As city cops bust 3 out of 4 trance parties in a bid to prevent narcotic drug consumption, FYI tracks the slow disappearance of an entire genre of music from the city's party circuit
As city cops bust 3 out of 4 trance parties in a bid to prevent narcotic drug consumption, FYI tracks the slow disappearance of an entire genre of music from the city's party circuit
Synthesised sounds, eerie ups and downs and chant-like vocals, the signature sound of trance music, may soon have no place in city clubs. Not because there are no takers, but because it has been defamed (by cops first, and then by media) for instigating a frowned-upon lifestyle, leaving most of its fans urban professionals and students with perfectly stable lives flummoxed. Sunday evenings that mark the partying innovation of sundown gigs where crowds can enjoy Trance just the way it should be, in an outdoor space often overlooking the beach, are becoming soft targets for the Anti Narcotics Cell. Last month, 9 were arrested outside Juhu pub, Vie where Russian Trance DJ Sungirl was spinning. Following this arrest, most guests at the party, even those who weren't tripping on any unnatural substance, decided to pack up and leave. Within a week from this bust, Red Om Entertainment and Beyond Logic, organisers of multi-city tour with Israeli trance DJ Exaile, were forced to cancel the Mumbai leg of the tour. They didn't want to take the risk of organising an event that no one would show up for. All 300 fans that had RSVPd were left disappointed, envying the Delhi, Bangalore and Manali crowds that would get a chance to catch him. 
No Trance, no risk, say event organisers
This cancellation is a sign of impending doom in Mumbai's trance scene. Event organisers are wary of bringing down international Trance DJs, and artists are sceptical of coming down. Even if they do, Mumbai is left out of the tour entirely. "We mainly focus on bringing down artists from the Electronic, House and Techno genres now.
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We can't afford to take a chance," says Hermit Sethi, Director, Submerge, an EDM collaborative platform and organisers of Sunburn Dance Music Festival. Sethi thinks the raids are more about showing the city how good the ANC is at their job, rather than counselling kids.u00a0
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There are no laws that protect these parties
Around the world, if cops have been tipped off with news of heavy drug peddling at a party, the bust ensures the arrest of nobody else but the event organisers. "Even the talent hired to perform is not taken in, forget the 200-odd people that show up to have a good time," says Mumbai-based DJ Boombaba aka Tarun Shahani, referring to the infamous Bombay East 72 raid that took place last year. Tarun, who shifted from Psychedelic and Goa trance his true love to Techno for safety reasons can't understand why the entire Trance community is being victimised thanks to a handful of drug users. Why isn't the ANC going after the bigger suppliers, large-scale manufacturers of drugs, he questions. "To top it, I know of friends who were taken in for a urine test after the Bombay East party, and asked to pee in cups that were already coated with substances.
Guests were smart enough to realise and ask for replacements. But that this is happening is beyond belief," he says. A regular at Trance gigs, 21 year-old mass media student Parisa B, who hadn't had a sip of alcohol nor smoked a cigarette that night, says she magically tested positive for MDMA and marijuana at this 72-hour ordeal. "Why is Trance being singled out? There are enough Bollywood parties where cocaine is consumed. Why aren't those parties being busted?" she says. Account Executive at an ad agency, 21 year-old Aalok Aswani, another Trance music lover, thinks it's scary to even play Trance music at home and invite a few friends over.
"Recently, cops broke into someone's home in Colaba, after they heard loud Trance music," he tells us.
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Strict gate policy is the solution; cops shouldn't be allowed to intervene thereafter
Event organisers up their frisking at the door to a maximum during a Trance event. "We go to the extent of asking people to remove their shoes and socks," says Camya S, partner with Tetris. Credibility of the organiser and venue is the only way a Trance event can survive, currently. For the annual Sunburn Music Festival in Goa, organised by PDM Entertainment, saying no to drugs campaigns were promoted prior to the event, to reassure the crowd that nothing would go wrong. "At the end of the month we are bringing down Dutch Psychedelic Trance duo, GMS to Blue Frog as part of Sunburn. But we are being tactful while promoting the artist rather than focusing on the Trance experience," says Manuj Agarwal, COO, PDM, adding, "...that's the only way to ensure safety and attract the right kind of crowd that comes for the music and nothing else," he says.
The crowd has already bid adieu to kicka** Trance events that once took place in the former Kamala City space at Lower Parel, or in the parking lot in front of the former Fire 'n' Ice nightclub, where names like PVD, Skazi, Infected Mushroom, Logic Bomb have been, played, and rocked many an evening. But, what they are hoping for is to stay in the loop, hope to check out new artists every fortnight, get a breather from the mundane recreational activities, and not be forced into listening to music that's not their choice.
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