Birth of a Rave Nation

India - cradle of civilization, always shrouded in mystique. A land full of paradoxes which evokes visions of ancient wisdom, spiritual quests, and dusty, colorful bazaars. Across the globe, this land has garnered love, doe-eyed wonder, new age spirituality and soul search, mockery, contempt, and everything in between. But it has always eluded true understanding. And how could it be otherwise? After all, India is not one country; it’s a vibrant, sometimes jarringly so, patchwork of cultures, languages, and of course—music, an inseparable part of it all.

"There is not, and never was an India."

- (John Strachey in 'India'; taken from 'India After Gandhi' by Ramachandra Guha)

But not only is this fertile land a cradle of civilization and spirituality, but also dance music and raving, proper. What follows is a story of India’s underground that's rarely been told, and often misunderstood.

Rave and dance music at large has always been viewed in present day India as a foreign influence, something to be viewed with suspicion, moral panic, or even derision, something corrupting the youth. To your average desi gal electronic music is synonymous with techno, a term which is overloaded with connotations dismissive at best, and derogatory at worst. Context is that which is scarce; the rich history, countercultural ethos, and liberatory power of dance music stays overlooked.

Contrary to popular belief, India's underground electronic music scene is not a fad or a recent import. Its roots are contemporaneous to the heyday of classic rave worldwide in the late nineties and onwards. As the rest of the world was going through a rave revolution, India was quietly nurturing its own unique take on the genre. While moral panic and cultural anxieties have often dominated the mainstream conversation, a rich underground scene has been taking shape.

From the free parties on the beaches of Goa to the hidden farmhouse raves of the greater Bombay area, a distinctly Indian way of raving has been taking shape. This wasn't merely an imitation of Western trends, but an amalgamation of global influences with India's musical heritage.

The Hippie Trail's Enduring Influence

The story of India's underground scene is inextricably linked to the broader landscape of cultural cross-pollination that has shaped global popular culture. The hippie trail, which brought thousands of soul-searching youth from the west to India, has had a far-reaching impact well beyond what it generally gets credit for.

Two examples drive this point home most clearly:

1. The Beatles' time in India, which profoundly influenced their later music and, by consequence, the development of psychedelic rock.

2. Steve Jobs' year-long spiritual journey in India, which played a role in shaping his humanist vision for personal computing.

These sweet serendipities laid the groundwork for two key elements that would prove instrumental in the birth of rave culture: psychedelic music and personal computers.

As personal computers became more accessible in the 1980s and 1990s, they revolutionized music production. The advent of affordable home computers coupled with music software democratized music creation, spawning a million bedroom producers, who for the first time, unencumbered by the need of expensive studio equipment could create music and express themselves through thundering tunes borne out of their disquiet.

Dormant Revolutions and Lost Futures

This one prologue to the story of dance music in India has by now become somewhat of an open secret: one of the first “acid” albums was created in Bombay by Charanjit Singh, way before acid house was a thing. The acid-tinged disco music of the 1982 album "Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat" was acid house way before Chicago got hip to it. The album was virtually unknown for years until 2002, when record collector Edo Bouman came across Ten Ragas in a shop in Delhi and reissued it on his label.

What’s less known is the story of the NID tapes. In 1969, barely a year after the west had first found appreciation for electronic music in the form of Wendy Carlos’ Switched-On Bach, a Moog synthesizer landed on the shores of India. At National Institute in Design Ahmedabad, faculty and students tinkered with the unfamiliar instrument under the direction of experimental composer and pianist David Tudor, who installed the synth and set up the country’s first electronic music studio.

What came out of these largely improvisational sessions is nothing short of groundbreaking. The tapes recorded over the next four years were largely forgotten and lay dormant in the archives of the institute until Paul Purgas, a British musician and DJ of Indian origin, rediscovered and restored them. Last year, they were reissued as The NID Tapes: Electronic Music from India 1969-1972 . Listening to a track like Dance Music, it’s astonishing how ahead of its time it sounds. Writing for Pitchfork, Joshua Minsoo Kim described the track as “the primordial ooze from which dub techno evolved.”

