Article 13
In July 2018, European Parliament’s Office on Legal Affairs (JURI) declared to vote on a new proposed Copyright Directive. The Directive, which claims to update and reinforce the rights of rights holders within Europe’s Digital Market. Certain institutions within Europe have called  Article 13 "Largely a positive step forward, inasmuch as the law needs to be updated in light of modern technologies and the Internet". However, these folks sitting in positions of influence and power, seldom ask why JURI did not consult the general public, artists, professionals and creators within EU? What 'vote' is valid without public participation and dissemination? Instead Article 13 is framed, drafted and lobbied behind-close-doors by a cabal of lawmakers and institutions (mostly German), vested in a deep power-struggle against monopolies of Youtube and Google. This is not about banning 'memes' or stealing a song or video-footage. This is about a war for the control of markets, minds and methods. The 'lobby' of experts behind Article13 failed to answer pertinent questions about the implications for free expression, creativity, and the freedom to publish anything online. Further they remain silent about how to differentiate between fair use versus copyright infringement. Article 13 backslides when looking for a tangible model where citizens and artists benefit instead of the big institutions, law-makers and their patron corporations. Many wonder if this new mandate is just another internet 'moral police' in the making? A recent study shows that 72% of the ministers in the EU parliament had no clue about Article 13 nor about the protests and criticism raised by their own citizens. "Infrastructure can be easily repurposed by government and corporations – and further entrenches ubiquitous surveillance into the fabric of the Internet.” states The Internet Society. "These new laws are considered disastrous by some of the foremost tech experts in the world" claims Gizmodo.com. 'Foremost tech-experts' and their 'digital shamanism' aside, the owners of Gizmodo have no problems making ad-revenues from viciously competitive corporations like Chevrolet, Amazon, Apple and Samsung.

History Versus Future
Iranian electronic music, an emerging micro-culture in focus has an unseen relation to the islamic 'black friday' revolution of 1979. Even though one is separated from the other by over 35 years. The sounds and artistic deviations of Iranian electronic music, now in it's infancy is high in contrast with a 2500 year old land and it's deeply rooted customs and traditions. A large number of emerging or established Iranian artists, writers and activists live outside Iran, as expats or as part of a migrant generation now dotted allover Europe and bits of North America. Almost everything in Iran has a foreshadow or post-script of the revolution. Of Iranian movies, literature, poetry, architecture and music is proof of that. However, we are not searching for the cause nor repercussions of a hardcore partisan revolution that transformed Iran. A transformation from a bourgeois 'America sponsored' regime into a god-fearing patriarchal state. Oil, Terrorism, Media Blacklisting, Nuclear Weapons and The Ayatollah is what the general public usually associates with Iran. We are scanning Iranian electronic music in it's native light and busking for new narratives. The oldest surviving pre-persian architecture in Iran dates back to 2200 BC while the earliest Iranian electronic music recorded by Alireza Mashayekhi in 1971. "Western electronic music played by a DJ is forbidden here in Tehran, it happens but we don't know where" states Farhod Asari, head of an entertainment agency based in Tehran.



A Minor Iran.
A Minor Music is a non-profit project initiated by photographer Malthe Ivarsson. A Minor aims to create awareness about and document the rise of Iranian electronic music. The website reads "it will talk about the circumstances of producing and performing electronic music in Iran. Leaving you to enjoy the music and hopefully encouraging you to explore deeper into this world of music" The compilation begins with Ata Ebtekar and Mazdak Khamda's 'Lonesome Cloud'. Ata Ebtekar states "there was nothing going on here (Tehran) 8-10 years ago. Together artists can make a difference to the scene ... hopefully make it into a business as well"  Ata Ebtekar was born 1972 in Hamburg of Iranian parents. He spent his childhood partly in Iran and mostly in Germany. Now being hailed as a "pioneer" of Iranian electronica by popular music websites. The compositions of Tegh, Pouya Pour-Amin, Umchunga, Arash Akbari, Alireza Mashayekhi, Shaahin Saba Dipole and Baaroot reveal the diverse and non-confirmist fabric of Iranian electronic music. Though some of the artists do not live in Iran, the compositions often contain native folklore, chants and traditional sampled instruments. Distinct traces of synthesis and dark ambience as well. The A Minor initiative is aiming to manifest it's work as a feature length film about the scene. A documentary type introduction to native iranian electronic music.

