Goa Trance
As music is the soul of Goan life, Goa Trance is a form of electronic music. It was originated during the late 1980s in Goa. It is linked with hippies. The music played here was created in Europe. This was borrowed from the European Trance and created by the musicians who started experimenting with electronic sounds in the 1970s. Earlier the Goan music was known as Trance Dance but with its growing popularity, it was termed as Goa Trance. This trance has also a drawback as it was linked to drugs. The vibrant music got dull and lost its shimmerness due to these drugs. Hippies were flocked in Goa as it was the perfect place where they can relaxed during the day on the beach and party hard during the night. Picturesque beaches of Goa were the perfect place to party for Hippies. This Goa Trance became popular very quickly and become a brand dance form. Now, this trance is played less in Goa and more in other countries, especially in Europe. Earlier, this music was consisted of tracks. Musicians used to play music through doors, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Neil Young and the Eagles. This music was collected by the hippies from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France and America. This fascinated music was listened by the DJs and recorded in cassettes. Mix the music with the borrowed one to play it in the next party. Travelers who like and travel here for rave parties, this music gave them a new high. These parties were held along the northern beachfronts. This phenomenon was started by the DJs namely Ray Castle and Steve Psyko Fred Disko. Goa Gil was the pioneer in the field of the legendary “full moon parties”. Earlier when the music was unfolded during 1991-92, the government has tried to ban these parties as reported news were saying that Goa is becoming a new drug haven. The Israel government was afraid for their soldiers who often went to Goa to spend their vacations and returned in a drug-hazed state after few months. Israel was considered as the biggest importers of Goan Trance. The music kept changing its face but was still famous with everyone. Now-a-days, Goan Trance is played with psytrance, which has a faster and deeper beat than Goan Trance. Goan Trance hardly crossed the speeds of 130 bpm(beats per minute) and has 4/4 beat and psy-trance speed starts from 130bpm and right up till 170bpm. The tracks often have vocal samples lifted off sci-fi or kung fu movies. With time, the scenario of the party has also changed. In earlier days, a huge party has the crowd of fifty people, high on LSD. Gradually, these parties were held every second or third day having strength of 500 to 1000 people in the late 80s. The frequency of rave and trance parties has declined now-a-days. Paradiso, Nine-Bar and Curly’s are the some places where you can experience the beat of Goan Trance in Anjuna. These parties are also held in remote locations at Anjuna, Vagator, Arambol, Morjim and Palolem. Tap the local network of Hippies to know the exact location of these parties. Generally the throng of Hippies can be found easily at Anjuna Flea Market on Wednesdays or some of the popular joints on the beach in Goa. Naveen, Goa Gil and XP are some of the famous DJs who still performs in Goa. These DJs usually come during Christmas vacations and play at places such as Bamboo Forest, Hilltop and Curly’s. New Year’s Eve party is also a special occasion to play these DJs. During the few last years, these parties are restrained increasingly. The genre though become increasingly popular and DJs such as Goa Gil, Infected Mushroom, Astral Projection and Juno Reactor have had their albums and soundtracks produced by a few big music labels. These CDs of the latest Goan Trance can be found at many small shops along the northern coast during the peak tourist season when the Trance craze is at the highest level. These CDs are produced by the music circuit who came here to play. This genre is being commercialized with tracks of Robert Miles’ Children and entered into the mainstream. Goan Trance was merged with other forms of music by Paul Oakenfold and a new softer sound was created. A sub-label of the Perfecto music was created and named Perfecto Fluro. Perfecto Fluro was created to market Goan Trance to the World. Many clubs in England and fbiza have Goan Trance nights. DJs of Goa always attract lots of party animals. The DJs are DJ Troy, DJ Ajit, DJ Rinton, DJ Lawrence Brown, DJ Goapu, DJ Nanu, DJ Ryan Sparx, DJ Joel, DJ Yuri.
