thee-o

Boogie Basics welcomes two-man DJ / production team Stylus to the roster, ushering in the group's inaugural single 'Got To Have It.' Comprised of Thee-O and Rob Pointer(a.k.a. Robtronik),each member of Stylus brings nearly two decades worth of professional experience to the table. Simultaneously representing several of the country's biggest house scenes- Thee-O and Rob have each accrued impressive accolades in their cities. From pioneering studios and directing industry software companies like Propellerhead, to founding feted club nights and alternative festivals, Stylus is hardly short of experience or capability. This live set from Stylus, recorded at Techno Sundays on 06/16/13 will give you a taste of what to expect. Stylus - Got To Have It ( Available at all online retailers) For more information on STYLUS please visit www.stylus.la

During the mid-nineties the sound of Northern California’s raves helped received it’s mold by DJs like Jeno, Galen, Solar and Spun. The scene in San Francisco was able to expand rapidly because there were no curfew laws and venues like Homebase and 85th & Baldwin were making it possible to host larger events. In the late nineties venues like Soma Art Museum, “Where The Wild Things Are” museum on top of the Sony metreon, and Maritime Hall were popular.

At the end of the nineties, promoters had a variety of venues at their disposal ranging from warehouses to upscale nightclubs or illegal outdoor areas. San Francisco was booming as artists from around the world were eager to play in San Francisco and the city was seeing multiple events on a given night. In the year 2000 much of that began to change when the city began to place curfews on granted permits. The imposed curfew for parties was 2am which slowly halted all night massive rave events, however many promoters changed their plan to host longer daytime events that lasted through the night until curfew.

Two of San Francisco’s largest venues closed their doors not long after the new curfews had been imposed. There was diminishing momentum to host parties that drew tens of thousands of people. In the year 2000 the Homebase venue was beginning to see less usage and many parties opened in smaller, more intimate venues.

In 2001, San Francisco had a large host of weekly dance music events. As with most parties around the country, the scene had an increased momentum towards nightclubs because they had existing liquor licenses and existing sound & lighting. Nightclubs also did not require special permits.

On Sundays alone, partygoers could find nearly 15 events taking place throughtout San Francisco. "Freebeats" was held at An Sibin at 1176 Sutter St and featured an early lineup of dj’s playing music from 6pm-9pm. Stargate was hosted at 715 Harrison Street and charged $20 for a Sunday night lineup which featured 3 rooms of sound.

Spundae was one of the largest nights to pop up around this time. While Spundae began back in 1993 it was able to withstand the times as it was held at 1015 Folsom, a superclub that was used previously for raves in the early nineties. This nightclub was featuring the world’s biggest dj’s on a regular basis and became a known staple for electronic dance music worldwide.

During 2001 a plethora of other venues were utilitzed in San Francisco for rave events. Peacock Gap Country Club hosted “Heaven Eleven” by ANON SALON, Infected Mushroom played at 550 Barneveld St on June 8th 2001, and “Harmony Festival” was held at Sonoma Country Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa. “Metropolis” was a larger event hosted at 3COM Park on June 16th 2001 and featured Donald Glaude, Terry Mullan, Gene Ferris, Eddie Amador, Roy Davis Jr, Joey Mazola, Danny The Wildchild and Aphrodite.

Halfway across the country in the Midwest, the scene in New Orleans had become under attack after the indictment of rave promoters who hosted a party on June 12th, 2001. The DEA & New Orleans Police conducted a joint investigation called “Operation Rave Review.” The 1986 crack-house law that was used to combat crack cocaine was designed to punish operators of the houses for the manufacturing and storage of illegal drugs. Violators under this law faced a maximum of 20 years in prison. That year the DEA attempted to classify Vicks VapoRub, pacifiers and glowsticks as drug paraphernalia. An article on July 20th, 2001 from salon.com quoted a promotional video distributed by the DEA which states that “raves are just a venue for drug purchases. They are no more than analogous to a crack house in which you go to buy the drugs and go out the back door.”

