept that I will not be accepted by 'normal' people, something that haunted me for the first 20 years of my life.
I may not be able to pinpoint exactly when it started happening, but the most common phrase I have heard in the past few months is 'you have a really nice smile, how come I never saw it before?' and my response is always 'I wasn't happy before, I'm happy now'.
I can happily say that not only did EDM save my life, but it also made it worth living. And I know from all the people I have interacted with, I am far from alone.
Marc F - "am I going to look back and be happy about the way I lived?"
Marc F -
Hey guys - so I really wasn't sure how to start this off, but I'm a producer that goes under the name of Prismic (you can listen to my album and read part of my story here: www.PrismicMusic.com). Here is my story, which is all 100% true:
There is absolutely nothing like the community of EDM. Intertwined into every moment are people driven to improve your experience and bring you to a higher vibration. EDM has evolved to be a lifestyle - I don't consider it a style of music per se, I consider it a term to reflect this beautiful community that I have grown with. As a community we accept everyone, no matter who you are - we realize that we are all in this together. FDR said "The only thing to fear is fear itself," and I truly believe that the only thing to love is love itself - it's the deepest foundation of what it means to exist, and it's rooted at the very core of the EDM community.
Before I continue on my story, I want to make a quick note about the drug scene. I'm personally not against drugs, but I'm also not for drugs. I look at drugs as tools, and if you respect the tool presented to you, and have competence to understand its power, you can use it for whatever objective you have in mind. Keep in mind, if you take too much ibuprofen there can be fatal consequences - same thing with acetaminophen (Tylenol), alcohol, Advil, etc. The list goes on and on. These drugs are very powerful, but we have the knowledge on how to use those tool presented to us. It is the same situation with all these other drugs - if you test them to ensure their chemical content, and understand the effects, you can use the drugs for good. For everyone 1 overdose you hear about there are over 10,000 people having life changing moments that they wouldn't change anything in the world for. Drugs or not, it is all about life changing moments, even when it may be difficult.
I am driven by inspiring people to love life and pursue their dreams. Sometimes, this isn’t so easy. When I hit the “real world,” as they call it, I started at one of the biggest Accounting and Consulting firms in the world. At that very moment, I felt a giant pull in two different directions – should I continue with a “real job” or risk it all by chasing my dreams? Determined to lead by example, I decided to do both.
This lead me to literally work non-stop: Accounting during the day, Music Production at night. I would routinely get 3-4 hours of sleep a night and pushed myself to stay awake as long as possible. In order to make up for lost sleep and still be cognitively functional at the office, I would go to the bathroom 2-3 times a day and take quick 5-10 minute micro-naps in the stalls (I still have no idea what my coworkers thought I was doing). Every morning and night, I would visualize what I wanted my life to be like and constantly repeated affirmations.
“Don’t take life too seriously – none of us are getting out alive anyway.” After two months at the Accounting firm, I realized no more time can be wasted and quit to fully chase my dreams. As you can imagine, I received numerous negative responses about leaving – but it didn’t matter. In life, you always need to ask yourself: When I am lying on my deathbed, minutes from the end, am I going to look back and be happy about the way I lived?
Boston is one of the most expensive cities in the country – and that posed a huge problem. I was locked into a year lease and had bills to pay – $1200/month to be exact. I can honestly say that the months that followed were the hardest of my entire life thus far. There was no time for breaks – every single morning I would hustle to stay on the path of success and not get discouraged.
No money was ever saved and I broke even every single month. This meant that sometimes I would literally go days without eating while still getting little sleep. I would drink coffee to trick my body into thinking its full and meditate constantly to keep my vision alive. I found ways to re-program my body to take in less food and operate at maximum efficiency on little sleep and would routinely learn new body/mind hacks to stay on my path. Although I woke up every morning not knowing how I was going to pay the next bill, I had a sense of confidence that it would all work out – and in the end, it somehow always did.
The destination is always is the journey itself, but you have to make the journey to understand why it’s the destination – Nirvana is simply the journey to reach Nirvana. While on my journey, I did the most random jobs you could think of. This included real estate, taxes, promoting, yoga modeling, focus group surveys, web site testing, blogging, psychological studies, DJing, modeling for hand lotion as a butterfly (interesting story) and business development to just name a few. Throughout this journey I’ve learned the most bizarre and efficient ways to find jobs and make money. Even though this year has been the worst of my life, I can honestly say that it has been the best as well.
If it wasn't for this intense journey over the past year, I wouldn't be here. And if I was, I wouldn't be here mentally. You are either dying to live or living to die, and if I'm just living to die, then I'm already dead. EDM changed my life, because it showed me the most amazing sense of how to blend life's philosophies with the freeing feeling of music. This love, and the love for love, is what has driven me over the past year to be a part of this community and keep inspiring other people.
