Electronic Music and Drugs – The Real Story
Via Detroit Tech House
The electronic music industry is getting long in the tooth,
and the older generation is reluctantly passing the torch to the
youngsters. The overwhelming popularity of the music in general has
caused an enormous spike in the number of young people interested in the
scene, and it has created quite an interesting situation. On one hand,
you have people who understand the foundation that was laid, and the
importance of keeping the integrity of the community, and on the other
you have the drugged out child who just wants to hear bass. I argue that
both are an integral part of the new movement, and not so different if
you look a little deeper.
Drugs have played a major role in the growing popularity of
electronic music and we have all seen the articles about young people
only getting into the music because of drugs. Some of this is true, but
it was also true for the past generations, just in a different way… Back
in the beginning of the rave scene, there was still plenty of drugs,
people just seemed to have a bit more restraint about displaying their
public drug use, and if they were to try a substance, it would be in a
dark room with peers who understood what was happening. In the current
scene, with day-festivals galore, we have a new normal… and that normal
is kids chewing their faces off in broad daylight. Sucking pacifiers and
smiling for pictures at the same time. The world has learned to equate
electronic music with drug use, and it has gotten a bit out of control.
Another thing that has changed is the chemistry of the drugs being
taken. In the past, drugs were drugs, and while they probably weren’t
the cleanest things in the world, they certainly had more of a trust
factor than what you see today. Research chemicals from chemists who
know very little are hitting the streets in mass quantity these days and
getting into the mouths of many young people. Instead of Ecstasy and
Acid, it’s Molly and a bunch of stuff that is similar to acid, but not
quite the same… These drugs have taken hold because they are cheaper to
produce and have more anonymity. So basically people can sell whatever
they want to these kids and label it Molly. There is also a big up rise
in young people doing harder drugs. My contention is that the
combinations of drugs put into these mixtures eventually push some to
want a bigger high, because they can’t seem to feel like they did the
first time. Heroin has become way more popular than in the past with
young people, and it’s something I would like to see go away, far far
away. To be honest the drugs may ultimately erode the true potential
this generation has for a cultural change, which is what I think the
electronic music scene could do with the right mindset. But the drugs
will be it’s downfall, probably. The connection of so many people with
like mind has the potential to create a real movement in any area that
it happens, but dumbing it down with bad drugs just makes it a soul-less
money machine, where the only winners are bad people.
I do think the world and humanity in general is striving
for connection and desperate for a feeling of community, and this is
some of the reason for the drugs. We are so far removed from a communal
lifestyle, one in which we actually share our feelings directly though
human contact with one and other, that I think somehow sub-consciously
the collective youth is taking it upon themselves to regain the
connections we once had with one and other through any means necessary.
Albeit a hasty, poorly thought out and futile attempt, so it may seem,
the use of drugs strikes me as just that… In the times of tribal society
people did take substances and communally appreciate their lives, their
ancestry, and their ability to express themselves. Kind of like a
family rave. They got together with people they loved and dove into what
it was to be human and what it was to experience life. This is art, the
art of living. I am not saying this is what is happening now, because
it isn’t… What I am saying is that I believe there is a tiny piece of
our DNA, or our soul, that remembers this ancient ceremony and remembers
these connections we used to have with other humans, and it desperately
wants to find a way back to it. Now, with all the current methods of
distraction and dissociative activities such as social media we have
crippled our ability to interact with people on a personal level. Just
look at any nightclub in the city that plays pop music, all you see are
people staring at their phones. The face to face relationships in the
world are eroding and the only supplement that seems to work are these
substances, which if only for a moment, remind us of the beautiful
existence we are all a part of. They remind us of the connection we have
with each and every being in the world, and perhaps mother earth is
trying any way she can to get us to wake back up to the power we hold as
a community of people who love each other.
This is not to say that these substances and this activity
don’t have consequences and can’t go terribly wrong… They can, and often
do, and the depressed youth of America are prime examples of this
issue. But, nothing another batch of prescription-based drugs can’t fix,
eh? But I digress…So yeah, not everything is pure out there in festival
world and moderation is almost never taken into account, but next time
you see festi-kid in a cuddle puddle, maybe just maybe you will think
about this article, and remember that we are all acting out against the
consumerist, materialistic, internet-based society, trying desperately
to find some community some connection and some acceptance.
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