Raves Essay, Research Paper

What is culture? Webster’s dictionary defines culture as, the act of developing intellectual ability with education; a form of civilization, particularly the beliefs, arts, and customs”. Well then, what is popular culture? Is raving, popular culture? According to Theodore Adorno’s view, “culture is only genuinely popular’ when it is produced by those designated in such a term as the people’, rather than merely consumed by them”(Jarvis, 1998, p.72). This then means that industry decides what is popular, and at this time, raving culture is becoming a popular culture. This essay will discuss what raves’ are, along with societies views, and Adorno’s theory of popular music. I hope to accomplish one important goal in this essay. This goal is to crush all media stereotypes about raves and clarify any miscommunication regarding what raves are all about.

The first things that needs to be addressed in this essay are what a rave really is, and the role that it has in our culture. A rave by today’s standards is a large gathering of kids, generally aged 15-24, who are dancing to electronic music until the crack of dawn. “The actual concept of raves is not new-it is as old as time itself. At the base level, raves are very comparable to American Indian ceremonies where music is the key towards pulling oneself into a unique emotional and psychological state.” (Alt. Rave FAQ 1). Rave culture can be traced back to the 60’s Be-Ins, Love-Ins, and Acid Tests. There are even similarities to anarchist revolutions in Italy and France. Raving in North America began in the early 1990’s after surviving in Europe for ten years. The rave scene actually began through the punk-rock invasion during the 1980’s. The first raves in North America were held in San Francisco. Not long there after, the state of California became home to North America’s rave central. “The rave scene has always existed as separate from mainstream society, and underground movement, a movement labeled as deviant by those in the mainstream. It has ben a subculture of escape”(Alt. Rave FAQ 1). Ravers are a unique crowd. While rave culture espouses individualism, a come-as-you-are mentality, there are definitely many similarities among ravers in general. The typical raver is between 17 and 25. He is equally likely to be a she. He or she is probably white. He or she probably came from a middle-class family, and is reasonably well educated. Rave fashion could be the topic of an entire paper. There is a definite sense of individualism within the rave fashion scene. You are likely to see someone in jeans, someone in black vinyl pants, or someone in costume. However, many people fit into a definite “typical raver” mold. The one thing that will never be left out when discussing raves are drugs. Drugs are widely abundant at raves, but as far as the media is concerned that is the only thing raves are good for. What about the sense of community ravers feel, and the spirituality that focuses on an altered state of mind that is caused by the music, and in many cases, drugs. Raves are a shared experience by all those involved. A sense of unity often develops among ravers in which personal creeds, race, gender, age, sexual preference, and everything else that our society places so much emphasis on simply fades into the background. There is a slogan among ravers. PLUR – Peace, Love, Unity and Respect. This motto has been around since the beginning of raves. No one really where PLUR originated, but for many ravers it is what they stand for, or even their dogma. Raves are a creation of space where love and happiness exist beyond everything else, in other words, reality does not exist within a rave.

Raves, like any other genre of music have their own style. To most of the world it is known as Electronica. But for a raver there are many different forms of rave music. There is Jungle (Drum and Bass), Techno, House, Breaks, Hardcore, along with many others. According to Adorno, the difference between popular music and serious music deals with the composer or producer. Adorno classifies popular music as: “The schemata are so separated from the concrete course of the music that everything ca be replaced by something else”(Adorno, 1989, p.29). He goes on to say that serious music in “every detail gets its concrete meaning from the total course” (Adorno, 1989, p.28). What this means to me, is that sounds in serious music can not be substituted for other sounds like popular music can. The composer of serious music has a responsibility to the music he/she is creating and any change that may occur will consequently alter the music. Moreover, popular music is usually all the same, with the exceptions of the words. If one was to take a popular song and change the music it would probably be just as popular. In short, serious music is composed. There is a foundation or framework in what is being produced by the composer, and each instrument has a specific function to the music. This is then the total opposite for popular music, which is produced for the masses, with sounds that are familiar.

