How Did You Find Dance Music?

[bootytronic]

I'm interested to know what your musical roots are and how you slipped in to a love of dance music. Also what styles you listen to now.

Personally, I love 'beautiful' techno (as in, less head-fuck, more oooh pretty factor) and recently a lot of glitchy, oddball housey sort of stuff. Think Heiko Laux and Super Collider. I'm open to a fairly wide selection of music but that is pretty well my main stay. That and a fair bit of electro - of the techier variety more so than the synth-poppy variety.

I was raised by parents who were heavily in to music. Their taste was usually for gritty soul like Nina Simone or Aretha Franklin.

I rebelled against that and listened firstly to NWA, largely because it was offensive (I was 12). Then on to German industrial possibly for the same reasons. Every now and then I still crank out my old NIN, Nitzer Ebb tapes and they still sound surprisingly quality. I don't think I analysed music in the same way I do now I just fluked on to something good.

Later I was lent 5 mix tapes by a friend and that was all I listened to for a couple of motnhs. Jeff Mills, Derrick May, DJ Dan, Frankie Bones, Nigel Richards.

I then went and listened to heaps of styles of dance music but eventually found my way back to a techy sound.

[riley g]

I listened to all sorts of styles thanks to my dad, who listened to 60's and 70's rock, 50's to current jazz, a little bluegrass, a little soul, etc. Some of the my other family listened to more disco-y stuff, classical, whatever.

I used to get whatever the local library had on cassette too (up to the age where I started to buy stuff regularly in my mid-teens) - always a lottery, from Michael Jackson's Off The Wall to the Beachboys and whatever. Nothing too crazy but eclectic nonetheless.

Later came NIN and other stuff (after the really bad synth had left most mainstream music) and electronic sounds started to interest me.

Eventually I wandered into a club. Now there's no turning back.

[reverber8]

Heavy metal to industrial .industrial to happy hard core .happy hardcore to techno .techno to DnB.
stayed with drum and base still with it wont move.

[AnArChY_AnGeL]

i was always a rock/ industrial fan always went to concerts an stuff but then my friends started to turn to the PLUR side. it was inevitable that i would follow alwayys being in the car with them listening to hard trance... second trip was the song that got me into it all that break then....... boom boom boom i loved it! i have always been a fan of songs with a good bass line and nothing goes past the loud bangin of hard ass trance nowadays although im starting to like techno and breaks but it will never be my one true love of trance
i still like rock but the shit they play on the radio nowadays is simply that and i will never go back to the way i was. too much commercial crap

[riichiee]

Started off listening to a wide range of alternative (faith no more, radiohead, weezer, massive attack, UNKLE (but not DJ Shadow!! only heard Entroducing a couple of months ago), Portishead.. etc)

Then one night i went and saw luke slater at pure flow 4: I just though to myself: Damn.. Shit.. this is wack!!

Over the next couple of weeks my love of all things electronic evolved.. starting off with a download of Access - Dj Tim + Misjah as well as Pannik - Speedy J.. (the first two electronic songs I TRULY got into..)

After that.. i had a look into hard trance.. but moved on to deep house, breaks + dnb..

Currently i'm a bit over breaks at the moment.. it's all beginning to start to sound the same (except for Tipper.. i love his shit)...

anyway..

that's all i can think of right now.. :)

[Rollar]

it found me

[nicko]

It was very good, thank you.

[kaossproject]

Was a metal-head back at school (slayer, megadeth, metallica etc), then grew up and calmed down. It was always about the drums and power-bass.

The band that did it for me though was Def FX. The cross-over mad samples and synth with the digi-drum machine had me intrigued and hooked. Then I went to Earthcore oneday in '99 and since then never looked back..........

[NismoR31]

rollar i was gonna say the same thing :)

i dont know exactly how i came to dance music.. it found me is a better way of putting it.

[House of God]

Mine is weird...I never liked music....I didnt like anything my whole life (except my first song adam and the ants: prince charming) i just didnt like it...i was a visual person...still am to a degree.