One wonders the ripple effect these creations would have had on Indian cultural and social fabric had they caught on right away instead of being largely forgotten to the passage of time. It’s also a testament to the ethos of digging in the electronic music community which made it possible to save these rarities from being lost.

The Underground Emerges: Clandestine Raves in Mumbai, Pune, and Goa

The global rave scene was exploding in the 90s. At home, a parallel movement was quietly taking shape. The heart of this underground beat pulsed strongest in and around Bombay, with secret parties sprouting up at farms in places like Karjat and Lonavala, as well as in Pune, and of course, in Goa.

These clandestine gatherings were more than just parties; they were a hotbed of cultural exchange, expansion of horizons, musical and mental alike, as well as a rebellion against societal norms. The secret nature of these parties afforded the participants the ability to be themselves, creating a non-judgmental and inclusive space for otherwise marginalized and repressed groups and individuals.

One veteran of the scene, who was just 16 when she first started going to these parties, recalls: "Pune had a killer scene back in the late nineties. The area around German Bakery in Koregaon Park, with Osho’s Ashram close by, was a hotspot for expats. Four or five buses full of people would leave at night for Karjat, making their way back at daybreak. You had so many artists coming here - to Pune, Karjat, Goa, Kasol. I even met psytrance legends like Goa Gil, Neuromotor, Talamasca, and GMS."

The scene was characterized by its inclusivity and sense of community. "Everyone took care of each other," she recalls. "I've met some of the best people at these parties."

“We were so young and the substances were flowing but everyone would take care of us. You don't see that energy these days," she laments.

Key Players in India's Underground

Crews play a pivotal role in incubating and growing scenes. These are the crews which had a prominent hand in shaping India’s underground scene

1. Bhavishyavani Future Soundz: True to their name, they not only predicted the future, but helped invent it. They put together the first raves in Bombay starting all the way back in ‘99, setting the stage for the burgeoning underground scene.

2. Krunk: First starting out as the Bay Beat Collective by Sohail Arora (Rafiki/EZ Riser) and Kris Correya in 2008, Krunk became a driving force in India's bass music culture. Through pioneering initiatives like Bass Camp Festival and their weekly club night Dance Ok Please, Krunk has brought a plethora of global underground acts to India and also created a launchpad for local talent, catapulting many of them to national and international success.

3. DnB India: Started by Debjyoti Das (AKA The Untitled One) in 2013, this collective has been instrumental in cultivating a tight knit drum n bass community, with a home base in Bangalore, but active across India.

4. Milkman: It’s 2013; a young Jai Anand returns to Bombay with a degree in music business and ears still ringing from the parties in Valencia and throughout Europe that he was part of. He wanted to bring the sound and vision to India. Unable to find a suitable place for it to be realized, the company that would come to be known as Milkman identified Famous Studios, an old Bollywood film studio as the ideal spot for its warehouse-like features. What came next was a string of warehouse parties that was responsible for bringing the then nascent Dekmantel sound to India.

Global Connections

It's interesting to note that India, while geographically removed from the club cultures of West and East alike, musically has never been isolated from them. There has been a steady exchange between Indian producers and their overseas counterparts. For globe-trotting veteran artists like The Prodigy, A Guy Called Gerald, or DJ Stingray, India is hardly foreign ground.

In the 2020s, it’s not uncommon to see Indian producers playing at clubs and festivals across Asia, Australia, and Europe. This cross-pollination fosters a cultural exchange that enriches the global scene as a whole.

We’ve Come a Long Way

For years, India's underground has been a hidden gem, smaller in scale compared to its global counterparts, but no less bleeding edge. Now, as we head into the roaring 20s, this long-simmering undercurrent is gaining escape velocity. Many of the scene’s members that we talked to predict that Indian underground is set to have its moment in the global spotlight in the coming years.

This impending boom is not the arrival of a foreign influence, but rather the global acknowledgment of a rich, homegrown culture that has been evolving for decades. It's a testament to the persistence and creativity of India's ravers, DJs, producers, and promoters who have nurtured this scene through challenges and changing times.