The State of Psy Parties

[Padmapani]

just yesterday after coming home from a party i realised that the music played has changed dramatically for the better in my area. they started with half an hour of neelix-style progressive (short enough to endure), followed by proper progressive, lots of uk psytrance, a some forest and closed with a set of newschool goa and fullon from the early 00s. and that was not just a one-off event. the the last year most of the parties featured a similar selection of music.

it seems goa trance has finally arrived in the psy "mainstream" here and is well accepted by the people. and they did go wild when the old school by talamasca was played.

gone are the days when you could only choose between psycore/hitech-only parties and those with ultra-commercial proggy all night long.

so how is it in your area? do you see a similar trend or am i just lucky to have local organisers with a good taste at the moment?

[Themaniac]

No Goa Trance is played in India as far as I know. Other sub genres get good representation. Indians like more of dark/Hi-Tech and the regular proggy stuff. The guys that do come here often are ajja, 1200mics, Tristan, rajaram, eat static, astrix and the guys who play the commercial proggy trance. 

I am likely the only Indian Goa Trance producer there is. There are a lot of guys but they don't produce Goa as far as I know.

[Jaza]

Here in London the scene is fairly segmented. Organisations have a certain sound and tend to stick to it.

There's a crew doing accessible full-on and some prog internationals

Another crew running regular nights with locals that's just about all accessible full on (DJ'd pretty poorly too).

And another two crews doing mostly darker stuff. Like much of the world, Hi-Tech is mostly dead, but forest and various shades of dark are still big at the right parties.

There's a 50%ish overlap with the crowd. Some people are up for anything, others will typically only appear at the one organisation's parties.

Goa is non-existent and I have struggled to get sets more than I anticipated. I have learned that to keep the audiences attention here you must have a dominant bassline, no matter what. (I tanked an 11am set playing new school stuff that was melodic and complex and not so heavy on the basslines. I thought people would welcome the change up, but it was quite the opposite.) 

I can't honestly recommend the scene much here unless you really, really like full on.

[Drosophila]

Here in Copenhagen we're having more Goa trance and forest being played in techno clubs, it is a bit strange, but it is awesome! Last month Battle of The Future Buddhas was playing (a fantastic Schlabadurst set) and people went wild, this month it's Bypass Unit/Color Box  

The 'scene' here has otherwise been flooded with, prog and fullon, and a very 'difficult' crowd for years and years, with mobsters, stabbings and stuff at parties... Luckily we have had an alternative scene here where violence has been has been kept away (by avoiding these people) and it is great that this seems to be merging with parts of the techno-scene, it gives a fresh breath of air, and some momentum 

[Padmapani]

22 hours ago, Jaza said:

And another two crews doing mostly darker stuff. Like much of the world, Hi-Tech is mostly dead, but forest and various shades of dark are still big at the right parties.

that's interesting. so forest is generally rising while hi-tech is falling out of favour. a welcome change imho 

22 hours ago, Jaza said:

Goa is non-existent and I have struggled to get sets more than I anticipated. I have learned that to keep the audiences attention here you must have a dominant bassline, no matter what. (I tanked an 11am set playing new school stuff that was melodic and complex and not so heavy on the basslines. I thought people would welcome the change up, but it was quite the opposite.) 

over here it's not so much a dominant bassline. a dominant kick (think trance africa express or deep space 5d) is just as fine. i was actually surprised how well the crowd took tracks that lack the typical psy bassline. it seems, as long as there's enough hard-hitting bass content, people are very forgiving.

but yeah, complex or too melodic stuff doesn't work so well. partly because most club sound systems cannot reproduce it faithfully (you end up with kick and bass sounding more dirty and the melodies turning into a mess where you cannot make out anything), and partly because so many of the djs turn up the volume until the limiter makes it even worse.
just last time,  for half a track a was thinking where i know it from, then i hear melodies i recognise at some break, think it must be imba and then before i can tell which track it is everything turns to mush again as the kick an bass come back.

all the dense wall-of-sound goa sounds great with the expensive speakers and headphones we have at home (and also at the sound systems of the pure goa festivals i've been at — great job balkan goa fanatics and connection festival), but just doesn't cut it at a club. also at festivals that just have a little goa it just doesn't sound as detailed as it should be heard to be enjoyed fully.

i'd guess artists like oforia, blackstarrfinale, skizologic or hypnoxock should work fine (as well as quite a few oldschool artists) while ra, mindsphere, or median project, psy-h project, skarma, celestial intelligence or morphic resonance sadly are no-gos because they're not focused enough on the low end or just too complicated/multi-layered for club systems.