Rave in Iran?
"I am fed up of doing things secretly. It's all underground in our country" - Rave in Iran is a short film [Director : Susanne Regina Meures] which documents the perilous road taken by two DJs who risk their lives to make parties in the hinterland. Anoosh and Arash are at the center of Tehran’s virtually unknown 'underground techno scene'. Fed up of hiding from police and orthodoxy, add a total lack of patronage facing a hopeless stagnating career. The duo (known as Blade & Beard) dare to organise 'one last manic techno rave' under dangerous circumstances : risking retribution and incarceration. Techno-Martyrs "Only after ecstasy arrived in Iran that electronic music began to become popular. Ecstasy finally allowed people to be in the mood and mental space to enjoy this type of music" explains Anoosh. The duos rebellious efforts championed by leading tastemakers based in Germany and Holland leads to an invitation to perform at a 'very happening festival' in Berlin. Their family back in Tehran recoils. What next? How does this micro-culture survive?

Depravity, Diaspora and Orientalism.
Questions of identity, migration and international awareness loom in the background of Iranian electronic music. Given the light allocated by western institutions on Iranian electronic music has been on a steady rise in the last decade, the artists have found very little place in popular iranian culture. "The biggest problem is that we don't have enough audiences here in Iran. Especially for experimental, ambient and progressive electronic music" says Tegh who has been striving to organise concerts and a record label in the last 6-7 years. Most of Iranian electronic music is not released natively in Iran. Rather in UK, Germany, Canada and US. Various conflicting reasons emerge. Some Iranian artists and musicians find the patronage of western institutions and life in Europe to be way more 'free and progressive'. Many artists based inside Iran speak of the heavily 'controlled' media, police brutality and the lack of formal music education in Iranian society. The internet being the biggest outlet for hundreds of Iranian artists of various disciplines. Thousands yet that we don't know of. "I need to get the hell out here" exalts Anoosh, A techno-electro DJ based in Tehran. "We can get venues and we can get the permission but the thing that makes me more anxious is that people don't show up ... I am working on it" states Shaahin Saba a.k.a Dipole, an ambient music producer based in Tehran . However it's important to know that experimental and fringe electronic music faces similar challenges (resources and audiences) across the world currently. "I got my first few gigs in Dubai at private parties which motivated me to find more electronic artists in Tehran" says DJ Nesa founder of Deep House Tehran in a recent interview. "Tehran is a dusty and polluted city. Everything has some layer of dark matter on it. That's why my mixes and sounds are dusty, obfuscated and textured. That sharpness and brightness like Berlin techno or Alva Noto does not exist for me" exudes Baroot, a producer dwelling into ambient, industrial forms. The Iranian electronic music spectrum is loaded with dissonant voices as well as conflicting ideologies. Resonating with a society in change, emerging from Tehran and outside. Small festivals [SET and Limited Access] and 'permissible' art events are invoking a new narrative into popular Iranian culture and urban life.





Palestinian born philosopher, writer and peace activist Edward. W. Said in his academic treatise discussed Orientalism as the key to power dynamics between the east and west. One that existed 500 years ago and even does today. Defined "as the West's patronising representations of "The East—the societies and peoples who inhabit the places of Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. According to Said, Orientalism (the Western scholarship, patronage, outlook, relationship) is inextricably tied to the imperialist societies who produced it, which makes "Orientalist work inherently political and servile to power" Modern Iranian culture, diaspora or native has been 'viewed and dealt' with under a similar context. Western outlook on emerging Iranian culture has been well 'Orientalised'. Issues of freedom and equality for vast majority of Iranians is a matter relegated to the holy texts or to tradition. The rest are bound for exclusion or migration or even persecution. Not just electronic music, but Rap, Hiphop and Rock is excluded from most Iranian mainstream culture : We hear about the "raging voices" on blogs, podcasts and short films sponsored by RedBull Music, Noisey and Vice. Barely scratching the subcultures or looking at the ground reality inside Iran. While rich Iranians prefer to party in western Europe or Dubai or Moscow, the country is witness to a steady outward migration of academics, journalists, artists, musicians and individuals/families facing persecution. Last two years a wave of articles across websites like Fader, Fact Magazine, Pitchfork, Bandcamp and Electronic Beats leads us to Iranian electronica and artists. A Documentary like 'Rave in Iran' raises the lid further on repression and dance music in Iran. The big media sets the stories : London based Leela Arab's "raunchy oriental house music" or Sevdaliza  a Dutch-Iranian cited as a "Roamer Finding A Spiritual Home In Music" or  9T Antiope based in France, cited as "making a distinct impact in the genre". We view more than 15 different nations (with approx 260 million people) speaking 30 odd languages as a whole : the  'middle east'. Many of these nations ravaged by war and societies mired in repression, rebellion, persecution and inequality. Does electronic music have anything to say about War? About Survival? About rights? Recently the CTM festival in Berlin presented a panel and showcase on Iranian electronic music : lead by 9T Antiope, Siavash Amini, Sote, Tarik Barri, Arash Bolouri and Behrouz Pashaei. In Iran we witness 'Ayatollah's Morality Police' in action, often busting private parties and raiding youth events. Electronic musicians from Iran appear fragile yet the sound is distinct, the motivation strong.  Iranian electronic music is a great collision between the east and the west, the traditional and the contemporary, considering it's 're-birth' and emerging sound.

