CHAISHOP - Dancing Kangaroos in AUSTRALIA

Dancing Kangaroos in AUSTRALIA

The complete story about Trance in Australia!

Author: Baz
Date: Nov 25, 2004
Views: 3128

Date: Nov 25, 2004
Text: Baz, Lui, Urs
Photos: Jethro
Artwork: VJ-NicTouchesClouds
Taken from: The Trancers Guide to the Galaxy 2004

Victorian scene report

Australia is a huge landmass with diverse geography and people. It has developed a very healthy outdoor party scene and some of the biggest and best are held each year in the South Eastern state of Victoria, the capital of which is Melbourne.

The biggest trance event in Australia is Earthcore. Earthcore have been doing massive out door parties and presenting selected indoor events for over 10 years. They regularly tour acts as such as The Orb, Hallucinogen, Juno Reactor, Infected Mushroom, Kox Box, GMS, X-dream as well as many other acts. Earthcore takes place on the last weekend in November every year and is set in an Australian bush setting with multiple areas, market stalls, and camping over three days. Earthcore events are famous for kicking off the party season in Australia.

Another important event on the calendar is the Rainbow serpent Festival (organised by Green Ant) which is held just once a year at the end of January. Named after an indigenous deity the festival has two areas, one for non stop hammering trance and one for more leftfield ‘psy’ grooves. A highlight is always the installation art and visuals which are first rate.

Another crew which have presented some very successful parties is Tribeadelic. A newer crew to the scene they have established a reputation for good quality events.

As far as the club scene is concerned regular ‘psy’ nights haven’t done as well, perhaps because of the outdoor emphasis for the genre. However the Kinetik crew have managed to have regular indoor events with a fusion of music that appeals to a wider ‘psy’ kind of crowd.

Melbourne has also spawned some top level producers such as Tempest Recordings, the home of a decent online shop and music makers such as the Om Squad. Sugar records for the Green Ant label, who present the Rainbow Serpent Festival, and has played most major parties. Psy Harmonics continue to release some of the most cutting edge music, whilst Andrew Till’s DJ sets are always ones to seek out. Tribeadelic now also has a label with some well regarded releases, but the most distinctive ‘psy trance’ oriented producer in my view is Fractal Glider, who is now signed to Boom Records. And you can also check out my act Psyburbia who has also been released internationally on Matsuri among others. There are a host of producers and labels to check out.

If you’re thinking of coming to Australia there are few problems for the traveler but be prepared to hire a car, there is no public transport of any kind to most of these events.

Sydney - The Habour City

Sydney is the shining star of the southern hemisphere and is the largest city in Australia. One of the 4 main trance hotspots (the other 3 being Melbourne, Byron Bay/North Coast Area and more recently Cairnes). You'll need days to really discover the harbour, the beaches, museums and art galleries. The national parks and wildlife within the city and on its fringes offers a glimpse of its past. A free-spirited and vibrant city, Sydney is built around one of the world's most beautiful harbours, with more than 70 sparkling beaches in easy reach of its cosmopolitan heart. Soak up its legendary beauty, its laid-back outdoor lifestyle and icons such as the Sydney Opera House, Taronga Zoo, the graceful span of the Harbour Bridge and the the famous beach of Bondi. Surrounding Sydney you will find an area known as The Blue Mountains and for nature lovers it is not to be missed.
Sydney enjoys a temperate climate with a mild winter, and has more than 340 sunny days a year. Average minimum temperatures in the winter months of June through to August are 9-11 degrees Celcius (48-52 Farenheit). The summer season is from December through to February.
The Sydney Psychedelic Trance movement has come along way since the birth of the Goa sound and was pioneered and nurtured through its initial stages by some longstanding and dedicated DJ/Party Organisers such as Ming D, Michael MD, Lui (DJ Raptor), DJ Synthestasia (Paul), Phoenix( Scotty), DJ RifRaf (Rif productions), Liquid SounD Sydney and Raj, Peran and Claire of Liquid Labyrinth, DJ Gil Paradox and DJ Nikyar. The modern day trance party scene spawned from the era when the free party underground movement of The U.K reached our shores and added substance to the early Rave culture that swept the world. Record stores like BPM Records (now known as therecordstore.com.au) and Loading Zone helped push the new crazy sounds to the party people and thus forge a real presence within the varied and fragmented electronic dance music scene of Sydney. Some of the first class internationals to show the scene a taste of 'something else' when it comes to whipping the dancefloors into frenzys where artists/djs like Tsyoshi, Nick Taylor (Prana), Ray Castle (Insectoid), Slide, Cosmosis, Miko, Nick Spacetree, Olli Wisdom (Spacetribe) and Psychaos.

