In a world where musical trends come and go on the ebb and flow of fads, there remains a genre that carries the electric torch, refusing to flicker and evolve with the languid tune of the eons. Electronic Dance Music; EDM isn’t simply the music that beats through the chests of enthusiasts; it isn’t only the genre that governs the stage in a constantly evolving orchestra of sound on a global front, but most importantly it’s a blazing, indefatigable and everlasting flame ignited in the hearts and minds of those who fall under its hypnotic trance.
What fuels this passion for EDM? What feeds this permanent craft that is silently working its way into the hearts and minds of the world’s youth allowing it to take them to the edge of sanity, and lead them willingly into the darkness and beyond? Today we embark on a journey into this electric wonderland, and we shall go far down the rabbit hole to the depth of what defines the genre and defines the people who live on the other side. The people who continuously swarm to the masses in search of that one time, that one moment. The people who wait in anticipation for the beat to drop and God to reach down and touch them through the glory of the speakers.
At its core, EDM is an ever-evolving auditory revolution. It’s built on constant innovation and pushing the boundaries. From chest-pounding bass drops to out of body ethereal melodies- the genre is never ceasing to captivate.
Close your eyes for a moment, and breathe in the collective heartbeat of thousands of people. Now open them; you’re standing in a hoard of fans under a starlit sky. Electric Daisy Carnival, or EDC, is more than an electronic dance music, or EDM, festival. It is a psychedelic journey through all of the senses.
EDM is designed to be a feast for more than just your ears. Imagine being surrounded by towering panoramic wall-of-sound speakers pummeling your chest, lasers emblazoning through the night sky, pyrotechnics exploding from the stage and a synchronized wall of over 160 motion LED panels curving and weaving, in symmetry above the crowd. Collective energy beams from tens of thousands of fans — specifically those wearing neon — dressed and made up to extreme excess. In addition show volunteers hoist banners and flags in response to a captain’s command, and giant balloons get batted around the stands.
Walking into an EDM event is a complete sensory immersion. Suddenly, there is music, sound bouncing off walls and fans, all engrossed in their surroundings, their phones aimed at the stage. Las Vegas is quite possibly the mecca for spectacle shows in the United States, and the sightlines are crystal clear at Vegas shows, where visual spectacles translated are well worth the several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of production.
In the age of streaming and social media, the digitality of EDM is a godsend, as it is easily distributed, remixed, shared, and propagated, resulting in a community of loyal, rabid fans. Between DJs holding down radio residencies and the glut of podcasters in the world, the most popular hits of 2018 were not Post Malone tracks, but long, faceless, anthems absolutely aced into your frontal lobe by everyone first hearing them on YouTube or SoundCloud. It’s one of the music industry’s grandest magic acts.
One of the most appealing things about EDM is that it is a creative outlet and wide open to personal expression. Whether you are hunched for hours over a studio soundboard or cutting loose in a dimly lit nightclub, it is a kind of personal challenge to find your own way of saying something.
As genres go, some eventually flicker out, doomed to obscurity. Others, however, despite the fervent proclamation of its detractors, thrive. EDM falls into that second class, still striding toward new and undiscovered milestones as reliably as clockwork. This malleability is its key. It pulses with energies drawn from every corner of the musical galaxy, then redeploys them in whatever configuration suits the moment. Spreading in concentric waves, it regenerates its audience. The true flower of adulthood isn’t necessarily the moneyed bliss of unlimited choice. It’s the wisdom to know a good deal when you see it.