12 hours ago, Drosophila said:

The 'scene' here has otherwise been flooded with, prog and fullon, and a very 'difficult' crowd for years and years, with mobsters, stabbings and stuff at parties... Luckily we have had an alternative scene here where violence has been has been kept away (by avoiding these people) and it is great that this seems to be merging with parts of the techno-scene, it gives a fresh breath of air, and some momentum 

wtf, stabbings at psy parties?!?

it's years ago but i remember people gossiping for weeks about one guy slapping another's face after he had too much cocaine. so violence of any kind is really unusual at psy events here (but maybe that's also because the scene is rather small in a 300k city). if there are any troublemakers they're rather at events with a more mixed crowd (more techno/tekno/whatever people and less psy heads).

[Trunksan]

On 11/3/2018 at 12:48 PM, Drosophila said:

this month it's Bypass Unit/Color Box

After so many years going to Goa/Psy parties this is something that I drool for, really like them. Ubar Atmar will be slashed of the list this summer at ZNA. Slinky wizard is one that for some strange conincidence always miss.

Here in Athens we have a lot of everything. Prog/Psy is the most popular but there are even Nitzho events every couple of months. There's at least 1 high quality goa event every month. For example this months is Psychaos (Joti), Last month was Charasmatix (earl 00s psy), month before BOTFB. On Satuday we have spectaclar ambient event: Suduaya, Odiolab and Samplestic. Odiolab and Samplestic are from Greece and they are superb, albeit not very famous like Allwoods or Cabeiri.

I'm very satisfied. The events are not huge since the scene is very segmented but the music is top notch.

Edit: And even small events with local Djs are good. It's a grea time for me, so much to pick from!

[Padmapani]

13 hours ago, Trunksan said:

After so many years going to Goa/Psy parties this is something that I drool for, really like them. Ubar Atmar will be slashed of the list this summer at ZNA. Slinky wizard is one that for some strange conincidence always miss.

i don't care too much about bypass unit, colour box or ubar tmar, but slinky wizard would be a treat. the only act i always seem to miss (despite being at the parties where he played) is shakta. he has evaded me twice already.

there's still nitzho in greece, even with dedicated events?  the most nitzho i've heard at a party was goalien or agneton as part of an oldschool goa set.

[Anoebis]

In Belgium, things are going as always last decade: lots of pure goa events (on average 1 every week), every goa act you can imagine (and for instance plays on ZNA or Apsara) has played several sets in Belgium already  

Besides this the commercial psy-trance also took off here, but only in clubs and its a TOTAL different crowd. Besides that there are once in a while dark/forest and full on parties  But goa stais number 1 

[Proxeeus]

Besides very private/familly events (special birthdays for example) France has seen a couple of collectives pick up the slack for the last two years (Taïma & Cosmic Train, mainly), resulting in 2 or 3 pure goa parties a year, which is a definite improvement over 0; but sadly nowhere near the level of some countries (*cough* Belgium *cough*).

The rest is your typical run-off-the-mill prog/full-on stuff in clubs and that's eww (not even dissing the actual type of music there, mind you, only speaking about "teh vibes").

[Trunksan]

9 hours ago, Padmapani said:

there's still nitzho in greece, even with dedicated events?  the most nitzho i've heard at a party was goalien or agneton as part of an oldschool goa set.

They throw a party every now and then. Usually led by Ion Vader or Star Children. 

