RESEARCH FILE: NOTES FROM FILMS & VIDEOS Lauren Barnes Fashion Brand Management AD6606 1819758
HUMAN TRAFFIC “If you think I’m fucked up, you should see my friends” Paranioa “Were both as fucked up as each other” “Im having a sub life crisis, I feel like a crisis, what the fuck am I doing in this job” “A complete hedonist but totally down to earth” “Im an independent girl who wants to wear lipstick because she wants too” “This is Lulu, a full on club, social camouflage” “I met mof in a warehouse party” “Hes the biggest pill monster I know” “Im having the best time being off my pickle” Scenes of protests and police “The baseline was so deep you could feel the vibrations in Jamaica” “We have to spent 9 hours a day 5 days a week in this job” “Moffys not a pusher, he’s not violent he’s never been in a scene from scarface, he just sorts people out with party prescriptions, they’re happy, off gets a free night, it no big business” “Im supposed to be seeing my mum tonight but im dropping, there’s no way I can see her on a comedown” Song” last night a DJ saved my life “He’s going to drop tonight isn’t he?” “How old is he 17?” “None of us know him but he’s gunna take drugs with him” “Me and you absolute mayhem, chaos”
“The weekend has landed, all that exists now is pubs, clubs, drugs and parties, ive got 48 hours off from the world man, im gunna blow steam out of my head like a screaming kettle, im gunna talk cod shit to strangers al night, im gunna loose the plot on the dancefloor, im going to never never land with my chosen family man, were gunna get more spaced out than Neil Armstrong ever did, this could be the best night of my life, ive got 73 quid in my back burner, and Im gunna wax the lot man, calling all the crusaders of the dance floor, green light mode” “But first a daily injection of the late profit Bill hicks, just to remind me not to take life too seriously” “I’m ready to paint the town physcadelic colours man” “You lay in bed all day doing fuck all, you don’t have a girlfriend, you’re throwing your life away boy, you’re 20 years of age for fuck sake” “You don’t understand at all do you, I don’t have one friend who enjoys their job” Singing “Our generation alienation, have we a soul? Techno emergency, virtual reality, were running out of new ideas, who’s the queen?” “Keep the spirit alive yeah” “I wonder how the drug system works here” “Every club is different, in the asylum it’s the manager, he has a string of home boys dealing E’s to the party people in the club, he makes the most coin out of this enterprise” Interview- “Why you come to these nights?” “To get absolutely trashed” “Do you take ecstasy” “I don’t care what anyone says, it’s not like it used to be”
“It used to attract open minded people, searching for something new” “And now look at it, so much play it down, im so cool” “We used to leave our ego at the door and feel comfortable with strangers” “The summer of love”- 1991 “I am sexually paranoid” “Welcome to 90s Jim” “Everything happens for a reason Jim” “The present has gone, fantasy is apart of reality, we take the breaks off, were thinking clearly yeah, not thinking at all, this feels right, we stop trying to control things, warm rush of chemicals, were fluctuating, is this brain damage? We forget all the pain and hurt right? Were not threatened anymore, all of our insecurities have floated away, were in the clouds now, yeah the world looks beautiful from here, we embrace the overwhelming feeling of love, unity, were together, we wish this was real, part of a movement, a movement of escape, we wave goodbye, ultimately we just want to be happy, hang on, what the fuck was I just talking about?” “Whos to say they’re not tapped into a sensory perception or something, a different kind of universe way ahead you know and we just haven’t caught up yet” “Take me to a world where the drugs are free, the clubs have gravity, and every shag guarantees an orgasm” “What goes up, must come down, and down, and down, everyone looks ill at the end of the night, desperately avoiding eye contact, you new soul mate is a complete stranger, you can’t even look them in the eye, were no longer all together as one, reality is on our way, what have I done, was it worth it? By the way what the fuck happened here? All there is now is unconsciousness, because we can’t sleep” “Mark I hardly recognised you?” “Reality, is that you? Reality, it’s all gone pear shaped mate, I don’t trust anyone in this room, what the fuck is going on?”