This leads us into rave music and what category does it fit into. By basic definition, rave music is popular music because it is produced. But wait a minute, the DJ plays the music at a rave and in fact he/she is a composer. The DJ will often adjust the levels of the music being played to his/her own style. What the DJ is doing is in fact altering what is being heard by the audience. The DJ may not perhaps write or produce the music, but for certain he/she is changing it from popular to serious music. I believe that Adorno may not agree with this analogy but, what are the chances that he has ever been to a rave.

In some further readings I found that Adorno in his classification of music, he catagorize people into two groups: rhythmically obedient type’, which seem to be the followers of popular music, or as Adorno refers to them, younger people’. The next is the emotional type’. These are people who use music to unload feelings, and have a greater grasp for what real music is. Adorno had one other comparison of popular and serious music, he states “that in popular music the recognition of the piece is the climax of understanding, whereas in good serious music’ understanding transcends recognition and goes on to grasp something fundamentally new”(Wiggershaus, 1994, p.245). If I interpret that correctly, then raves are good serious music because in attending a rave you are doing something fundamentally new, and because raves are yet to be mainstream. Or maybe not!

Now the real point behind all public scrutiny is the drug factor. You will find no lies in this essay, and therefore I will not tell you that there are not drugs at raves. Like any other music gathering there is a presence of narcotics. For many ravers, and now much of the world the drug of choice is ecstasy, or MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine). Ecstasy was granted for the medicinal purposes in Germany in 1914, to E. Merck, for the use of an appetite suppressant (Randall, 1992, p.1506). In 1973 all forms of MDMA were banned by the U.S. government and MDMA became a Schedule 1 narcotic, which entails: high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision (Randall, 1992, p.1506). The use of drugs at raves is not the issue of this essay, but I feel that they need to be mentioned, scene as that is the primary focus about raves by the media. As mentioned ecstasy seems to be the most commonly used drug, or drug of choice to ravers. The effects of the drug are what seem to bring raves their meaning. I am not saying ecstasy is the reason behind it, but I can understand that without the drug the rave scene will not be anywhere near the place it is now. Ecstasy brings feelings of “euphoria, become more verbal, and closer to other individuals. Some call it the love drug” (Randall, 1992, p.1505). One of the best quotes that I heard was “it is as if the warmth of my surroundings wrapped me like a blanket on a chilly west-coast night” (referring to the community at a rave) (Economist, 1992, p.56-57). These, and many other examples try to explain the use of ecstasy at raves, but maybe there is a better comparison to use. Some people say that ecstasy and music go hand in hand, you are not dancing to the music, but with it. Music and substances go hand in hand, without alcohol at raves, many participants find other ways to intoxicate their bodies. I am not condoning it, and I am not saying it is right, those or ethical issues that each person needs to deal with on their own. Many people in the media feel that ecstasy is the downfall to societies’ next generation. It is true, the long term effects of MDMA and other chemical drugs being taken by thousands of ravers each week will have serious consequences in their futures. As far as research goes on MDMA, scientists have found that “the drug’s interference with serotonin metabolism in the brain” (Randall, 1992, p.1505) will cause long term effects on users of MDMA. Scientists are skeptical on what kinds of effects MDMA has on the body, but they think there might be a boom of depression in the future. Good thing we’ve got Prozac! In a study of MDMA use on lab rats, scientists examined the effects and monitored the rats pulse, and body temperature. Results showed an increase in both temperature and heart rate. However there was not enough hard evidence to conclude anything further on MDMA research.

Much of the articles that I read and the research that I have found came from English journals. English theorists believe that raving is indeed a culture and it is sweeping across the globe, picking up anyone who wants to come along for the trip. There are many aspects that make up rave culture. My views of rave culture over the past year are leaning towards the aspect of popular culture. This is because the industry, by industry I mean corporate America, is seeing that there is money to be made, and they’ll be dammed if they are not in on it. Besides raves are becoming mainstream, there are aspects to raves that are not in today’s culture. Fewer people are concerned about the vibe, and more concerned about being wasted. Raves are about gatherings for the attainments of mutual bliss. I think a quote by Matt Demmon best explains rave culture:

No matter what happens in popular culture, YOU keep the vibe alive. This isn’t specific to our little scene. PLUR in all aspects of life. When you’re walking down the street, do the same thing for strangers that you would at a rave. When you’re at a rock-and-roll club, do the same thing there. And then, instead of the fucking mainstream changing our culture, our culture is changing the mainstream…isn’t that the point of a movement?

