Psychedelic trance came to the Czech Republic relatively late but has evolved a great deal over the last few years. Generally, it has been house, acid techno, hard trance etc. that have prevailed here in the mid 90s. Just in the year of 1995 Prague was visited by german DJs from Spirit Zone and Paradise production as DJ F.R.E.E., Dominic Sangeet Bentner and M23. They played at several Planet Alfa parties in Prague\'s club called Slunicko. But it was still too early for some sort of czech goa-scene.

The earliest psytrance parties in the Czech Republic were organized in 1999 by djs Marthy & Rawe and their friends in Havirov near Ostrava (the industrial city in the east of the Czech Rep.); also Fluorobotanics, UV deco makers, painted their first backdrops at the same time. Fluorobotanics have become an essential part of every psytrance party in our country and internationally respected artists for their \"lyserdelic\" visual installations since then (few years later they split up into two groups, Fluorobotanics and Cybofunk). Another significant element in the development of our psytrance scene was the phenomenon of the underground parties in Slovakia that introduced this unique style a year before it arrived in the Czech Republic. A community created by Cosmic Dance in the Slovak town of Piestany, not far from the Czech border, is a reminder of the close relationships that remain between the two countries that formally made up Czechoslovakia.

The first czech psytrance DJ crew \"Sonic Distortion\" was founded in the beginning of 1998 and has continued to play and to promote psytrance parties to these days. However, their audience has tended to be limited, as people don\'t seem to be interested in something new unless it is supported by large scale promotion. In the year 2000 a new promoter crew \"Hedonix\" entered the scene and organized two parties at the most popular club in Prague, Roxy. They provided an introduction to the idea for a lot of new people. Hedonix built on this beginning with subsequent parties often featuring artists from Russia and other parts of the world.These parties have been supported by a more conventional level of promotion, that have managed to attract a wider crowd to the psytrance scene without giving it to the mainstream.

As the birth of the current psytrance scene in the Czech Republic could be considered the Shakti open air party in the summer of 2000. That was probably where the core of the Czech psytrance community gathered together for the first time. Shakti was organized by Perplex of Hedonix, with support from Sonic Distortion, and was held right in the centre of Prague, by the river, without official authorisation. It was a leap of faith that paid off. A truly international crowd of more than 600 people danced until noon of the next day, with passers-by tourists enjoying the spectacle from the bridge.

Year 2001 saw the real spread of psytrance in the Czech republic. A number of high quality indoor and outdoor parties were organized by a growing number of psytrance enthusiasts, in addition to Sonic Distortion and Hedonix (that split up to 2 separate promoters, Hedonix itself and PerpleX by then), new crews such as Tribal Vision or Quokka Tribe started with these activities. A feature of even small events became the live psychedelic Vjing, often containing shots from earlier parties. Parasense, Matt Boom and Tromesa are among the many artists who performed in the Czech Republic during 2001.

Very important for a representation of the scene and communication within it has always been internet and especially Czech national server www.psytrance.cz offering a lot of interesting articles concerning to the psychedelic music & culture, information about upcoming events, party reports, mp3 dj sets and also forum for discussion of related topics.

During last two years a lot of new names entered the scene. We have already first live acts with Gappeq who is going to release his debut album at Portugal label Ketuh Records soon and Afagddu & Ankhabut forming together dark psytrance project called Mutant Star. New promoter crews such as Trancedelic Family, BooYone a Planet Blue Society were founded together with groups orientated to Vjing (PerpleX, Virtual Division, Mimo TV), UV-active fashion (Ohm Tribe) and string-deco making (Cybetronix). We have already had the opportunity to hear a lot of interesting djs and live acts from all over the world (including names such as Absolum, Rastaliens, Charasmatix, Lemurians, Mel.ler, Quantum State and many others).

Although the party attendance is still quite small (usually from 200 people at common parties to 600 at the biggest ones), people are able to create a great atmosphere and enjoy parties, which you can still call „underground“. There are also some open air festivals for more than one night held every year.

Through a combination of its geographical location, the disposition of its people (and authorities!) and low prices, the Czech Republic seems to be a good place in which \"West meets the East\".


CZ links:

Booyone soundsystem http://booyone.nasiti.cz /djs & promoters
Cybertronix http://cybertronix.psytrance.cz /3D string deco & chill-out
Cybofunk http://cybofunk.psytrance.cz /UV-active backdrops
Dj database www.psytrance.cz/djs.php3 /list of Czech psytrance djs
Fluorobotanics http://fluorobotanics.psytrance.cz /UV-active backdrops
Hedonix www.hedonix.cz /djs & promoters
Morawec www.morawec.com /flyers & webdesign
Neurobion www.neurobion.com /flyers & webdesign
Ohm Tribe www.ohmtribe.com /UV-active fashion
Pan Dan www.pandan.cz /chill-out djs
Project database www.psytrance.cz/projects.php3 /list of Czech psychedelic projects
Psytrance.cz www.psytrance.cz /Czech national server about psytrance music & culture
Quokka Tribe www.volny.cz/quokka /djs & promoters
Sonic Distortion http://sonicdistortion.psytrance.cz /djs & promoters
Trancedelic Family http://trancedelicfamily.psytrance.cz /djs & promoters
Tribal Vision http://tribalvision.psytrance.cz /djs & promoters
Virtual Division http://vd.psytrance.cz /psychedelic vjing


text: Cymoon, Perplex, Slater