A Cultural Taste of EDM

TGIF! Everyone knows Friday starts the long awaited weekend, but it is also the dawn of EDM's night life environment.  People are losing their ties, briefcases, suits, and are leaving all their work behind for a night or many nights of pure excitement. Over the weekend boisterous clubs come alive, music festivals flourish, and thousands, maybe even millions, of people around the world flock to DJ's playing in their local area. But one cannot go out and about in their nakedness with little to no preparation. No, you have to put those dancing shoes on, wear something daring, and release all those work-related stresses no matter what environment you find yourself in.

Each Friday I would like to give my readers an insight into the unique culture of EDM. First and foremost, it has always been about the music. The music is what brings so many unique people together. However, over time a strong, supportive culture was created that feels more like tradition to me. I want to share some of the fun and meaningful things that go hand and hand with EDM and its culture. The ideas I could talk about are endless: PLUR bracelets and beads, artistically created outfits for men and women, different styles of dance and moves, festival totems, etc. It's a wonderful feeling to leave all your work troubles behind and blow off some steam in this creative, beautiful, and expressive environment.
This first cultural taste of EDM I will be discussing are PLUR bracelets. PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect) is a universally recognized idea in the EDM culture. Through the artistic creations of bracelets, candies, or kandi using beads, people will trade or exchange with new found friends or random strangers by enacting a ritual. The idea is to meet unique people, create and collect kandi, and enjoy the music we all love and share.

Credit: askideas.com

Photo Credit: lyshastra.deviantart.com

Picturesque, something that could only be artistically created or viewed from the window of a space  shuttle. These thoughts and more cross my mind when I view this artistic rendition of a galaxy.  Art comes in many different forms to appeal to our uniqueness as an individual, as well as our keen bodily senses. From the visual masterpiece of The Starry Night by Van Gogh, to the hottest trends of clothing we feel on our bodies, to the aromas we smell wafting in the kitchen, to hearing that one song on the radio that is your jam, art truly does take many forms.

When I look at this image of a galaxy, I see more than a visually appealing image. I see a soothing genre of EDM otherwise known as trance, which I frequently play when studying or before I go to bed. Yes, there are in fact more relaxed, chill forms of EDM. However, I am also able to view this image and its pertinence to EDM another way. One's content with listening to music in the car or at home on a laptop, but a live performance is something truly special. Performances put much more time and commitment on creating a visually appealing set, than the music itself. Hundreds of personal put all this time and effort into creating something so mind-blowing and right on tune with the music. I've seen some out of this world light shows and artistic sets that could be assimilated to a galaxy in outer space. Art that is not only appealing to ones' hearing, but also appealing to the eye to see.