Iranian Synth? Persian developer Hypersynth was previously known for a few software instruments and editors, yet this monophonic analog synth module is their first hardware offering. Read More About The Xenophone Synth from Iran.

http://www.minormusic.org/radio/

Melahuset or House of Mela, is the native club and institution of the festival where a host of events and concerts take place around the year. During the festival, post the closure of main-stage Radhuplassen, a series of concerts took place featuring Bugge Wesseltoft, Queen Omega, Panjabi Hit Squad, Nordic Dhol Vibes, Raxtar and Busi Ncube this year. The festival's partner clubs Haerwerk, Khartoum and Kulturhuset featured artists such as Pasha, Hkeem, Moksha, Audio Pervert, DJ Nefertiti, Bowski and Shabaka. Thousands of Oslo residents thronged the main-stage to watch acts such as Cherrie from Sweden, Hkeem and Pasha from Oslo, Kader Tarhanine, presented by Timbuktu's Festival in the Desert, Ladysmith Black Mambazo from South Africa, Trilok Gurtu and Nils Petter Molvaer's fusion-electronica, The Unity Crew dancers from Oslo and Rafaqat Ali Khan from Pakistan along with Bollywood Brass Band from UK. The pot-boiler made somewhat sombre by a lineage of classical, sufi and tuareg artists such as Faiz Ali Faiz, Shahbaz Hussain, Kader Tarhanine performing during the day at the Nobels Fredssenter. It's nearly impossible to imagine so many Pakistani and Indian artists together in one festival anywhere in the world (sadly inside their own native grounds as well)

How fair is online retail and streaming of music?
AS : Take the case of Apple Music or Spotify as contemporary examples, as leading distributors and stores that carry 'all the songs' in world but don’t need to sell any of them in order to make money. Fact finding missions by organizations such as Digital Music asked how 'falling artist revenues have no effect on the rise of new online stores and services'. We see a barrage of bogus concepts and services being offered to artists of whatever country with the bait of success and fame. There are thousands of look-alike record labels rotating content, artists, copy-pasted text and contracts inside the european markets, yet that can hardly be deemed as growth or progress. Sonic-Bids, the world's largest music career service recently published an article stating " How to assault your fans " That kind of language and culture leaves little room for creativity or individuality and reduces the process of creation to a war-like status. Even as the 'Global Music Report'  paints a very positive story in terms of sales, downloads, air-time and distribution, the report mostly disregards the problems faced by independent unsigned artists (which forms 75% of the industry) : The GMR report states even though music streaming revenue is up by 61% the individual share of the average musician is down by 26% in 2015-16. David Bowie still sells more than the millions of new emerging talent.

SD : A large part of online retail is based on feedback systems and propaganda. Epiphany aside, the tolerance towards needless propaganda has reached epic proportions and the desire for actual talent has dwindled deeply.  If 'Video killed the Radio Star' surely 'Mp3 killed the Video Star'? Today marketing concepts of the automobile and airplane industry are applied to music and culture consumption. Consumption of music is now deemed an automated process instead of various co-existing organic or semi-organized cultures. The industry has lost it's diversity in many forms. The band has become a brand and totally hailed by unhealthy industries like Coca Cola, Red-Bull, Deep Eddy Vodka, Pepsico, Jagermiester etc etc. Sadly there is no conceptual difference between the epic triumph of Coldplay and deep penetration of Radiohead. Every kind of music must gather numbers or it's deemed useless. Since this process or type of work requires endless man-hours, harangue and commitment, it makes little sense for serious artists and bands to undertake such efforts. Yet these very artists are forced to comply and pay for the propaganda, retail and management. Eventually we all know why the label and manager are way more rich than the artist itself. The same theory applies for the vast profits reaped by CD Baby [Worlds largest independent music and merchandise management service] every year, versus the trickle-down benefits received by artists.

Artists consider data [sounds, music, stems, video etc] as their rightful intellectual property. Is that concept still valid?