I would have been about ummm 17/18 when i started hearing songs in clubs that i actually liked and even enjoyed (Itchee and Scratchee..that era...the real Tekno era) but i only listened while at clubs...i never brought a cd except when i first brought my own stereo....I spent a cool $1200 on a kenwood system which had a 5cd player and the works..it was MAGIC and well i had to make the total amount upto a certain number..and i brought my VERY FIRST CD..which i hold in my hand right now....some 7yrs later...Strictly Techno 2 (purple cover) which i brought for the songs.."Move your ass: ultra sonic remix" and "Amphetamine: oscillator remix" anyway things didnt change much for a year or 2 and then i worked for a sales company and my boss was into that amsterdam stuff with the chipmonk voices, since i was driving him everywhere cause we were becoming good friends thats when my ears started learning a new love..and the clencher was Daft Punk they had just come up...and well i never looked back...i started changing clubs, taking drugs and now im more a Trance hard house style but Love vocal ambient songs:) i love Bass line and piano styled rythem....its more about the euphoric feeling than the "scene" unlike so many of the dance music loving people...who think they are cool cause they know blah blah or song names...it shits me that people come down on "glow stick ravers" when from what i know..thats how the whole scene started well atleast here in aus...i mean these are the same people who were waving glow sticks around a year or 2 ago (judging by some of the ages here) its soo hypocritical...sure maybe because of the HUGE following now..clothing has now become specially desgined and very well lit up BUT for FUCKS sake get over it!!!

People who judge OTHER people for liking the same stuff as them but being Different to them....piss me off..thats soo fugged i mean pulease your in such a position to make judgements on WHO IS or WHO ISNT worthy...get fugged and go judge your own self i say.....If people had been so oppenly judging of me when i first hit the scene i would have just said "What a bunch of fuckin idiots!! I dont want to listen to it if im going to end up like them!...and i certainly dont want to meet the wankers."

Lets face it when i started clubbing that scene was all based in raves...not clubs...and they were the "purists" Now we have all these 20ish year olds saying that "Candy Ravers" suck and these same people think that there CLUB is the "Real deal" or that this or that rave is what its all about..what bullshit...i mean by that standard if your not going to some hidden building where the cops are going to close you down if they get wind of it..then YOU are the CANDY RAVER?!!

Ok i digress...so yeah..this music found me i guess because i never went looking for it...especially when i was never a music lover:)

Kirk...

[feelinveryweird]

first i hated it, then i got used to it, now i depend on it

not really a good explanation/story but that pretty much sums it up

first dance song i fell in love with was sash! - ecuador (my taste has changed a lot since then... but ill always have a soft spot for that track)

these days i love listening to either quality progressive (ala nick warren, anthony pappa, kasey taylor) or hard trance/uplifting trance (ala hennes&cold, peewee / tiesto, avb, fleming)

fairly partial to breaks and techno as well

[riley g]

I spent a cool $1200 on a kenwood system which had a 5cd player and the works..it was MAGIC

sure helps, doesn't it - most of my disposable income goes on music and that's not going to change in a hurry...

[House of God]

Ive still got it too:) Riley G.

Its always had a problem with the trey (i think its a little heavy)...BUT it was a time when they were Pretty new...(im sure they were available earlier to the rich) so its been ummm 7yrs and it is awesome:) too loud for the appartment i live in:(

The speakers must be quality tho..i was sure theyd die after a short time:)lol

Kirk

[riley g]

I spent... um, a bit more then $1200... on my stereo setup about six years ago (thanks to having a better disposable income then then I do now), and yeah, mine's still kicking on too. the cd player is dying slowly but I think I'll just end up getting something dj-worthy and running it thru my mixer with my turntables.

plus I have the same problem with apartment being too small for the setup - don't even want to use the subwoofer cause there's a family living downstairs and we can't afford to piss them off :( .

but I'm afraid I digress from th main topic of this thread...

[Juggalo Muli]

mine dance music life started off when my friend gave me a wild fm cd. I had always sorta liked dance music but this is what got me into it :P I then bought just about all the wild cds, started going to underage club nights were they played commercial r'n'b and dance, wasnt a fan of the r'n'b.