[psychedelic chipmunk]

In Estonia there's a closed community for parties, invitation based, to keep troublemakers out. No goa, though, more like prog / full onish , perhaps some forest or darkpsy. Not really my cup of tea. Wouldn't attend such events any more, any way.

[Agneton]

On 11/7/2018 at 10:45 AM, Trunksan said:

They throw a party every now and then. Usually led by Ion Vader or Star Children. 

very small scene I believe, mostly in small bars with crowds of 50-100 people max no? That seems to have been the ongoing situation in the greek scene for the last decade, but the fact it's still ongoing proves there's at least some real lovers of the genre around there  which is nice.

[Drosophila]

On 11/4/2018 at 12:46 AM, Padmapani said:

wtf, stabbings at psy parties?!?

it's years ago but i remember people gossiping for weeks about one guy slapping another's face after he had too much cocaine. so violence of any kind is really unusual at psy events here (but maybe that's also because the scene is rather small in a 300k city). if there are any troublemakers they're rather at events with a more mixed crowd (more techno/tekno/whatever people and less psy heads).

The scene was (for me at least) completely destroyed here in the '00s...  It became a drug-fueled and pusher "controlled" scene (high levels of cocain-heads)... This comprised most of the full on and prog scene. This scene is still here, and it not uncommon to hear about fights and stabbings at these events, terrible to say the least.

But luckily and new scene emerged, also playing better music. So we have been lucky in that sense. But it still remains an issue for organisers here, and has to be dealt with at the door...

[Padmapani]

9 hours ago, Drosophila said:

The scene was (for me at least) completely destroyed here in the '00s...  It became a drug-fueled and pusher "controlled" scene (high levels of cocain-heads)... This comprised most of the full on and prog scene. This scene is still here, and it not uncommon to hear about fights and stabbings at these events, terrible to say the least.

But luckily and new scene emerged, also playing better music. So we have been lucky in that sense. But it still remains an issue for organisers here, and has to be dealt with at the door...

i'm glad we don't have that much coke over here. that shit really turns some people into complete assholes. if you hear of violence at parties (also tekno, where it is not quite as rare as at psy events) most of the time coke is involved.

good thing they have it under control like that. i imagine they have to know the scene pretty good to keep out the troublemakers and that there will still be stress at the doors now and then?
in the early to mid 00s (where parties often took place at underground venues) there often was no one at the door at all. now that the underground clubs have pretty much all died or switched to literature readings or hipster events (apparently the younger generations are rather staying at home with instagram rather than going out...) most parties happen in (bigger/less underground) clubs there are just your typical club bouncers.

[Trunksan]

On 11/28/2018 at 12:34 AM, Padmapani said:

m glad we don't have that much coke over here. that shit really turns some people into complete assholes. if you hear of violence at parties (also tekno, where it is not quite as rare as at psy events) most of the time coke is involved.

A guy that organises chill/mid-tempo events here in Athens also organised a tech-house/techno event, so a lot of people that we usualy attend his parties went there. The vibes were realy bad: People with really nice clothes behaving in a really bad way, it was all coke and ketamine fuelled behaviour. It was definetely much worse than any kind of Full-on/Dark psy event. I think it has to do with the fact that Psy music is quite esoteric, people stick to themselves rather than approach others, with negative or positive intentions.

[Padmapani]

10 hours ago, Trunksan said:

people stick to themselves rather than approach others

that's true. though i've always thought that was because people are generally older and (therefore?) take less drugs than in other scenes. the young kids at techno or dnb parties on speed or pills are quick to talk to anyone who crosses their path

[Richpa]

In Croatia Goa trance scene grew rapidly in last decade, especially party-wise (in recent couple of years). Of course, it's not on the same level regarding the popularity as it's case in Belgium, but during the year you got basiclly every month Goa events. The biggest epicentre of parties is capital Zagreb, but nearby cities of Sisak and Novi Marof also got strong local scenes and organizations who are taking good care to bring nice live-acts alongside with local DJ's. There are also some parties in western part of the country in city of Rijeka and from time to time in southern region of Dalmatia (Split and Zadar).