“You’ve took it too far” “Their parents must have neglected them, I just don’t understand the youth of today” “No discipline, no morality, no respect” “Im dissolving, what im trying to say is, another couple of good pills and that’s it for me” “It sounds like clubbers comedown to me” “You know when the comedown outweighs the good times, you know the parties over man” (Kerrigan, 1999)
BETTER LIVING THROUGH CIRCUITRY You go to an all-night event that’s in a different location every time there are crazy lights massive crowds, two turntables and a DJ they all make up the energy that becomes the party Thousands of kids come out dress a certain way and take certain drugs and they empower themselves in certain ways, and it’s not about rock and roll, What we do is much more about feeling people’s vibes, feeling the vibes and sharing that with people Blankets on the floor, it’s a feeling that I’ve never got going to any concert Crazy intense feeling you can only get from this music and dancefloor It’s about bringing people together, this instant feeling, oblivion, one night that matters I guess I represent a lifestyle of as DJ It’s not about what I do, its’ about the whole culture, this is my life I wake up in the morning and I eat sleep and shit techno, house the culture, I never shut it off for 5 minutes, always looking to play new records You just go to a party and you feel overwhelmed, the lights are in coordination with the music, the DJ knows what he’s doing, everyone’s in the same spirit Water, a shovel, you want to wear something that you don’t have to gold onto so you can dance, comfy clothes so you can dance and sweat, love pops, one time we wore flashing rings, sunglasses because in the
morning when you come out you’re not going to look pretty Everyone was just hugging me and giving me bracelets, I wanna go here forever I never want to leave Different colours, all gay people getting down to the beat I never thought it was what it was, I thought it was a club type scene where people would wear shiny clothes I would hope I’d never find my daughter in a place like this Music, people, energy, good lighting Its empowering to you, and then that power is spread across the grounds of a rave, its an intensity you can’t feel anywhere else I want the weirdest stuff (music) that you can’t cope with, I want something so strange, oh right you want the acid stuff? Phycadelic experiences So a lot of the things were doing were hyping products we use in everyday life aswell, if you take a piece of commercial art or from television, if you cut it up and re use it its almost like its masculating its power over you I got inspired by old video game packaging, Every party we thrown we never put the location on the flyer You go to this fence you meet this guy and then you go through this alley then yougo through this door Abandoned warehouse that hasn’t had light in 20 years, no club or glamourising People would have to call up to the phone line, and then we’d say go to a particular map or send them directly to the location The directions lead us astray but wed eventually find it It took us 12 hours here
The longest I’ve ever travelled is 10 hours Just call around, get in the back of someone’s car and go with him, chip in five bucks for the gas See the world, don’t just sit at home and watch tv, go some place The DJ audience relationship is a biological structure, it’s like you’re sending out info and pulses and the crowd and its sent back to you, and you’re like a focal point of the energy of this gathered people, take the crowd some place and show them shit I love the idea of continuous sampling, you do that with language, you always choose what words you’re using Every DJ is a writer, you’re using the urban landscape as text You’re reconfiguring records and do your own take on your memory Philosophy is about ideas and music is ideas Cops have just come in and thrown the power, they really don’t know what’s going out The cops definitely think it’s the worst thing ever to happen A policeman who’s 50 years old, I think it scares them to death I think what really alarms the government that its really outside, they can’t make money off it they can’t sell it You can’t have a party on public land, you can have 300 people with motorcycles tearing it up, but you can’t have kids with a speaker I was 6 years old and I was going to school, 70s public schools, everyone’s in a pod together, and they had this lady who came to our class with a sentosyser, puts this thing down on the table and there’s just knobs and sliders everywhere, my jaw hit the ground I stood in front of the class, and I think it made a bird sound or something, and I just thought that was so cool The music is not defined by any barriers, language can create barriers, what you’re supposed to think about
