Techno Goa
For a certain breed of underground DJ’s, Goa is the Mecca . A hippy trail carved to the east from almost a century of Western drop-outs and mystical travellers in search of answers. Goa is a bohemian hangout where techno is as ubiquitous as ripped and faded jeans. Seeping out of half the clubs and cafes, 24/7 is the digital beat. During my stay in one of the Four Star Hotels Goa offers, I only heard Pink Floyd once and no acoustical guitars at all.
One time I ran into a well known DJ re-mixer Vath at an open-air seaside cafe. Needless to say, I was thrilled. Vath tell s me how surprised he was with Goa’s hip musical edge when her first came here several years ago. He said he’s been back to to India every year since then. He told me India fills his energy, and Europe puts it out. I would’ve never have guest that a well-know DJ in Europe could ever say something negative about the club scenes in Europe and boast about the club scene in India. He said it’s because in India is freed from the gravity of faces and fixed names, underground dance music finds its essence in the constant mutation and over producing. But, he lamented that soon we will have a global digital network where everyone will know where everybody is all the time which will hurt the future of the East’s nomadic underground.
He went on his way, but I was still in DJ heaven. I know he’s right. British clubbers can now fly straight to Goa for as little as 500 pounds. Many arrive, like me, with nothing more than cash in their pockets, backpacks stuffed full with club clothes. They don’t really care about India, except me, for them they come for the art, the music and the deep quest for a spiritual awakening. In today’s world these seekers really don’t have it hard, they never really get lost. As for me, I never needed to get lost or found, because the techno-beat of Goa has alway kept me pointing to the true underground world of the DJ.
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