World Techno Day: The History of the Rave Culture
The 9th of December is celebrated around the world as World Techno Day. From its creation in the melting pot of Detroit’s music scene in the 1980s to its popularity in Berlin, techno has been one of the most popular genres of electronic dance music. And it created a peculiar cultural space around it over four decades.
How techno came into our lives
Even though Berlin is known to be the capital of techno music today, it originated with the Belleville Three in Detroit in the 80s. They were inspired by the house music scene in Chicago and electronic music getting popular in Europe. Many music historians credit Juan Atkins of the Belleville Three with the first techno song, 1985’s “No UFOs.” Afterwards, techno also started to become popular in Europe and lots of underground clubs opened in big cities around the 80s, which became the start of the culture known as “rave culture”.
Berlin as the techno capital: the soundtrack of the fall of the Berlin Wall
After the fall of the Berlin wall, many abandoned buildings turned into underground clubs around what used to be East Berlin. Young Berliners threw widely hedonistic illegal parties at the time to celebrate their freedom, considering that before the fall of the wall, East Berliners were not even allowed to listen to the radio, let alone party. These underground clubs turned into businesses in time and transformed Berlin into the techno mecca it is today. Three clubs, Tresor, Der Bunker, and E-Werk, played a significant role in the establishment of techno music and club culture in Berlin at the time, and the same hype goes on with clubs like Berghain and Sisyphos.
The Love Parade, which took place in West Berlin in 1989 before the fall of the wall, was also one of the earliest festivals that marked the starting point of the techno scene in Berlin. It was started by the Berlin underground at the initiative of Matthias Roeingh (also known as “Dr Motte”) and his then-girlfriend Danielle de Piccio. It began as a political demonstration that used the international language of music as a platform to spread peace and love. It stood for “Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen” (Peace, Joy, Pancakes) and grew over the years. The same festival is organised under the name “Rave the Planet.”
The city of Berlin identifies itself with techno music so much that the famous DJs that gave rise to the techno culture want to get a UNESCO world heritage status. Detroit DJ Alan Oldham told the Observer, “Unesco protection would go a long way towards maintaining that old spirit. For example, legacy venues like Tresor and Berghain would be protected as cultural landmarks.”
Rave Culture
Even though rave culture is known for a hedonistic lifestyle with drug use, sex, and electronic music festivals, it also has a particular ideology behind it. Rave culture is shaped under the philosophy of PLUR, which means “peace, love, unity and respect”, and was born out of a need for self-expression and freedom.
In the long run, this culture created its own language, clothing style, accessories, values, behaviours, and rituals. Today, rave and techno have deep cultural significance and relevance for multiple generations where they can co-exist at the same time and place together.
Subcultures are essential in cross-cultural understanding since they create different dimensions of worldviews and perceptions; it is crucial to consider subcultures when thinking of macro cultures and trends and how subcultures influence mainstream culture. So reach out to us, and let’s discuss how we can help your brand or business to navigate within subcultures effectively.
