**update: i have posted my edited and revised essay here: elcirco.tribe.net/thread/5d...611b7b8a11
if this is the 1st or the nth time you've read this, please give that a read before commenting further. i hope it illuminates many of the misconceptions about my intentions, clarifies the missing pieces and corrects the vague language i originally used. thanks to everyone for taking so much time to participate in this discussion. i hope it continues to be as fruitful as it has been so far.** (10/1/07 930am)

So you might have noticed that I’ve gotten a little political lately. If you’ve missed it, read some of my most recent posts. Time to change things up for a bit and talk about something local. Perhaps I can tie it into the general American trend of greed and power taking over individual choice and freedom. Perhaps it’ll be a stretch. You can decide for yourself.

Last weekend several of my friends and I went to Symbiosis Gathering (www.symbiosis.org). The multi-day festival featured some of the best local and international electronic artists from across the spectrum. Overall, I was very pleased with the music that I heard, from old favorites (Deru) to new ones (Mala). Although the music was the focus of the event, what I noticed more than anything else was the culture of the various communities that come out for this (and many other) events and festivals (what we used to call “raves”) here on the West Coast. Before I continue, I want to put out there that I don’t intend to point fingers specifically at Symbiosis, because they are just one of many events and crews that perpetuates this movement of our subculture that I will describe and critique. These new characteristics reach beyond that festival and are both present in year round events put on by many West Coast event production communities as well as our daily lives. Furthermore, I’d like to state that the ideas in this essay may seem just as judgmental as the attitudes and behaviors that I am calling out as harmful and destructive. Regardless of how you feel about my critical thoughts enclosed, you should know that they come out of both my personal observations and of people in a variety of “social classes” who have shared their impressions through honest conversations over the past week. And now, back to business.

I remember a time when we were all saying “its all about the music.” It was a time when people from many different walks of life found a space to shed the layers of bullshit of the everyday world to express themselves, to find “peace, love, unity and respect” and be welcomed as the freak, geek, weirdo, etc that they truly were. This weekend, I found myself deeply aware of a shift away from these old raver values, into a vanity and classism that is now intricately woven into this part of the rave scene.

I’m not sure what to call this section of the “rave” scene that I am speaking of, but it’s a spin off of the breaks scene, which has musically moved in the direction of hip hop, and whose members predominantly consist of those fond of sexy low bpm, bass heavy tracks (bassnectar, the glitch mob, etc), feathers, fedoras, reconstructed clothing, psychedelics and the art inspired by them, and performance-ritual. You get the picture. I’m not here to call out that this scene has gotten fucked up (most of you have probably observed this already), but I am here to point out what seem to be the deeper layers of why it’s now the way it is and how it has influenced the way we all see and carry ourselves in our communities and in relationship to one another. I’m not implying that these social mores exist in a scene that we are not part of, but rather I’m recognizing and calling us out that this scene is OUR scene. In doing so, I aim to implicate us all as accomplices in something inherently superficial, greedy and self-serving that ultimately discourages open-mindedness and open-heartedness.

Symbiosis provided a perfect opportunity to conduct some anthropological research on classism in this part of the West Coast rave scene. Looking around, it was easy to observe how when certain music is playing (or djs performing) the dancefloor divides into different cliques based on appearances. It was apparent that beyond the superficial differences between cliques, there is a pecking order or class hierarchy, where the upper classes look down upon and don’t associate with the lower classes based predominantly on their appearances.

It’s hard to say exactly what defines a certain class, but the most obvious and defining characteristics is appearance as defined by fashion, body image, age, etc. The upper echelon are the trustafarian peacocks (www.urbandictionary.com/define.php and their wealthy associates. Think couture clothing, custom leather, and those who more or less keep the tribal markets and bazaars (and the poor artists of Bali) in business. A breed that remarkably resembles the fashionistas of NYC or Paris. They are attractive, they are skinny, they are young, they are “the beautiful people from the future” as several people I know have called them. I watch them only associate with their kind, often turning a cold shoulder to those who dress and look differently. I might as well call it out - they are the El Circo’s of the scene. Yes, there are some who don’t look like them but who get acknowledged – mainly, the djs and drug dealers who have their own kind of power – these people are somewhat welcome into these circles, even though they will never be considered their equals, and are treated more like a powerful and influential servant class. The allure is obviously tempting, what a great opportunity to be near the rich and powerful and at the same time invest in your art.

Working down the social hierarchy are the tutu-ed faeries (who some might say are trying to create their own separatist elite class, but I don’t think they’ve succeeded), then those who sport reconstructed clothing, and down the line we go. Where do you fit in?

So what’s the problem? Well, the challenge is that these rich and powerful folks propagate the memes of the scene. It might be the music geeks that support new upcoming talent in the underground, but it’s the upper class that define what is cool and hip. They are the ones who support the designers and artists on the largest of scales, and the rest of the scene follows suit. What is cool is woven so deeply and intricately into the culture that we become unconscious of our choices and attitudes towards those who look different than us. Not only do aesthetics weave their way into the scene, but the whole vanity meme follows suit. The rich and (therefore) powerful may be vain, but they’re also sexy and mysterious – the allure to follow their lead is strong. The superficiality trickles down to all levels, where even those closer to the bottom judge those who appear different, with regard to fashion, body image and age.

As I stood on the dancefloor Sunday morning at the forest stage, I looked around me seeing it all play out. It seemed like there were so many people dressing not to express themselves, but to mimic the upper class trustafarians, convinced that they are making their own personal choices. And as I looked around, I knew that despite their efforts some would never make their way up the social ladder into those exclusive circles because of their age, weight and income. I became sad for those who (whether consciously or unconsciously) strive to be accepted by the upper class folks by not only emptying their bank accounts on fashion accessories, but also participating in body modification (not only tattoos and piercings, but also insane exercise regimens and health food consumption). Our self esteem is so easily dependent on others’ acceptance of us, so it is all too easy to fall into the traps of changing ourselves to be more like the beautiful people.

