Thank You. I really enjoyed that article. I was 18 in 1994 and into this scene so this this brings back a lot of memories. I can remember the first time I heard Vapour Space's Gravitational Arch of 10 at some dark and grungy squat party and asked the DJ what it was. I'm surprised I remembered it the next day... My memory used to be a lot better.
I love it how back then you have to explain what it means to be vegan "The tour has been rough on his strict vegan diet (vegans don’t eat eggs or milk products),"......
Yeah some of the dated stuff is funny -- also the reference to computer discs! It's funny how contemporary Moby's overall critique of things sounds though, its kinda hard to believe this piece was from 30 years ago, that scene and even those sounds still seem relevant. I am gonna slap on Gravitational Arch right now, its been so long since I heard it! He was a cool dude too, more of an older freak head in vibe (though not in age).
No prob, I'm totally with you-- who knows what sticks and why? Ok, if you were there in summer 85, I guess I just missed you; I started at Berkeley that fall, soon moving into Barrington's nearby, somewhat harder-drug-plagued sister or "rival" coop, Chateau, and attending many Barrington events nearly identical to the ones you've described with the same dramatis personae. I only learned that you'd been in that particular mix from your entry "Berkeley Chapel." To which I think I posted about a telling sutra/koan/epigram that I treasure, which was dispensed by a local unhoused man (wish I could remember his name) who Barrington assigned as stairwell Bong Monitor and who, after setting up his young charges, would intone the surprisingly relevant advice: "It's a good idea. To have a little food. Every once in a while."
We certainly crossed paths, not in SF but in NYC when I was on staff at NY Mag and writing for Spin. The overlap that surprised me was your Barrington Hall period, when we definitely could have bumped into each other at a wine dinner/acid-jello Walpurgisnacht (where I'd likely have failed to recognize a family member). Gen had boundless charm. That's my main memory of him. A buoyant, impish, amused, trickster with a bloke-ish gender fluidity (if that makes any sense). btw: I LOVE your interaction with the DMT-repping kid--Oh no, I just like it!
I realize you have mentioned the NY encounter before, I am afraid my memory of life episodes has always been rather weak. Were we at Barrington the same time (summer 1985)? That would be uber-weird.
I read this piece in Spin, in SF, having interviewed Genesis P in our illegal Mission warehouse space, thinking, Man, that Erik Davis is on point! What a fractal time that was.
So cool you got to hang with Gen back in the day; I only met him a few years before he died, though we spoke on the phone about Goa trance. It's also hilarious that you and I never socially crossed paths (or did we?). A fractal time indeed. At that Galleria show that closes the piece I saw a kid with a T-shirt emblazoned with "DMT." I figured he was a fellow initiate and approached him for a chat. But he had never taken the drug, which seemed to serve him as an aspirational arcanum, a great mystery that was also a tribal badge and tech-future acronym.
Wow!!I remember your history had some older journalism I couldn’t place prewired mag, you sort of make it seem the idm era was like another generation. The aphex twin history too was some of the best. Funnily I was laying down trying to read Rushkoffs cyberia before this on archivedotorg.. I appreciate looking back Erik hope ‘24 will be great for us all.
Yeah from 88 to 95 or so I was mostly a music journalist, though I also wrote about technology, books, and TV shows (I wrote about the Simpsons and X Files before they became hits). IDM was a long time ago. The tour I wrote about was closer to Woodstock than it is to us today! And Cyberia is a classic of that magical early 90s era, a fine and fun (if somewhat blinkered) time to be alive and immersed in visionary culture.
brilliant rave reporting, as usual. the part where moby compares dance music to going straight to the source, ie: beholding the vastness of the ocean instead of reading yeats, is going to stick with me for a while...
Yeah this piece reminded me of one of my strategies in those years: to pick the most conceptually interesting and insightful comments out of my interviewees and weave em together so it gave the piece more intellectual heft while still obeying the pleasures of the form. With Moby it was easy as pie of course cuz he is a smartypants.
Great article. It gave me a real feel for the people.
The early 90s were a fun time. I loved the sense of expectation which in some ways has been disappointed --- BUT HOW CAN I SAY THAT now that AI is real??
I've fought my whole life the sense of missing the last cool thing making me miss the current cool thing!! The late 70s though the early 2000s were plump with tasty bits. Since then a lot has disintegrated, in my opinion. Internet technology HAS brought out a lot of truth and the lizard people have upped their game in response. Unfortunately a lot of my crowd is caught up in reptilian eternal hate games and other money and power seeking scams in the name of "the nice" that isn't nice.
I think you we almost missed each other a couple of decades ago. Sylvia and ayahuasca in the Brazilian rain forest? Robert Venosa and Martina Hoffman?
Yes I bet we just crossed paths a number of times. I can hear you in your despondency about the moment. I am not surprised that technology, history, capitalism, and war have delivered us to such a perilous time, but I am still a bit shocked and disappointed how little we seem to be rising to the occasion. Where are those tasty bits? As for now, I'm still after the genuine nice.