Then turned 18 went to the city a few times, liked what i heard, off course the only club i really knew of was sublime. Then started to get 3D world, went to a few more clubs, then started on the big dance party thing like utopia and rushour, then about October last year i was mad keen on buying decks so i collected a few records, got some money together boughts decks, and now im hooked. Only started to take drugs occasionaly at big events at the end of last year. This yea tho i have really got into the scene i understand it so much more with the decks and all. Go out to the city a lot more reguarly like once every 2 - 3 weeks, cause i have a few friends interested now so i have people to go with. Only used to go with my GF really. She really likes house so i have a broad musical taste, she likes the house so i go with her, and she comes along with me to the trance events, and the occasional techno night. We always have a really good time when we go to parties were there is a mix of music cause we both get to hear what we want.

Other than that i cant get enough if it now, but unfortunately living out of the city and having to work weekends a lot, i only get to experience it out of my room on an occasional basis. I think its good cause im always heaps pumped when we go out, especially to the bigger events.

Thats my love story of dance music.

Muli

P.S. oh i forgot to add that i found out about ITM in may last year and thats what really got me into it and broadened my musical taste, i got to experience othere genres. SUppose ITM helped we grow up a little, as any of you old time users would know i was a fool at the start (some still think im a fool :P)

P.P.S. i used to be into punk rock and heavy metal (like slipknot) then i grew to love ICP (insane clown posse) and thats were the name Juggalo comes from. Now im pretty much only into dance music with the occasional listen to ICP cause i spent so much money or their stuff, had so many collectors items. Also i have always had a musical background with my parents loving music (classical :P) and i played a few instruments and always was pretty good at them but never stuck at it :P but decks ive stuck to the longest and love em ;D

[elysium_4]

teeny bopper ------> punk/ska -------> rock/metal -------> dance??
Hmmm... doesn't really seem like a natural progression, but I havent listened to anything but dance music since I got into it at the start of the year. Had some friends who were into it. Went out one night and heard it... was bitten by the bug. Went to big day out all excited about seeing lots of the bands i'd been listening to for ages. but got there and they didn't hold the same appeal. I spent most of the day wandering round inside the bolier room testing out the new sound I was hearing and growing steadily more addicted... and I havent really listened to much else since. I keep going to listen to stuff I used to love, cuz I like to be abit of an all rounder, but funnily enough I just never seem to make it there, and end up putting on something else instead... I dont see how I can ever go back!

[SPOKEYDOKEY]

walking to the toilet one very dark night, i stubbed my toe on something hard, bent down to pick it up, turned on the light and lo and behold, i had found dance music


strange though, usually i find things i've lost behind the fridge, it's where i found religion ;)

[AnArChY_AnGeL]

i lost my religion a while ago. maybe i should look under my bed and behind the fridge if thats where things usually get lost...?

[tankgal]

Not being aware of the holy grail that is quality dance music, when I was younger I was into pop and all that, you know madonna etc. but i always gravitated towards the more electronic sounding bands like depesh mode and eurythmics... Then my sister and her bf took me to a rave ages ago and like most people I was hooked. :)

[breaksRbest]

About 11 or 12 years ago now, I was listening to Living Colour and Pearl Jam when a friend introduced me to a show on RRR called 'Beat in the Street' hosted by Kate Bathgate.

I was absolutely blown away!
I'd never heard anything like this and immediately started hunting down more of it.
stuff like Underground Resistance, Ground Level, Hypo Rhino, Phuture 303 and early Viscious Vinyl stuff.
"God intended GOOD TIMES, GOOD TIMES, God intended you & me"

my first dance party was Hardware 3, I was 17 years old and I haven't looked back or slowed down since.
When I turned 18 most of my friends (the ones I hadn't converted) were going to pubs and trying to avoid fights, I was collecting Flyers and dancing all night, surrounded by like-minded people.

Even though alot has changed since then, I haven't. I still go out for the same reasons I did over 10 years ago - To dance all nite to the music I love!