I have been contacted by people all over the world who have read my story, and they have told me how inspired they are to pursue what they love. That alone, is life changing. That is what this community is made of. I work harder than anyone else I know, simply because I wake up every morning with a greater purpose to spread love. Because that's what it is all about. Life is simply the most beautiful experiences intertwined into one universal thread we call experience.
Sarah R - "the wobble of dubstep and the endless BPM of hardstyle"
Sarah R -
"People always tell me you’re so optimistic, you’re so easy going and always willing to try something new. I consider these some of my best qualities and I attribute them to my passion for EDM. Locking eyes with a person at a festival and establishing a connection as the bass and music run through my body is a simply indescribable feeling. Each and every time its pure unbound happiness and it never gets old. Some of my closest friends have grown out of a shared love for this music. Electronic music and our community have given me the ability to view my world through a prism of colors. Now every day, every person, and every situation I encounter is exciting, interesting, and beautiful. This mindset shapes so much of who I am and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the bliss of house music, the wobble of dubstep, or the endless BPM of hardstyle music."
Chelsea M - "the most welcoming group of people I have ever met"
Chelsea M -
"I don't have a massive life changing story like some may have. But EDM has significantly impacted my life in my own little world. I've always been an outgoing person, but the quiet and shier one of the group. I have never had much confidence in myself and it has brought me down bad relationship paths and to sell my self short in life. It's funny I saw this because I was just talking to one of my now dear friends (met at a Dada Life show) about how I feel a lot better about life lately. I only started listening to house music at the end of my college years (2-3years ago). It quickly grew on me. I realized the positive energy it provided me on my drives to work, the extra oomph it gave me at the gym, the smile it provided while dancing around cooking dinner - all 100% sober activities. I found when I was sad, I would turn on my subfocus or feed me, and my tears fade away. It's not really explainable, but I know it is fully understood by edm fans. Hell, everyone has their music that puts a smile on their face, but it seems edm has a bit more power behind it for me than any other genre ever has.
Tony - Western Mass - Electronic music is infinite
I have always been obsessed with electronic music. Long before the acronym "EDM" was a thing, the likes of Basshunter, Tiesto, Pendulum, and DDR music were my source for that unique electronic sound that we have all come to crave.
I got into the scene in 2011. Dayglow came around a few days after I turned 19 and I was in my glory. While it wasn't an artist that I had followed, it was truly a dream come true, in the sense that I had always wanted to go to a "rave".
Like many people, I limited myself previously. I was in the bad habit of telling myself the things that I couldn't do. Infinite wasn't a possibility as far as I was concerned, although I couldn't disagree more now.
Later on in the year I went to a festival in Mansfield MA, called IDFest. A friend and I had gone together and I was mind blown by the open minded and friendly network of people that I had tapped into. Society tells us to be open minded and accept people, but that is not always what it teaches us. I knew immediately that the EDM scene was different from your usual crowd. It was welcoming, it was comforting, and most importantly, it was (and is) ENCOURAGING. Show after show, I was (and am) drawn to the uplifting crowd, and always eager to meet a new smiling face, with a new story to tell.
Throughout my time as a "raver", I've grown to be an entirely new person. My once close minded and depressing mindset has grown into one that sees the limitless potential in life, and the importance of enthusiasm for living. The friendships I've gained through the scene have taught me priceless lessons in what it means to be diligent, encouraging, responsible, and adventurous. These are lessons that I can truly say I wouldn't value today without EDM, ones that will push me through my career, and ones that would have gone untaught to others without it as well.
The EDM scene isn’t a community of druggies or sinners. It’s a community that encourages the concept of “come as you are”, and that is something that is invaluable in today’s society.
We've seen a Festival cut short, a club closed, an event canceled, and heard the saddening news of people passing away. We're witnessing something that has impacted many of us in an incredibly positive way go down the gutter. The idea of if it being fair or not that our scene is dwindling doesn't matter - that's life - but that doesn't mean we can't do our part to keep it around.
Thanks to the magic of the Internet - WE HAVE THE POWER TO INFLUENCE - we can tell the world what we are really about. We can tell our stories, and share what it means to us. Those who don't see it's positive impact can't be blamed - "we judge that which we don't understand"
I am asking you a favor. A favor to me and a favor to the culture. Write and share your story of how EDM either saved you or changed your life for the better. The length is up to you. We will be hosting this tumblr to share your stories, and hopefully with enough response, we can get back to where we need to be. Your submissions should be sent to [email protected].
We are part of a culture that should continue to make lives better, and although we have witnessed tragedy, the public should see why banning events, restricting even-goers and punishing the responsible, isn't the answer.
izzy806
romaincrisis
pixelskylines
janainaart
