From: David Clark
Subject: [SFBay604] Introduction
Hey everyone,
I'm one of the new listees, but I do know a few of you. My name is Dave,
a.k.a. Manx. I moved into the "trance mansion" in Santa Cruz over a year ago
from my hometown of Seattle. I've been involved with the psytrance scene for many years.
Originally a dj for the now defunct crew Inertia Labs in Seattle, I moved from trance to downtempo and idm.
Now I'm pleased to have a break from promoting and the never-ending string of weekend parties. My last
project came to completion last weekend, where I put together the chill barn
for the Phoenix Festival in southern Washington.
Now that I've finally been subscribed to this list, I can have a bit more info
about the local goa scene. Though I tend to be a lurker, I may pop up with a
message when a subject comes around to an area of my expertise. But the past
few years I haven't kept up on the new trance releases. I've been generally
unimpressed by much of the trance released now days, and prefer to leave to
the gung-ho djs, the job of wading through crappy cds in search of the gems.
I have a love for many different genres including Breaks, DnB, Trip-Hop, and
whoopee-cushion symphonies. If the music is any good, you'll find me on the
dance floor, in the sweet spot or in front of a stack. And I won't just be
standing around.
Take care,
Dave
Manx
From: David Clark
Subject: Re: [SFBay604] Talent here at home
I come from a city with a much smaller psytrance scene: Seattle. I moved down
here to Santa Cruz a little over a year ago. But my friends back home are
telling me it's been a lackluster summer for trance parties. But in general,
take any party in SF and throw it in Seattle, and you might get about half the
attendance.
Getting people to come to a party is of course, all about promotion. A killer
lineup will get the diehard listeners who know their artists to show up. But
a scene always needs new blood, or it dwindles away. That's why in addition
to promoting in our regular places: parties, record stores, online, friends...
we'd go out of our way to find people who would normally never hear about the
party. My friend Muschi was the expert at enlisting new recruits. He'd
promote at the oddest places... parks, libraries, the beach, the mall,
massives, gas stations. Our parties always had an interesting mix of
"normals" keeping things fresh. And of course, many continued to show up at
our future parties.
Besides great music and friends, what really makes a party fun for me is
meeting new people. So in my view of how to make a party really go off, is to
recruit as many people as possible from the scene to actually go out in the
real world and do active promotion. Not taking stacks of flyers and leaving
them in strategic places, but actually going out and talking to people. You'd
be surprised at the type of people who want to have a good time.
Dave
Manx
From: David Clark
Subject: Re: [SFBay604] I.M. @cyberfest
Sure are a lot of old fogeys on this board who have forgotten how much fun it is to be 16, partying with
20,000 other 16 year olds.
I am surprised to find this group concerning themselves
with the lineup to a massive.
But I'm not surprised to see concern rise from the discovery that
trance dance music will be played to a hoarde of etards.
At least the kids get an opportunity to dance to good music in the company of
their friends, instead of out in the scary woods with a bunch of elitist old
farts, and a dj who is too busy playing the part of a minor diety to bother
learning how to mix.
From: Manx
Subject: Re: [SFBay604] 7 dead in rave afterparty shooting in seattle
I'm very close friends with two of the people who live in that house, and as
Christine mentioned, we spent Christmas night there unwinding after all the
holiday family crap. I'm broken hearted that one of my friends who was not a resident,
is among one of the dead: Jeremy "Dirty Jesus" Martin.
This was a senseless killing. Even more senseless than Columbine, as I know
that there was no tormenting going on to spur retaliation, besides the
possibility of annoying music. Someone simply snapped. And though the police
may not be able to put together any motive, I think that finally someone had witnessed far more than they could handle.
That, and this person obviously had planned on shooting shit up somewhere as he had a pistol grip shotgun, a
semi-automatic handgun, an assault rifle, and enough rounds to take out a couple kindergartens.
But I find it very ironic that this kind of thing would occur at this group of
people's afterhours party. These friends of mine are part of a circle that
enjoys pushing the envelope of what people can handle while staying sane.
Jeremy was one of the core members of the group Chickenhead. Those of you who
have gone to any of the last four Phoenix Festivals are sure to remember their
stages. They pride themselves on tormenting all those who take themselves too
seriously. All in the name of fun. And though their parties might have
nearly intolerable music at times, they still manage to be the most fun I've
ever had in a large crowd.
Some of the irony I see is from the last three parties this group of people was
involved with. Not Chickenhead exactly, but some of their members along with
my friend who lives in the house have recently thrown gross parties over the
last year or so. Two were Bloodfeasts, where the theme was basically gore.
Check out this review in the local Seattle underground paper. It sounds fucking awesome to me!
http://www.thestranger.com /seattle/Content?oid=19915
Another slight bit of irony is that this was an afterhours for a party called "Better Off Undead", which
was a costume party where people were suggested to dress as zombies and corpses.
But why would someone take it to the next level? I've been waiting for the
initial tide of crazyness to pass before I call my friends who were at the
house to get the stories. But I'll do my best to pass them along if anyone's interested.
I wish I were back in Seattle so I could console my friends.
I don't think gun laws are part of the problem at all. This has nothing to do
with laws and everything to do with society letting those who need help slip
through the cracks. Had I been in Seattle, I would have definately been at
this house at the time of the massacre. And from what I've heard so far, the
only thing that would have saved any lives would have been someone else
carrying a handgun that was a good shot. Not stiffer laws. Sad but true.
Dave Manx
P.S. Tim, this was at Jesiah's house. I believe you know him.
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesn't make any sense." - Open Secret: Versions of Rumi
