THE MORE THINGS CHANGE :: If you are or were a club-goer you know of the seasoned partier who tells you how “the scene has changed”, how the music isn’t the same; “kids” nowadays have no idea “what they missed”.
I remember hearing this many a time on a dance floor.
It seems to me that, like everything, the scene and music must change, evolve, find its reinvented groove on the dance floor and re-present itself. The cycle of life includes the cycle of music. DJ/producer Addy once told me “everything comes around again, just a little different.”
I wasn’t a part of the days of Industry in Toronto, which I heard were amazing. I also missed the Dose parties, which I heard were amazing. I missed Buzz (now the infamous Comfort Zone a.k.a. CZ or Church), which I heard were amazing. However I did enjoy the tail end of System Soundbar, where I hosted various events; it makes me happy to be able to say I am part of Toronto’s electronic nostalgia.
What I think many forget as they age and / or change paths is how much they once enjoyed the whole clubbing thing, and what incredible value it brought to their lives. They forget how they eagerly kept up with the music and the DJs who brought them their beats, how they knew the who’s who of the EMDS, and how they went – so faithfully – to the hottest parties.
No matter the generation, each has “their time” – just a little different then the time before. As someone who has gone on and made a career within the electronic music industry, I can tell you five things that have changed during my time from 2004 to 2013: the packaging (vibe, image), genre titles, drugs, fashion, and the big one (the one no one prior to 1996 would even think of) – taking music for granted. (It’s so easy nowadays to Google P2P music sites such as Soulseek, eMule and various Torrent sites to get high on illegal downloading. Many of today’s gens X and Y don’t realize how much work goes into producing a track. I too was guilty of this – until I started working in the EMDS.)
I respect those before me who were active in the EMDS because they taught me a lot about it. How the scene was felt to them, how they respected the music, the promoters who put on the events, and the DJ who gave them night after night of musical journeys.
I’ve had the time of my life being apart of the scene, and, now, working in it. I host an electronic music show, write about the scene, and host events within it; now I even work for a music distribution service.
Interesting how things make their way into your life if you really want it and are open to it. Music is my life, and no matter whether I enjoy it on a packed dance floor at the most popular nightclub, at an intimate venue, or at home, I’m a part of it.
To sound like a cliché, the more things change, the more they stay the same. We all move on in our lives, but if you’re like me you carry your music from the past to present with you in your heart.
– Dance floor royalty, Miss Raquel is publisher of Scenester magazine and host of The Miss Raquel Show. Join her on Twitter.
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We asked Miss Raquel to share what song from “her” era takes her back and fills her with love, love love:
Raquel: For me I’d have to say to Madonna – Like A Virgin because she taught me what a virgin is. I remember asking my Dad why Madonna is singing about a virgin and what that even meant. He never told me. I learned someway, somehow, but it was Madonna who introduce virginity to me!