JF : Valid it is, yet to what extent one might want to ask. Take the example of Article 6 of the GDPR manifesto, which states "the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes; " Now enough evidence is available to show how and why Facebook, Google and Twitter violate that very dictate on a daily basis, making millions of dollars every month by selling user-information to thousands of third party developers and retailers : GDPR might curtail the bombardment of adverts and propaganda, as well re-enforce powerful enterprises to curb freedom of expression and liberty of public content. A recent study conducted in the US shows up-to 345,400 account cancelations were conducted by Twitter and Facebook after the 2017 congressional debates over Net Neutrality.

JMR : It depends on the terms and conditions of the vendor usually and not the artists. With new changes as the GDPR, consumers can expect more stringent protection of rights - Lesser abuse of data, content and privacy with hope that public courts can hold private data-giants culpable for theft, misinformation or invading privacy. As for data and intellectual property rights, GDPR specifically does not protect the rights of musicians. The subject of IPR works differently in various regions of the world. For example an artist from France trying to sue a label for theft and misrepresentation in India would find it near impossible to litigate the given issue. On the upside, the GDPR is an important step to protect individual data and content which includes all types of archives including sound. Artists could ask if their music is actually their data? Do they really own it?


'Hope Labour' The perils of Patreon? Cloud Economics vs. Reality?
AS : Hope Labour existed in the 17th and 18th century as an unspoken anchor for millions of european immigrants arriving to the shores of the 'new world'. The concept repeated itself in many war-torn regions of the world post WW2. Yet today we see a virtual simulation of Hope Labour. Recently an article exposed the reality of success on Patreon.com - An overwhelming 77% majority of artists would not receive the bare minimum patronage needed to survive. A very small elite cabal of artists would earn more than $5000 a month [annual Taxi Driver salary in Los Angeles city area is $40,400] and approximate drop-out rate of artists is as high as 50% on Patreon. Given the few success stories and immense media hype, the audience is tricked into embracing newer systems that are actually perpetuating old myths. But why blame Patreon alone, when a similar pattern is seen on Kickstarter and Go-Fund-Me : where drop-out rates is proof of dodgy ethics and weak sustainability.

SD : Patreon is an interesting case-study : It was quickly considered a public success story that grew initially riding on good intent and immense hope. Patreon being a private silicon valley mindset vested in profit maximization is not capable nor interested in addressing questions of basic universal income. Instead it urges artists to create free content again and again, offering the formulaic hope of "Get Rich Quick". It's a bit vicious to see this kind of hope and hoodwink co-exist. Instead we can ask "Do we really need a service like Patreon if we really care about art and artists?" Lets switch gears for a moment... Uber is a 1.5 billion dollar business, set-up on the bogus principles of "shared economy" is similar to the system of music retail and streaming : which are identically and inevitably geared for profit maximization. My question being "struggles of a cab driver have become similar to the artist's ?"

JMR : An ongoing study in Spain investigating the rise of new start-ups, AI and social networking tools post the economic crisis of 2008, revealed that even as investments rose by 28% [highest in the continent during 2012-2016] a majority of the ventures failed to actually 'take-off' as projected. Less than 11% of these tech-based ventures reached the 1million euro mark in terms of profits. This specifically does not include artists, musicians and content creators, yet the rate of success remains very speculative as well as littered with needless trappings of marketing and hype. Further, tech-giants like Microsoft, Intel, Samsung and Amazon are not so interested in developing  public utility based technology as much for vigorously acquiring, buying out native and emerging talent and technology.

Has the value of music reduced? Tunes as a tool of enticement?

AS : Take the case of Amazon. Using music as an enticement to motivate people to create Amazon accounts, buy other products that have nothing to with music. This includes their own Amazon Prime shows and services, to sell more Kindles, I-phones etc and eventually monopolize their market share. This explains why it sells music for less than it pays for it. Music becomes a tool for netting customers for their products and services. Look at Deezer tying up with big football clubs in Manchester and Barcelona to sell more tickets or divert consumers to sports via music? The answer is obvious. Many top ranking executives of the music industry will swear by the increase in streaming revenues yet never speak once about the involved robbery and vicious trade practices that create such huge profits in the first place. Theodore Adorno and Horkheimer had predicted this sort of cultural fascism around 1932 in their famous essays titled Culture Industry.

SD : It's mockery to celebrate the success of digital music retail in the face of the huge and dismal evidence which is clearly contrary. Be it bands, musicians, small labels or producers. many would swear by the superiority of Spotify as a great system of broadcasting music. Yet the reality is rather quixotic and instead ensures millions of dollars of profit for Spotify and not the artists themselves. Users of Spotify have no say in finding new music in-spite of paying a monthly or annual fee.  Spotify doesn’t need to stream the music it carries, nor be profitable from those songs it does stream, Fact is Spotify ignores millions of great tunes anyways. Spotify simply exists in order for its investors and owners to reach their financial finish line. Selling the company or taking it public to make billions. The deal is set, with or without music. The artist is reduced to a working account and validated only by numbers and rotation. Will Page, director of economics at Spotify is clearly riding a global shop-keeper's mentality when he claims "our aim is to bring in the next 100 million subscribers in the near future" Little does he care or realize that 'infinite growth' is eventually a hoax.