The rich and (therefore) powerful set the standards for the culture, their financial influence over the arts determines what is cool, and the rest of the community attempts to live up to these standards, by spending hard earned money to meet the subculture’s rules. Meanwhile, as the most affluent group looks down upon the rest of the community for not being cool, hip, styled, etc, the 2nd most affluent group follows their lead and submits the classes below them to the same scrutiny (despite the irony that they will never be able to be accepted by the upper class, unless they find more disposable income, get skinnier, younger, etc). Rinse, repeat all down the social ladder.

The social hierarchy or pecking order is set and the attitudes of social climbing, or associating with cool people (or those of your class or better) becomes a large motivating factor of participation in the scene, regardless of what class you belong to. As we move down the pecking order, the classes are more tolerable and welcoming (as you would guess since they are oppressed by the higher classes), but still have judgment towards those below them that don’t fit the mold.

You might be saying “that’s not me, that’s them!” However, I challenge you on that assertion. Its so easy to point fingers and not take responsibility. I cannot say that we all do this, but I do and have witnessed it happening in my closest friend groups and across all of the social classes. I’m here writing about you and I just as much as I am writing about them. These ideas of vanity and classism extend all the way down into each one of our social circles and affect us all individually. For example, one of my dj friends who we would all agree lives his life in a class above mine, was quick to condemn the class above him for their vanity and classist attitude, since they have treated him like shit in the past. He confidently said that his group of friends is unlike the elite group, because when they gather he feels comfortable and welcome. Through some discussion, we both came to realize that we both belong to social classes, where some of us are welcomed and others are not because of appearances.

I’m not saying that our unwelcome is always intentional. I believe more often than not that we are working so hard at maintaining our status (self worth) in a certain class, by reinforcing the connections with those in our class, or trying to make connections with those in higher classes, that we find ourselves without time or energy for those whose appearance is of a lower social class.

So back to Symbiosis…Later on Sunday afternoon, when I went over to the field stage I noticed something different where sounds of psytrance filled the valley. The “trancers” as we call them have their cliques, but there doesn’t seem to be such a classist, hierarchical organization based in money and appearance. I was a part of that scene for a long time and never noticed those things being present and that still seems to be true today. Trancers, whether they dress in those fluorescent Star Trek outfits, wear tie-dye, regular street clothes or some ridiculous costume, smile at each other and dance with each other. There is no pecking order that you must work your way up to be welcomed into their stomping ground. Hell, you can even look like a breaks or hip hop kid and they are welcoming. And there seems to be much more permeability in the different subgroups in that scene. The PLUR values seem to have held out as the scene has avoided in some way or another the classism that’s worked its way into other systems.

So why has this happened in this part of the scene and not the others? Why is it largely limited to the West Coast? I’d like to blame LA’s influence, but that seems a little too simple. Perhaps those attracted to this kind of music in the rave scene are also easily tempted into the excitement of sex, drugs and fashion that the elite have brought within the boundaries of the community and once again the geeks want to be just like the cool kids, just like high school. Now’s the second chance to be popular.

Where do we go from here? I find myself looking at my own attitudes towards the people in the scene and see that I have my own judgments based on people’s appearances. How do I step away from these judgments? As I contribute my energy to music and art events in SF, how to I insert my beliefs of non-judgment and acceptance into a scene that has already been infected with these vain and blindly classist attitudes. Does throwing an event in this scene automatically continue to push these vain attitudes that favor those who have more money to live up to the standards set by the elite? Can we continue to financially and socially support those promoters, artists and designers who reinforce classism and social hierarchy in our music scene? What changes are we willing to make? Do we feel the need to make changes in our own contributions to the scene that reinforce the class and social hierarchy and the vanity that comes with it? Are we mature enough to take a step back and reflect on how own social status (and the urge to maintain it or climb up the social ladder) is tied to our self esteem? In what ways are we willing to change our own attitudes and behaviors to create a more open, loving and friendly culture that doesn’t judge people based on social class and appearances both in the larger scene and in our smaller social circles?

At last weekend’s festival, I saw a theme that has been growing over the past few years as the West Coast breaks/hip hop scene recreates our mainstream culture’s standards that empower the rich and powerful and look down upon those who don’t fit the mold. The more those who don’t fit the mold change to fit the standards of the elite group, the more they are accepted by the culture as a whole. The pressure is immense to leave those with undesirable characteristics behind, even if it means oneself. Almost mindlessly and helplessly, so many of us take on these negative attitudes and spread them throughout our subculture, often rejecting our own identities, values and self worth in order to be seen and accepted by others. It is a way of life here in our little culture that I’m not proud to be a part of. I am looking for ways to create some change, in the face of the powerful forces that influence our lives with harmful and negative energy. How sad that we who try and create communities that differ from typical American values, end up embodying the same unhealthy attitudes and repeating the same destructive patterns.



My goal with this post is to create an ongoing dialogue about this subject so that we can create positive change in our lives. I'm fortunate enough to be connected to people in many social classes, so i hope this facilitates dialogue between them. When you go out this weekend, take these ideas with you and observe what you see on the dancefloor and in yourself. I’ll probably bug you from time to time about this, because it is important to me and it so easily gets pushed aside, because it brings into question so much of what we look forward to each weekend. I welcome your comments on my blog, via email, on the phone or in person. See you soon on the dancefloor.