Government attempts such a these led to a continued uphill battle for electronic dance music and raves. The fight lingered on for years to come, suppressing some of the most successful regions of the rave movement around the United States.

This mix was made shortly after I purchased a brand new pair of Technic 1200mk2 turntables. It was a major upgrade from the Gemini Battlemaster decks I was using. I can specifically recall making this set in the basement of my parent's house while they slept. It took me about 10 different attempts to finally be satisfied with the turnout. After it was finished I intended to finish the mixtape as this was only the first side. The tape went unfinished and I never gave it out as a demo.

Jurgen Driessen - Counter Culture
Sleepfreaks - PHB
Pako & Frederik - Hidden Obsession
Cevin Fisher - Love You Some More
POB & Boyd - Luna
Max Graham - Bar None
Salt Tank - Eugina
Goldenscan - Sunrise (Ronski Speed Remix)

As the nineties rushed on the media hype surrounding raves continued to grow. Daily newspapers as well as the evening news dedicated themselves to attempting to uncover the underground world of the rave scene and educate the public about the events, selling the older demographic on the notion that raves were a danger and a threat. The coverage in many ways created a promotion for the rave culture and as interest in the parties grew, so did attendance, as well as the budgets for hosting these events.

In Washington DC, Buzzlife had been successful with their event at the Capital Ballroom. In 1998 the venue was purchased by John Boyle who soon renovated the venue and changed the name to Nation. In 1999, Nation became one of the only venues to own the famous EAW Avalon soundsystem. Unfortunately by May of that year, Fox 5 News did a report which sensationalized what took place inside the venue. They released a report which focused almost completely on drug use and also sited the DC Metro police for being involved as one officer who was on camera was alleged to have had a relationship with one of the ravers who they had been filming. The news report was the cause of a great deal of controversy leading to the closing of Buzz. For two weeks, Buzz patrons protested outside of the Fox 5 studio on Wisconsin Ave in DC. After a few months of being closed the party re-opened.

During the same year a Philadelphia production company called Local 13 had thrown one of their largest events called Whistle 2 which was held at the South Jersey Expo Center in Pennsauken, NJ. The venue was sepereated into different rooms called dome: Pleasure Dome, Super Dome, Power Dome, Drum Dome and Industrial Strength Dome. The lineup featured dj's like Green Velvet, Nigel Richards, Frankie Bones, and DJ Icey.

In Pittsburgh a company called Downlow had thrown their first party together in 1997 called Intergalactic Circus. Since then they had pioneered new venues that gave a home to many ravers through the end of the nineties. Some of these venues included the Rostraver Ice Garden in Bell Vernon, PA as well as multi-room Paintball Arena near the intersection of 21st & Smallman Street in Pittsburgh's Strip District. In 1999, Downlow hosted Magick! at the Paintball Arena which featured Roy Davis Jr and Felix the Housecat.

In Ohio venues like Moda, Metropolis and The Eagles nest had become popular spots for raves. Most of the flyers that were designed for Ohio parties had very futuristic themes, often involving robots in the graphics. Between Cleveland, Akron, Columbus and Cincinnati several local dj's had made good names for themselves. Most parties between Ohio and Pittsburgh were featuring dj's like Tigger, Darwin, Ben Kenobi, Hazey, Deep Blue, and Lemon Lyman.

This podcast is an unfinished studio mix that was meant to be discarded nearly a decade ago. It was recovered from an old PC that I was preparing to throw away. The tracklisting is as accurate as I could make it, however there may be some mis-listings.

Green Velvet - Flash
Percy X - Worklife
Frank Dubois - Buckled
Steve Stoll - Thirty
S.O.L. - Solaris
Mijk van Dijk & Thomas Schumacher - Delivery
Ade Fenton - The Stalker
Yousef & Sharam - Into The Groove
Heckmann - Stahlwerk
Gerd - Arkest's Blaze
Sender Berlin - Nana (Alexander Kowalski Remix)