JF : Music distribution patterns have changed during the last twenty years and anyone can guess why. The internet. Yet the nature of consumption has gone through transformation as well. No one can answer why a tune like "Gangam Star" would rake in 3 billion+ hits on you-tube [there are 7.1 billion folks on earth] Yet it's obvious the artist who composed the tune will never be able to top this record nor be taken seriously in the future. By the time the owners of these new companies ‘exit’ reaping billions of dollars, a sea of frustrated artists may be left in wake, wondering what the hell happened ?! They might remember the old online gimmick which cried "hashtag my ass!"

Where is the evidence of egalitarianism? The democratization of arts?
SD : Hope is really a powerful 'force' that keeps people working for low wages. The last century was witness to this ghastly fact with industrial and farming labour. Often rebelling against their masters and tyrannical forces. Today it's the musician and artist. Yet there is no revolt and the tyrant is the information system itself. The veneer of meritocracy requires that artists remain passionate about work and take oath to a belief that money isn’t the reason for making art - eventually letting go of their fair share and profits of labor. Yet one out of thousands may reach for the stars inside such a 'society of chance'. The rest, deemed to oblivion or the cluttered sidelines. Tech-Giants have an ironic semblance of colonizers and medieval slave owners in terms of the inequality and ruthless trade practices. If most artists became aware of such an imbalance, a change will thoroughly dismantle the existing system.

JMR : It's an ethical debate of sorts with no real outcome. If a right-wing cross bearing racist individual from South Carolina can exist on twitter so can a jihadi fundamentalist from Syria. Yet twitter must be judge to let one spread hate and the other one be censored. Go figure that type of hypocrisy. One way or another, the internet and digital communication is the 'gasoline of the 21st century' and states in cohorts with large corporations cloistered mostly to control and curtail public freedom.

JF : Circa 2002, many leading futurists and technocrats from the Silicon valley had predicted and hailed the internet as the final frontier for free-thought, public information and international dialogue. Yet that did not happen, least not for a vast majority of humanity. Magazines like Wired heavily marketed the hoodwink idea of total individual success, championing the self-fulfilling lives of the millennials armed with zany apps and gadgets. Millions were convinced in a moment of great glee. 15 years later what we see is the opposite. Faces glued to screens everywhere, scrolling on glass endlessly, repeating emojis, consuming tiny chunks of propaganda or personal information every 20 seconds and gradually loosing a larger context of reality. Recently the WHO deemed internet abuse and video-games to be included as a source of mental health diseases. Highest rates of this disorder being visible in the US, South Korea, Japan and China. The same trend repeats again with Virtual Reality Experience. The craze and hype as seen in festivals and tech-conferences in Berlin and Barcelona. No one seems to be asking 'What is the utility of VR?' or even 'Why is it so elite, just like an Iphone'? Eventually VR will be tamed to sell products and services via a new form of addiction.


So are we doomed?
AS : Haha ! I sure hope not. Though a large part of the internet and various service providers are locked in vicious battles of control and profit, as isolated individuals we may feel helpless yet public motivation and voices has often been key in dismantling inequality and unjust systems. Lets not forget that a 14 year old genius boy called Aron Schwartz came up with the idea of Creative Commons Share Alike and is now used by well over 5 million artists. Lets remember Lester Lessig's ground-breaking ideas titled 'Plunderphonics', where-in copying, reinventing and sharing is legit and is the real party of creativity : reflected in most of art, music, literature, architecture etc not just today but for eons. Let's not forget that culture is a product of such ethics and historic values. Bach and Mozart did not compose out of thin-air, they depended on their pianos and fellow musicians. Popular culture is the property of the people and not specific nations nor corporations.

JF : Interesting, this concept of digital doom ... As always no, we are not doomed, yet deeply heckled and starkly addicted to crude forms of entertainment and communication. Leading news-channels make it worse ... If your looking at your phone more than 100 times a day [for whatever reason] you do have a problem. And we must all know that Instagram pictures necessarily don't portray the truth about us and are eventually discarded as digital trash. Look at the re-emergence of Cyber-Feminism and newer anarchistic generation of hackers, 'unicorns', activists and whistleblowers that are continuously punching holes inside the old systems.

