Psychedelic
Trance How Goa ’ s Parties Birthed A Music Genre
It will be a cliché to equate Goa with trance music , recreational substances , and rave parties . But what ’ s noteworthy is that this culture of merrymaking ‘ hippies ’ did contribute greatly to the music genre that we know today as psychedelic trance aka psytrance . As the name suggests , psytrance is a variant of electronic trance music . More than often , it incorporates high-tempo riffs and energetic percussion-heavy sounds .
A standard psytrance song might easily clock for more than five minutes , opening with a meditative introduction progressing towards heavy bass . East Asian / Indian string instruments like the sitar are then blended with Hindu chants evoking the themes of divinity that are associated with hippies since time immemorial .
Today , as psytrance DJs play all over the world , Indian proponents include White Wizard , Farebi Jalebi , Braindrop , FLIPKNOT , Silent Horror , among others . Most of these aforementioned DJs popped up in Goa ’ s party scene either around the late 90s or early 2000s . But psytrance ’ s relationship with Goa goes back to a few more decades .
A musical subculture emerged in Goa since the 60s , a defining decade in the global hippie movement . And to put it simply , psytrance exists today because of this so-called ‘ Goan Trance ’. Back in those ‘ dum maaro dum ’ days , Goa was a Mecca for hippies from all over . The beaches were picturesque and Indian spirituality was fascinating for the Westerners who started arriving in larger numbers .
The Doors , Pink Floyd and many such psychedelic rockers dominated Goan dance floors in the 70s . The next decade saw the indigineous DJs adding more flavour with a dash of German dance music ( notably the discography of Kraftwerk ). Finally , it was an America eccentric who truly brought a local trance revolution in the scene .
Goa Gil is an intriguing figure . When this Californian hippie took a flight to India , he was immediately drawn towards the ways of the sadhus , ( Hindu mendicants ). Gil was so fascinated with their nomadic lifestyle that he later became a self-professed sadhu himself !
While researching on East-Asian religions and philosophy , Gil and his friends tried their hand at DJing in Goa . Looking at himself as a product of East and West , he realised these multiple influences can be represented in his music too . As a result , Gil ’ s remixes soon began to dominate Goa ’ s outdoor parties .
Mantras and prayers were converted into dance beats for people to lose their mind to . And indeed , partygoers began to get a kick out of Gil ’ s fusion , with some feeling as if ‘ higher powers ’ were taking control of them . As Gil himself said in a radio interview , ‘ Dance is an active form of meditation and the use of trance music became a way to “ redefine the ancient tribal ritual for the 21st century ”.’ In this way , the seeds of Goa trance began to sprout .
Fast forward to the 90s and the lore of trance parties drew in European and Israeli backpackers . And when they went back home , they either
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