[crispi]

i used to hate dance music because all i was exposed to was happy hard and wild fm cds at school . in 1997 i started going to under 18s party which used to have a few house tracks inbetween all the crappy commercial crap. i never looked back.

[crispi]

i liked house for a bout two years before i dumped for the first time at cargo in 1999. fucking mindblowing .

[trancEaddict]

Robert Miles - Dreamland

[panNik]

Speedy J's Pannik ;)

[stealth]

One question first:
Juggalo, you have the picture of "junglist movement" below your name and your signature is the "it is going to be banned..." quote from Human Traffic, but you dont really mention in your post about any d n b or jungle influences, or how much of it you listen to, if you do. Just interested, as I luuuurrve jungle, so I was curious..

Well, I have loved music from a young age, love singing, dancing, and pretending to be a dj at a young age! My parents have a huge collection of records and always had em playing, the 70s and 80s music I grew up listening to has influenced some of the styles of music I now listen to. I played the flute at school and sang in the choir, and was always encouraged to get involved in music and art, and I think they are two mediums that I am able to be myself, whether it be making them or appreciating them.

I listened to alot of Triple J a couple of years ago, and I heard alot of great music, that I still listen to and love. I dont so much now, but, I have always been thirsty to search and know more about a certain artist/band/dj and so I read and sample as much as I can about music that I like thru magazines, internet and word of mouth. ITM has been a great help with that too!

I have gone through different stages of musical styles, but its always gotta be something that is either funky, creative or beautiful. I dont constrict myself to liking just certain genres, but when I hear a track that stirs something in me, its good and thats all that matters! I love breaks, d nb, hip hop, trip hop, rock (its gotta be good..) and anything a bit experimental and different. I have been to a couple of punk concerts in my time, and many clubs and dance events, and they have all opened up my eyes to new and exciting musical styles.

I hope my post has enlightened you readers into one side of me, thanks bootytronic for an interesting topic of discussion.
:)

[busta_rhythm]

My love for dance music was initially fuelled by the more down-tempo toking tracks of electronic music coupled with a passion for old skool funk.

This naturally led to an affinity for funky house and breaks, and on to tech and prog for when things just need to get darker.

Most things go for me: house, funk, hip-hop, breaks, drum n bass, even a smattering of techno and trance but to put a fucking big smile on my face it's just gotta have a funky-ass bassline every time! :D

[Optimus Rhyme]

I dunno really ive always liked a vast amount of music of different genres...... Hip hops my number one and always was, and I always loved break beats, and just nice drum beats in general, which led me to breaks and drum n bass.... those are my favourites, but I like alot from pretty much all genres, depends on mood and everything.... i am always in them mood for breaks d n b and hip hop tho! But there are some nights where some really good house is in order, some instances where uplifting trance sounds sooo good...

[heavy d]

not holding knife & fork properly --> rocking on chair --> talking in class --> cigarettes --> alcohol --> marijuana --> N02 --> lysergic acid diethylamide --> methamphetamine --> methylenedioxymethamphetamine --> cocaine --> crack --> heroine --> clubbers guide to ibiza vol.43

[Vido]

In Highschool a German friend of mine got me into Hardcore and Gangsta Rap (go figure!). Matured to Cheezy commercial NRG then finally to some decent music in Hard Trance and Psy Trance.
There you have it.

[born2disco]

The year was 1989. I was 15. 808 State released 'Pacific State'. I was hooked. In 1990 I took my first E. Again, I was hooked! :)

[infinity]

Back in primary skool started scanning FM radio at random times of the day. Came across 2SER and 2RDJ with Happy Hard/Hardcore/good Tekno pumping out.... and how could I forget Tranceport on 2SER that was broadcasting live from some kind of a rave (now hearing the whole crowd go off just got me hooked).... heard them advertise Central Stn Rec and Reachin Rec.... went down and scored my first proper rave cds.... never looked back since then.