MJR : For artists and creators it is a very challenging, choppy and interesting time, but it opens up new possibilities and impact. Coders, crypto-currency workers, Blockchain specialists and individual developers are coming up ever new solutions, software and ideas for public use, that too mostly very cheap or free of cost. Sustainability remains an issue yet that is the case with any new confrontational idea or technology. Take the example of Steemit, a social media and video service which is working very well outside the monopolistic ethics youtube, facebook, twitter and vimeo. Capitalist technocrats like Steve Wozniak were one the biggest bashers of Bitcoin, yet evidence now is totally contrary to his sermons [crap]. Crypto-currency is not a bubble after all, as many bogus economists predicted in the last 5 years again and again, but it's true potential is yet to manifest and hopefully not in the wrong hands. Futurists like Ray Kurzweil may have immense faith in 'Singularity' as bridge into a post-digital humanity, but the concept serves the interest of less than 10% of the whole world.

SD : Artistic solidarity and assimilation of artistic resources is important as of now given the vast networks of communication available.  Resource sharing is a key consideration as well. The various systems of monopoly can only be dismantled by public dissent and action. A few generations later we may see a fairer inclusive society where talent and creativity is valued instead of numbers and propaganda. Most successful artists remain loyal to the industry and it's vicious exclusive ethics. As role-models of success they are very elite, chaste in hype. Be it Beyonce, Bjork, Drake, Thom Yorke or even dead stars like Prince and David Bowie, are at best idol worship material for emerging artists. As very few artists realize the totalitarian non-inclusive ethics of commercial entertainment, the need for discussion, dissent and dissemination becomes even more vital. Local voices, participation, solutions and cultures in place of globalized content and hierarchies set by those we don't even know. A post-millennial world would be still as challenging and full of torrents for artists and creators i feel..

Thank you for your time, the facts and opinions. 

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↬We spoke to founder Jonny Lee recently about his vision and the need for the industry and artists to come forward for those communities and children in need of help.

► How did 'Last Night A DJ Saved My Life' start? What was the motivation?
I ran a half-marathon in 2008. There were some 52000 people participating, all giving towards a cause and charity. It made me think! I put on an event to raise funds soon after which lead me to the big idea - About the dance music industry and what was happening in terms of social responsibility. Having come to the conclusion very little was being done... it became a challenge for me : About how to inspire those in the industry by leading with an altruistic example. Being aware and having shared the beautiful energy we feel collectively on dance floors so many times : I felt the same energy could also save lives...


Tell us about the artists and DJs who have come forward to help/support? - The response has been big... Yet to name a few that we started out with, pioneers like Danny Rampling, Nancy Noise, Trevor Fung, Alfredo. Later on big artists like Fat Boy Slim, Paul Van Dyk, Carl Cox, Joe Smooth, Nightmares on Wax, Matthew Bushwacka , Ralph Lawson have also contributed. As of now, recently Seth Troxler, Dubfire, Eats Everything and Radio Slave are on-board the initiative. And more ...

► What are the big challenges faced by Last Night A DJ Saved My Life as an organization? 

A remark someone made in 1976. The same year that Kraftwerk from Dusseldorf, Germany released their album, Trans-European Express, and although the thought behind the statement was true, it would take a couple of decades to manifest itself. Technology would extend itself into creativity (almost like an evolutionary parasite) in a gradual, incremental way for millions of people across the world and for hundreds of different reasons. The story of electronic music and the advent of mass culture amplified by technology made a definitive impact on India in the new millennium, just like it did in Germany in 1970s; in the UK and US, and Japan in the 1980s, thereafter smashing its way from Rio to Beijing. The 70’s as a decade of experimentation in jazz and rock, witnessed the rise of a pioneering electronic music subculture via German bands like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dreams and Can. Futuristic and sci-fi driven; inspiring a handful of composers across Europe and America, electronic sounds and tools became ‘ear friendly’ and ‘pop compatible’ for musicians and audiences. Electronic music eventually spilled over into mass appeal, post the Kraftwerk’s breakthrough album, Man-Machine released in 1978 (first German band/album to top British charts for six weeks) and Giorgio Moroder’s historic classic hit “I Feel Love” (selling 300,000 records in 1982). Why David Bowie, Nick Cage or Brian Eno exited the gloomy post punk Thatcherised England to seek newer grounds and sounds, is anybody’s guess. Electronic sound and instruments had finally come of age, and were now being viewed as harbingers of avant-garde music culture.