These days, you will find parties big and small virtually all year round both indoor and open-air from a variety of different organisations and crews with the most active crews being Yak & Yeti/Full Circle, StrangeMusicSociety, Speakerhuggers and D'psyfa. The music at parties these days is a mixture of night music, a full on sound and progressive so there is something for everyone. Sydney has seen alot more international dj's and live acts come through and the scene is getting stronger all the time. In the last few years Sydney has seen performances from well respected djs/acts like Sun Project, Infected Mushroom, GMS, Planet BEN, Pied Piper, Bitmonx, Anti from Spiral Trax, Neuromotor, Hyper Frequencies, Absolum, CPU, Logic Bomb, Sebastian Krueger, Scotty (VooV), Antix, Ticon, Son Kite, Texas Faggott, Kox Box / Saikopod, Gus Till, Synchro and James Monroe.

On the internet, the major website is www.australiens.net. It is the focus and meeting point for all Sydney Psytrance parties - here you will find whats on listing, how to get there, psytrance reviews and information on all things psytrance in sydney. The forum on Australiens.net is a great place to meet new people and look for a lift to the parties (if you dont have your own car) as the outdoor parties are usually within 2.5 hours drive from Sydney. Keep a close eye on www.australiens.net/whatson as parties are added all the time and join the mailing list if you want to be updated via email.

When in Sydney, check out The Record Store (255b Crown St, Darlinghurst) for the latest psytrance cds and flyers and the new stoire Psydeways in Newtown. Enjoy your stay!

Byron Bay - the rainbow region going from feral and hippy to yuppy and bourgeoisie

The NSW north coast / Byron Bay region has witnessed many amazing outdoor events like Trance Zen Dance, Phantasy, Millenni-Yum, Odyssey2001, Cyber Tribal Art & Music EXODUS a eight day music and circus festival at the Bald Rock Bush Retreat in Tenterfield inland Byron Bay.

An area with amazing talent and a very big spectrum of creativity.
We do not believe there is one supreme form of music (" a monoculture") that will one day replace all others, instead we seek to reflect the diversity of a world full of beats. This party vision is not towards the timeless void of space, but instead will be a celebration of the diversity and interconnectedness of all humanity and our relationship to mother Earth. We love all music and not only a collection of trash culture celebrating the decline of civilisation. There is not only one global style of music with palpitating bodies driven by unrelenting jackhammer rhythms. Music made by musicians rather than the product of mathematical algorithms.

Happy People Productions has produced memorable events, not just with a big sound systems and big DJ names .... a cyber tribal circus where everyone is a participants and not just a spectator.... we believe that this is the future of the psychedelic movement of da people ......

Doc Sonic informs

Australia has hard customs controls, we advise you not to take any drugs with you (even legal ones). If you need to travel with your medicaments contact the embassy first. About 40 percent of Australian adults at least had some experience with cannabis, so officials are starting to decriminalize it step by step. As well 20 percent have experiences with XTC. Still both types of drugs are illegal but you don’t need to expect hard punishment when caught abusing them.

Contacts

Text (Victoria)

Baz (Psyburbia)
Producer of mainly downtempo psychadelic music
psyburbia@hotmail.com
www.psyburbia.co.uk
Text (NSW / Byron Bay)
Urzuz (psychedelic circus director) & DJ Booth

Text (Sydney)

Lui a.k.a DJ Raptor (Mechanik Sound Records / Yak&Yeti) Productions/Australiens.net
lui@australiens.net
Dancer, DJ, Party Organiser, Bookings Manager for Mechanik Sound Records, Co-founder of Australiens.net and all round party head.
I get pleasure, from other peoples leisure!