Thank You. I really enjoyed that article. I was 18 in 1994 and into this scene so this this brings back a lot of memories. I can remember the first time I heard Vapour Space's Gravitational Arch of 10 at some dark and grungy squat party and asked the DJ what it was. I'm surprised I remembered it the next day... My memory used to be a lot better.
I love it how back then you have to explain what it means to be vegan "The tour has been rough on his strict vegan diet (vegans don’t eat eggs or milk products),"......
Yeah some of the dated stuff is funny -- also the reference to computer discs! It's funny how contemporary Moby's overall critique of things sounds though, its kinda hard to believe this piece was from 30 years ago, that scene and even those sounds still seem relevant. I am gonna slap on Gravitational Arch right now, its been so long since I heard it! He was a cool dude too, more of an older freak head in vibe (though not in age).
Gravitational Arch sounds great, wasnt on the streaming services but good ol youtube provided...
No prob, I'm totally with you-- who knows what sticks and why? Ok, if you were there in summer 85, I guess I just missed you; I started at Berkeley that fall, soon moving into Barrington's nearby, somewhat harder-drug-plagued sister or "rival" coop, Chateau, and attending many Barrington events nearly identical to the ones you've described with the same dramatis personae. I only learned that you'd been in that particular mix from your entry "Berkeley Chapel." To which I think I posted about a telling sutra/koan/epigram that I treasure, which was dispensed by a local unhoused man (wish I could remember his name) who Barrington assigned as stairwell Bong Monitor and who, after setting up his young charges, would intone the surprisingly relevant advice: "It's a good idea. To have a little food. Every once in a while."
We certainly crossed paths, not in SF but in NYC when I was on staff at NY Mag and writing for Spin. The overlap that surprised me was your Barrington Hall period, when we definitely could have bumped into each other at a wine dinner/acid-jello Walpurgisnacht (where I'd likely have failed to recognize a family member). Gen had boundless charm. That's my main memory of him. A buoyant, impish, amused, trickster with a bloke-ish gender fluidity (if that makes any sense). btw: I LOVE your interaction with the DMT-repping kid--Oh no, I just like it!
I realize you have mentioned the NY encounter before, I am afraid my memory of life episodes has always been rather weak. Were we at Barrington the same time (summer 1985)? That would be uber-weird.
I read this piece in Spin, in SF, having interviewed Genesis P in our illegal Mission warehouse space, thinking, Man, that Erik Davis is on point! What a fractal time that was.
So cool you got to hang with Gen back in the day; I only met him a few years before he died, though we spoke on the phone about Goa trance. It's also hilarious that you and I never socially crossed paths (or did we?). A fractal time indeed. At that Galleria show that closes the piece I saw a kid with a T-shirt emblazoned with "DMT." I figured he was a fellow initiate and approached him for a chat. But he had never taken the drug, which seemed to serve him as an aspirational arcanum, a great mystery that was also a tribal badge and tech-future acronym.
Wow!!I remember your history had some older journalism I couldn’t place prewired mag, you sort of make it seem the idm era was like another generation. The aphex twin history too was some of the best. Funnily I was laying down trying to read Rushkoffs cyberia before this on archivedotorg.. I appreciate looking back Erik hope ‘24 will be great for us all.
Yeah from 88 to 95 or so I was mostly a music journalist, though I also wrote about technology, books, and TV shows (I wrote about the Simpsons and X Files before they became hits). IDM was a long time ago. The tour I wrote about was closer to Woodstock than it is to us today! And Cyberia is a classic of that magical early 90s era, a fine and fun (if somewhat blinkered) time to be alive and immersed in visionary culture.
a great read, thanks for sharing. love these bands, brings back many good memories (from here, not their tour there)
i bet you have some good ones!
brilliant rave reporting, as usual. the part where moby compares dance music to going straight to the source, ie: beholding the vastness of the ocean instead of reading yeats, is going to stick with me for a while...
Yeah this piece reminded me of one of my strategies in those years: to pick the most conceptually interesting and insightful comments out of my interviewees and weave em together so it gave the piece more intellectual heft while still obeying the pleasures of the form. With Moby it was easy as pie of course cuz he is a smartypants.
Hi Erik,
Great article. It gave me a real feel for the people.
The early 90s were a fun time. I loved the sense of expectation which in some ways has been disappointed --- BUT HOW CAN I SAY THAT now that AI is real??
I've fought my whole life the sense of missing the last cool thing making me miss the current cool thing!! The late 70s though the early 2000s were plump with tasty bits. Since then a lot has disintegrated, in my opinion. Internet technology HAS brought out a lot of truth and the lizard people have upped their game in response. Unfortunately a lot of my crowd is caught up in reptilian eternal hate games and other money and power seeking scams in the name of "the nice" that isn't nice.
I think you we almost missed each other a couple of decades ago. Sylvia and ayahuasca in the Brazilian rain forest? Robert Venosa and Martina Hoffman?
And you, what do you think? What calls to us now?
Yes I bet we just crossed paths a number of times. I can hear you in your despondency about the moment. I am not surprised that technology, history, capitalism, and war have delivered us to such a perilous time, but I am still a bit shocked and disappointed how little we seem to be rising to the occasion. Where are those tasty bits? As for now, I'm still after the genuine nice.