The Indian Spot
As early as 1982, Charanjit Singh (a synthesizer and guitar player working in leading Bollywood studios) recorded the album, Ten Ragas to Disco Beat; which remains the earliest recorded feature of Indian melodic ragas performed on synthesizers in sync with machine rhythms via the TR808 and 909. Though the album remains very obscure and minimal in terms of consumption and interest, the reappearance of this record, holds a great debate within. Charanjit Singh’s attempts as a composer are clearly contiguous to the rise of acid and techno music around the world. Unconnected and high in contrast to Charanjit’s album, were the smash hit Hindi-disco songs of the Pakistani siblings Nazia and Zoheb Hassan, produced by London-based Bangalore-born producer Biddu in 1983; who eventually became a Bollywood music director in the late ‘80s. Their single, “Disco Diwane” went on to become a long-standing hit in South Africa, and places as far away as Sao Paulo, Dhaka and Toronto. The crux of Indian listeners, audiences and composers would remain mostly unaffected by the surge of electronic music and technology much through the ‘80s; the real change was felt with the arrival of digital recording systems and synthesizers in Bollywood studios. Brilliant and almost obscure cult movies such as Om Dar Badar (directed by Kamal Swaroop) featured moody psychedelic mash- ups of electronic sounds, bass lines, drum machine beats and vocoders mixed with native voices and lyrics, composed by Rajat Dholakia (now a big commercial music producer in Mumbai). Nevertheless, electronic music flavours and the vast composition possibilities offered by synthesizers and samplers remained in the ‘safe hands’ of a few elite composers in India throughout the decade.

First Waves
The late 80’s in Goa saw the rise of tourism and a never-before felt intercourse between international cultures with the influx of the second wave of neo-hippies pouring out of the UK, US, Germany, Israel and France. Electronic music and sound arrived on Indian shores via DJs, writers, filmmakers and tourists from Europe. For close to three decades now, Goa has been a bustling, fertile zone for intercultural exchange; a place to party and escape urban pressures apart from a psychotropic and psychedelic haven teeming with nocturnal people. It is in this socio cultural melting pot that the popular, psychedelic electronic-music form, now known as ‘Goa trance’, was born. Goa trance met with an enthusiastic response from numerous young people who were jaded by Bollywood music and/or traditional forms of rock and pop. Nascent, chaotic and ‘psychotropic friendly’, this genre would eventually travel to and thrive in the far corners of Israel, Germany and Scandinavia. Goa trance eventually got absorbed and mutated into further progressive genres of psy, minimal and house music circa 1996. With an increasing number of DJs, self styled producers and record labels seeking newer audiences and markets in India and the world, the first wave of electronica had finally crashed on Indian shores.

Breakthrough
Electronica was curtailed to the Euro-centric rave culture in Goa and other hippie refuges around India until the mid-90s when, amongst the increasing musicians and bands who pushed the (indie, metal and Hindi) rock music scene, a few chose to break away from ‘traditional’ sounds, and dived straight into music technology. In tandem with these sporadic movements in India, Asian diasporas in the UK and US (Asian Dub Foundation, Nitin Sawhney, Talvin Singh, State of Bengal, Shiva Soundsystem, etc.) were attempting a fusion of underground electronica forms (breakbeats and drum & bass) layered with retro Bollywood, semi classical ragas and the tabla; all sequenced and mixed via turntables, samplers and synthesizers. The height of this cultural upheaval came in 1998 when Talvin Singh clinched the coveted Mercury Award, setting off an avalanche of reactions and opinions in international media and music circles. Asian DJs and producers were making their mark at nightclubs, local radio channels and indie record labels in London, New York and San Francisco. Though the potential of this outburst was never fully realised, with the propagators moving to more lucrative and popular environments, thousands of expat Indians and Asians came on to the dance floors. The Asian Underground movement became the voice of a generation that was wary of the subcontinent’s clichéd identity. Parallel to Asian-flavoured electronica being produced abroad, in India, the effort to fuse Indian voices, jazz ideologies, folk instruments, synthetic sounds and digital production platforms led to the transformation of musical taste in urban India. In 1998, Ram Sampath wrote and produced his only album, Colorblind, replete with dark, mature melodies produced on exciting electronic sound; and in the following year, Bombay Black Collective released compilation albums that remain among the most progressive attempts in Indian electronica. At the same time, MIDIval PunditZ emerged with their desi yet eclectic sound and went on to become one of the most-heard Indian electronica acts internationally. The Bhavishyavani order of DJs with their dose of groundbreaking drum & bass began getting dance friendly audiences off their feet in 1998 (and continue to do so till today). Meanwhile, psychedelic trance and progressive house was also growing heavier (and headier) as tribes of ravers moved to the mixes of DJ Ma Faiza, Asad and Who-Sane.