when you’re listening I think there’s a feeling of hope perhaps, that trying to express, at its simplest Why do you think that’s important? Because its really a lot easier for me to fall into despair than it is to look up so the trick is to keep looking up There’s nothing worse than feeling lonely in a big world out there and I think dance music in some sense to act as a catalyst to bring people together There’s an implicit in the rave scenes, they’re not enjoying lives they’re not having fun they don’t feel like they have community, people go out to raves and they find and are making some of the things that are missing in their everyday lives The way of life- it shouldn’t just stop on a Saturday night, it should be a moment of commitment, for forever changing yourself Here is a place where I can feel 100% comfortable and say it It’s almost like going to a big family party I don’t have to change to fit a certain way I want to be a part of this group it’s so loving like a family; you just can’t help but fall into it It drove me crazy after a while, just cos you can’t love everybody The open mindedness, it makes me feel like a little kid, I don’t have to dress nice to impress anyone Growing up doesn’t mean becoming a jerk Use your imagination, you did it as a child, do it now, why stop? Universal language techno Universal vibe that everyone has, all understanding that’s the beauty of it Rave culture is supposed to be THE underground thing going on whilst I mean if you go to a real rave there’s 20 thousand people there
1.5 million people- amazing sight to see It’s not about making money it’s about selling what you believe into the people, if you believe in something really strong its cool Always question yourself, am I doing it because it’s easy? Good art good music, good experiences, they don’t come from being on MTV for 5 minutes I’d rather be happy doing what I’m doing As far as I’m concerned, I’ve made it I’m not out there trying to get a mercedez benz, You make it what you want to make it I’m a receptionist so I live two separate life’s The first orgasm I experienced was on the dancefloor from the music What makes it so awesome? When you get into the groove You don’t have to look cool No one’s ever said anything like they look at him he can’t dance he looks stupid Everyone’s just on the same level, everyone’s thinking the same thing You can look into their eyes and you know they’re feeling the same thing Don’t mix drugs, it’s not good I’m not here for the drugs I’m here not the music because the music is my drug Its cos their metabolism is being governed by the base and the rhythm and the lights and that’s what it’s all about That’s what’s interesting about rave culture So called popular culture and youth culture Utilises the most arcane and ancient methods for achievement of altered states and celebration of that con-
tact with others Standing in the middle of dancefloor where you’re on something or not on something, that chill feeling that overwhelmed sensation that something is going on Some energy and vibe that draws you too it, its love Pretty soon you lose track of time, and you connect with everybody on a higher level It changed me forever, I was never the same after my first rave I was a little gang member, but not I can walk up to anyone and totally be social, it’s a good feeling to be able to be like that I’m a lot more accepting of a lot of other people and types, and accept people for what they are Making an interesting life for yourself You can’t put onto a cd base spins rumbling through yur guts at 5am in the morning You can’t bottle the feeling of just total euphoria when a Dj just brings you to a level where you’re totally out of your head Let go of all your inhibitions and dance your fucking socks off because that letting go process will open you up (Reiss, 1999)
PARTY MONSTER What is a club kid? it’s all about self expression, if you feel like a troll then you should look like a troll It doesn’t matter what you look like, it have a hunchback then throw a little glitter on it and go dancing What about the future? Can you really be a club kid in the 50s? (Fenton Bailey, 2003)
CULTURES, SUBCULTURES, AND COUNTER CULTURES - YOUTUBE VIDEO Culture isn’t about nationality or the way we speak Low/Popular culture is the cultural behaviours and ideas that are popular with most people in a society High culture is cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite Mainstream cultures are the cultural patterns that are broadly in line with a society’s cultural ideals and values Subcultures are cultural patterns that set apart a segment of a society’s population Who decides whats mainstream and a subculture? Most power and societal influence are the “norm” and the sub-groups have “less power” Ethnocentrism is the practice of judging one culture by the standards of another
(Cultures, Subcultures & Counter Cultures , 2017)
REFERENCES Kerrigan, J. (Director). (1999). Human Traffic [Motion Picture]. Reiss, J. (Director). (1999). Better Living Through Circuitry [Motion Picture]. Cultures, Subcultures & Counter Cultures . (2017, May 22). YouTube . Fenton Bailey, R. B. (Director). (2003). Party Monster [Motion Picture].