Personally the biggest pros when it comes to Croatia is the really stunning nature and remote places where you can organize parties and trully enjoy outdoors, it's also one of the reasons why every summer you got really outstanding party season in Croatia, especially when it comes to festivals (from techno and house events being very popular at Adriatic seaside, but also psytrance in general where you got one of the best psytrance festivals Modem in Lika region). Of course, festivals with Goa artists are much smaller (compared to ZNA, Apsara, Connection), but they are on the healthy legs and what matters they are improving in terms of quality, organization, content and attendance.

Autumn and winter season is also getting better and more and more young people are involving themselves in promotion of Goa trance music and getting some artists to come and play in Croatia. What is also noticable is the fact that audience on these parties are young people who are raised and introduced to Goa through the great work of artists and labels representing the 2nd wave of Goa music, which is a great thing.

Overall, in my humble opinion Croatia got a lot of potential that hasn't been used fully to become a true summer Goa-trance hotspot, especially because electronic music events recently are getting recognition from the tourist boards and the local-goverments now got more understanding for this type of entertainment. Other potential is the stunning nature, from mountains, forests, rivers and Adriatic sea you really can choose and find perfect spot to held a festival. Prices in Croatia are still okay to most of the western tourists/visitors and you can spend nice holidays here without being bankrupted. However I believe we should have long-term strategy in that field and keep our prices fair.

The negative aspect is I believe the same as it is in the most countries, the drugs and alcohole, but I hope that would change too, because music should be the only drug when it comes to Goa trance. The other negative aspect is the bare fact that average monthly net salary in Croatia is 700 euros, even tho I believe Zagreb area keeps that stats, other regions especially where I live and in eastern regions of Slavonia and Baranja are more like 400-500 euros. That being said, it's hard for Croatian organizers to get some 'bigger' names, especially because you can't have high ticket prices.

Anyway, here are two smaller festivals next summer in Croatia where Goa music will be played that I know about:

Mystic Mountain Festival (at Velebit mountain):
https://www.facebook.com/events/1905858349511059/

Dragon's Quest Festival (Gračac, Lika region, where Lost Theory took place):
https://www.facebook.com/events/228971744405176/

[the goa constrictor]

The USA got ruined by The Cult of Gil.
People think Gil was the end-all-be-all curator and the country was flooded with shitty darkpsy.

There is a different contingent of club-friendly full-on; which is far more preferable, but still missing a bit of the weirdness and nerdiness of days past.

 

[kicma]

On Richpa's kind request I'm going to provide some more info about Goa parties in Croatia. Friend and I are organizing parties in small town (2000 people!) of Novi Marof and each year doing Goa night on small festival nearby called High Grounds (event for next edition isn't out yet, but it will take place at the end of July).

Besides that, each summer we are doing at least one party somewhere deep in the forest. As Richpa said, scene is small and people are not willing to pay much for entrance so bringing international (and some of the domestic) artists can be very hard but we try to have 2-3 parties with international names each year. The idea is very simple, to make more parties with local DJs with idea to earn some money, then one bigger. Funny (or sad  ) thing is that often more people comes to those local parties than on bigger names. The most important things for us are that we have what we think is the right spirit on our parties and that it doesn't get commercial. 

Anyways I don't like talking (or typing ) too much so here are some links for those interested.

Balkan Goa Fanatics - organizer(s) of 3 editions of BGF festival and many fantastic parties in and around Zagreb,

Area 53 - young collective doing Goa parties in Sisak and Petrinja

OH - Novi Marof and nearby

 

[Imba]

Sadly in Serbia Techno took over and its so huge and everyone listening to it suddenly and DJs moved to that scene because there is $$$$$

But there is still hyper production IMO, contracts signed with biggest labels and agencies and organizers bringing their artists someetimes twice a year. Goa was couple times per year, now it's coming back with new people and ideas but still remain small 300-400 people max. 3-4 years ago we made parties with 1000+ 

Kids want modern sound and with Goa we can't offer them that enough...