At the moment my preferences can be described by:

Breaks; Drum n' Bass; Hard Power Trance; Dark Progressive; (some) groove House; Tek-Trance; Happy Hard; (some) Hardcore

[driload]

Originally posted by heavy d
not holding knife & fork properly --> rocking on chair --> talking in class --> cigarettes --> alcohol --> marijuana --> N02 --> lysergic acid diethylamide --> methamphetamine --> methylenedioxymethamphetamine --> cocaine --> crack --> heroine --> clubbers guide to ibiza vol.43



the blue-print to a generation


brilliant

[SPOKEYDOKEY]

spokes melts another plastic spoon

[sidkid]

Hey Muli, I love the story of your musical life. Revelatory! Someone should make it into a film. Call it maybe 'Nice Juggs'. :p You got on ITM only in May last year? And you're almost onto 2000 posts... You make me feel much better!

I was interested in electronic music as a kid sidkid, but I'm not sure when I first heard it.

I can clearly remember hearing Jean Michel Jarre's <cite><a href="http://www.discogs.com/release/18900">Oxygène</a></cite> on a TV show about sports (!) and getting hooooked big-time. (That track was the Moby track of the seventies and eighties -- played to death on commercial TV as background music.) I guess I would've been around 7 or 8 years old then. And I didn't even know what the track was called till years later, 'cos nobody I asked had the faintest idea!

(Around the same time I also liked Phil Collins tracks. Fortunately, there were plenty of people to talk to about Phil Collins...)

I think I actually got to electronic <em>dance</em> music (Jarre isn't exactly danceable!) by randomly borrowing CDs in the local library's collection! I remember borrowing a Carl Cox CD in the mid-nineties (had no idea who that dude was or what a mix CD was!), so that would be one of the first.

When I was old enough, I tagged along with friends to clubs. But they went to Berry St Tavern, and I friggin' hated the music. Where was the music I've heard on those CDs?

I think I randomly picked up a copy of <cite>3D World</cite> and that's how I got myself educated.

cheers!

[brickup]

Weirdly I can't remember when I made the distinction.

I used to be Mr Aussie rock.... Grinspoon, Living End, etc.... Went to BDO and Homebake every year and everything in between.

Before that (like end of year 6) I used to like commercial dance trax like Excalibur and Here's Johnny (oh no hehehe) which was weird at the time cause none of my friends liked that.

I think about the time of Wild 9 I was getting into sum crossover stuff like Fatboy Slim and The Chems... also I was a massive Gerling fan and they had quite an electro edge, same with the Gurge.

Wild 9 was a big CD down Wollongong way (as it was everywhere) and that intoduced me to the wonderful (hehehe) world of HI NRG woo hoo....

Hmmm anyways didn't like the cheesy aspects of the Hi NRG and somehow stumbled across house, I think this had a lot to do with my next door neighbours daughter who was a sydney chick and she sorta helped introduce me to better music and stuff

Anyways Carl Cox at BDO and a pill later (my first) and I was HOOKED!!! I cant get enough of deep funky house, BREAKS BABY, and crazy stuff... i like my music fun!!!!!!

[sofu]

iraqi trip hop

[Juggalo Muli]

thanks sidkid im glad i inspired you :p

About the junglist thingy, i like jungle but im not madly into it, just like it, but i lurve the logo and human traffic so thats were my avatar came from, sorry to dissapoint you ;)

[Trunks]

Well my first real musical love was hip-hop, wutang, jayz, outkast,

just anyone with really good lyricism really, then on the 2000 grade 12 september ski trip, my man maxe (his nickname) lent me some of his burnt CDs to pass the time on the bus trip to Canberra.

On these, now legendary amongst my friends, CD's were two tracks that had me very interested in this fresh sound i was hearing.
They were-

Faithless - God is a DJ
Moby - Porcelain

and soon after I had borrowed The Chems surrender album from another friend, and it was all dance from then on, starting with wild/MOS compo's, but then moving on to the trance/techy style I now love, but most decent dance music can get my head nodding too.

[neilfahey]

I credit Freestylers for my intro to dance music... Wasn't the first stuff I heard but was the first I became passionate about and lead me to discover Soul Of Man, Plump DJ's, Lee Coombs, etc. It's gone haywire ever since that...
Neil