This quote makes you think back to anytime that you have met a raver, wasn’t he/she nice? It goes back the Golden Rule, treat others as you wish to be treated. Maybe I’m lucky, but I have never met an ignorant raver, just ignorant people. Maybe there is a connection between alcohol and violence, and chemicals and kindness. That’s a whole new essay. Back to the culture of raves. Raves exist the way they do because they are so personal. What a rave means to someone can be totally difference to another. “It can be about something like the simple bliss of dancing; it could be about environmental awareness, it could be about race relations and class conflict…it could be about reasserting lost notions of community” (Collin, 1998, p.5). Another definition of a rave is “Ravers are a band’ – a group that is at once both closed off from society, but open to newcomers. They gather at raves for the same reason, to party”. (Alt. Rave FAQ 1). I feel that this last mentioned definition of a rave is a good one for the Frankfurt school to think about. The Frankfurt school believes that popular cultures are defined by those who create all things popular. In other words we (public) do not determine what is popular, but corporate America does. I agree with this point, but I believe that rave culture has emerged on its own. Yes, the industry is restructuring raves to become mainstream, but what brought it to where it was today? The public, we are the ones who broke into abandonned buildings with speakers, we are the ones who made flyers for parties and handed them out. The industry is just taking what has been worked on for 10 years and all of a sudden they want to make it mainstream! That’s fine because after they have taken over, and all the true ravers grow out of that phase in their lives, the industry is going to be left with abandoned after-hours dance clubs. Someone needs to tell these corporate big-wigs that there are some things that they just don’t need to take over, and raves are one of them. They need to realize what raves are about. One important issue is fighting back against corporations. This is exactly what a rave is. A prime example of this is corporate logos on tablets of ecstasy. Many street pharmacists produce ecstasy with corporate logos, “I think it is a matter of you come into our lives with your million-dollar advertising campaigns putting logos in places that make us feel uncomfortable, so we’re going to take your logo and use it in places that make you feel uncomfortable’” (Raphael, M1). I think that it was corporate backlash that began the whole rave scene; at least the underground part of it.

I feel that raves as a culture, community, and form of expression will never die. I believe that they have been around forever, maybe not under the name, but in definition and spirituality, there have always been raves. PLUR is a general feeling of respect for earth, respect for each other, and respect for oneself while being immersed in total bliss for one night. It is the tapping into the communal vibe that is present. It is the creation of a temporary space where the only rule is love and the only preaching is loud music.

End Notes:

After researching, and contemplating many things I have come to the conclusion that now is the time to turn the tables on society and not allow parties (raves) to go mainstream. I have attended raves for a good part of my life and feel that they are not the same as they used to be. The parties are just not as fun. Police seem to think nothing good ever comes out of raves, and with the media portraying raves the same way, it is time for me to hang up my dancing shoes and give up raves. I am old enough to make my own decisions and I feel that the media doesn’t believe that many ravers can make their own decisions. I agree, some people are not responsible enough, and they shouldn’t rave, but who am I to say who can and can not rave. I think the media is trying to take the role of police, and by attending raves, they exploit one thing, drugs. I don’t know, I just feel that everyone is entitled to doing their own thing, and if the media wants to inform the public, that is what they should do, inform. But please, don’t play social judge and try and take away the fun that the younger generation enjoys. Weren’t they ever kids? Did they ever go to a Dead concert? Didn’t most of the industry grow up in the Love Generation? It is sort of hypocritical, isn’t it? Oh well, this world is coming to an end soon enough, and then we will start all over.