Empowered by technology
In a nation of one billion and counting, where music remains the traditional source of entertainment that’s not often seen as a field of progressive artistic endeavour, this ‘audio revolution’ of sorts, resulted in an electronica spillover that became a legitimate, alternate musical experience in big cities across India. Thanks to easy-to-use technology providing endless sonic possibilities and quality mixing options available across the world at affordable prices, Indian musicians and DJs found the window and acceptance in to night clubs, discotheques and eventually, bigger outdoor events. The spread of electronic music technology became progressively evident with the quantum rise in home studios, use of synthesizers, software and hi- fidelity mixing gadgets. The Roland MC303 - a trademark sequencer with ‘acid house’ sounds, that I acquired in 1998 (after endless mesmerizing hours of The Chemical Brothers and Propellerheads on my stereo), seems like a primitive, yet special toy in contrast to the universally acclaimed and amazingly progressive Ableton Live software; the byword in the musician/producer/DJ realms in India. Speaking of technology, perhaps the greatest revolution to have rocked the foundations of the music industry was the internet. Since the worldwide web explosion around 2000, the issues of piracy, free music sharing/downloading, distribution and exposure have challenged orthodox methods of music business. On the flip (brighter) side, the internet aided thousands of musicians in finding the space and speed to showcase and exchange music from across the world, eliciting instant reactions from fans and contemporaries. Indeed, the hardsell of music has been altered in the rising face of independent music distribution via online mechanisms like myspace, soundcloud, last.fm, bandcamp, etc. The presence of Indian musicians and electronica online in terms of events and marketing has fostered the much-needed awareness, and created space for information interchange, downloads, marketing and promotion. Emerging with greater confidence and diverse sensibilities, Indian electronic music artists like Jalebee Cartel, Teddy Boy Kill, Nucleya, Mental Martians, Kohra, Vinayaka, Tempo Tantrick, Dualist Enquiry, Shaa’ir + Func, Sulk Station, Pink Noise, Ganesha and Da Saz present a wide spectrum of musical influences and sonic results. Indian DJs have come of age too, delivering a plethora of styles ranging from house, minimal, drum & bass and breakbeats to swelling urban audiences. In recent years, cross-collaborations among DJs and musicians have become the new mode to deliver seamless live electronic music. Moreover, the constant cross-migration of various musicians of Asian-Indian origin from New York, San Francisco, London and Germany has created further inroads and solidarity in making Indian electronica a vested global movement. All artistic and culturally hip trends and groundbreaking voices emerge out of fringe subcultures around the world. Borne out of a need to break traditions and re-evaluate traditional ideologies of music and the arts, Indian electronica too, will be seen more legitimately as it grows in the near future.

This article was written & published in HUB - India's first anthology of electronic music and the people involved within this growing urban culture. Read more about HUB -http://audiopervert.blogspot.com/2011/06/june-15-2011.html

DOWNLOAD HUB - (Hi-rez PDF Format - Limited Edition 2011) http://www.mediafire.com/?ub2c4wqdn3kdd9t

Try as much, set against the career path of these erstwhile pioneering musicians with an original vision, the argument turns pale at the face of the amount of money and involved prosperity that one can gather being a part of this industry. Almost as quicksand, this process consumes the creative and ernest desires of an artist. Without taking names (which might piss off some of the caged lions of Bollywood) - it is easy to see that every decade or so, the legacy of music directors, producers and arrangers are replaced by another eager bunch ! Are u ready to claim the throne and bastion of hit-makers ? It's appalling to see talented musicians loose their brains (ability) to create anything credible outside the tripe and pedestrian taste of Bollywood music. After the initial glimmer and success, little do these artists realize that they have turned into mere cogs in a system - a system they so openly ridiculed at one point. Even the likes of the exhalted A.R Rehman sounds lame and perfunctory today - after a 15 year career run, studded with industry accolades. I witness a complete mockery of skills as much as a totally fake outlook that breeds inside large studios and the 'air'conditioned facades that ensures such artists eventually become mere workers / slaves to the system.

Enuff said, i do think, it is our choice and the devil's bait that has always existed .. so we may bite into ? Perhaps we need not .. After all, you must be a feeble mind to serve three chord songs behind some hideous singer, or make beats for a total hack posing as a music director or write the same banal melodies for some dunce masquerading as a film director. Watch out ! you might just be the next caged lion, ranting and raving about your erstwhile accolades, which are a bygone set of trophies inside your posh studio, at best. Or perhaps this is how most musicians arrive and perish without making anything worthwhile, ever ?!

Disclaimer - With no names mentioned in this article (expect A.R.Rehman's example), it should be obvious that there is no malice or ill feelings targeted towards the person who fit this category . A group of enslaved artisans. After all, they are nor creative nor individualistic in music.