By Helena Virgo
A State of Trance | Image Source: Helena Virgo
A quiet melody infused with strings, piano and glass chimes; a tranquil voice starts to sing. The beat begins and the melody plays on before reaching the breakdown, where choir-like voices sing in harmony. It is in this moment of the song that trance music can be set apart from other dance music genres. The breakdown is pure and serene: that is the beauty of trance.
Attending a first trance event at Sydney’s A State of Trance 700 in February, it was a weird sensation of actually enjoying a ‘rave’. Knowing very little about the genre and the artists playing, the music was fun and uplifting, not just loud noise. But what was most intriguing about the event was the crowd.
Groups of men and women huddled together singing along, couples holding each other also singing, and everyone in the room was smiling. It was like time stood still and nothing mattered to anyone. It was just the music and the moment.
“To me, it’s a way to escape the surroundings and challenges we face on a day-to-day basis”, says Kelly Gacoin, a trance fan.
“It becomes my sanctuary, where you can be submerged into a new place. It really does make you dream and enter a new world which lets you forget everything and enjoy the music. It creates a rush of emotions…which is just beautiful.”
Fan Tweet to Aly & Fila | Image Source Twitter
Sydney’s trance scene has become something of a phenomenon in recent years. Back in 2010, people would have to wait months for International DJ’s to perform. Now, a trance lover can visit a nightclub every Friday and watch their favourite artists.
“I do most of our day-to-day tasks for our weekly club night at Voodoo”, says Simon Lovell, Marketing Manager at Genesis Industries and DJ at Home Club.
“Our team is fortunate enough to create experiences weekly as well as huge events. We work very closely with artists and their labels, managers and agencies. We arrange a lot of International Australian tours…a lot of work goes in to what we do.”
So who attends these events?
On Facebook, an invitation was sent to join a group called Trance Music Appreciation Society (TMAS). Soon after, another invitation was sent to join TrancenDence* and #TranceFamilia*. These online communities transport people into the world of trance, constantly updating members with upcoming events, albums, new and old songs.
Combined, these groups have over 30,000 members located both in Sydney, Melbourne and across the world. Even local and International DJs know about the groups.
Armin Van Buuren interviews TMAS creator Lorin Pearce | Source YouTube
What is most intriguing about these groups is the amount positivity they promote. If you were looking to broaden your music knowledge, all you need to do is post and someone – or maybe three or four people – will help you out.
“TrancenDence is an amazing thing to be a part of. Everyone just shares the same interest in music,” says Michael Reaiche, a regular poster on TrancenDence.
“It’s nice to share what you love and get feedback from others who feel the same, or even don’t agree with you. It’s all about healthy conversation, which is great”.
An impressive feature of these online communities is the amount of discussion generated over artists and their songs. These posts lead into intense ‘threads’ with group members demonstrating such enthusiasm and passion for the genre, far in excess of anything I have witnessed before. Linking their favourite songs via YouTube and Soundcloud, these threads continue to grow and grow. Members even break down an artist’s full performance set for people who could not attend an event.
“I post a lot on TMAS and [through that] I have created many friendships and a musical family,” says Ms. Gacoin, a member of TMAS.
“We can share music around and discuss upcoming or post events. It’s like one big music forum, which is very cool.”
Members and their threads | Images Source Facebook
Members also share each other’s playlists on Spotify, enabling others to educate themselves even more. On Spotify people can follow their favourite artists, create playlists and be notified when a new track is released or a playlist they’re following is updated.
A State of Trance (ASOT) is a weekly radio show hosted by DJ and Producer Armin Van Buuren. Starting in 2001, the show recently celebrated its 700th broadcast and Sydney was one of the cities lucky enough to have hosted the tour. ASOT is a show that celebrates music and its fans, but it has not been without controversy given the death of an attendee in recent months.
Aly & Fila’s View at ASOT Sydney | Image Source Twitter
This year one person was found to have died at a Sydney-based trance event. Drug related deaths occur worldwide in a variety of different contexts and situations; it is not a problem exclusively limited to trance or dance music events.
“People are always going to take drugs, regardless of the event. Cancelling [events] isn’t going to solve it. Why should people who don’t take risks be deprived of attending an event?” says Mr Reaiche.
“I have never done drugs, none of my friends have or will. People forget that most people go sober, or have one or two drinks.”
“I have a great time and I don’t even drink” says Ms. Gacoin.
Since December 2014, two people have died in Sydney from drug-related symptoms. The risk posed by psychoactive drugs needs to be considered in the context of wider substance abuse. A 2014 survey found that 37.3% of Australians regularly consume Alcohol and in 2010 alone 5,554 deaths in Sydney were Alcohol related.
“It’s unfortunate, and a tragedy, that those people have died at events. But from what I have seen backstage, and even attending events myself, not every raver is there for drugs. People need to understand that there’s only a small minority that take Drugs… the media should not portray raves or trance events as a place that everyone gets high” says Simon Lovell.
What is interesting about these social media communities is the lack of discussion of Drugs and Alcohol. This does raise the question of whether the widely held perception of trance parties are largely about drugs and excessive Alcohol consumption is an accurate one. For the people we have spoken to, their main reason for attending these events is the love of music and the elation they, and other members of the groups, enjoy through experiencing their performances.
“Being in the same space as the artists…being captured by their sounds and seeing how happy they get watching the crowd react definitely puts a huge smile on my face…Meeting new people and engaging in the music with friends which brings us all together, that’s what it’s really all about” says Ms. Gacoin.
DJ Ilan Bluestone at Stereosonic Sydney 2014 | Video Source: Vimeo.
*Note: these groups are private on Facebook.
SHORT BIO
Helena Virgo, aged 22, is a recent Graduate Journalist. Currently obtaining her Graduate Certificate in Publishing, Helena hopes to continue creating articles about music and its fans.
Online Journalism Group 2 
June 5, 2015 at 2:34 pm
Hi Helena,
I love your first paragraph, it captured my imagination immediately and engaged me on a topic that I would otherwise not have given a second thought to.
The video examples that you have given of trance music are great. The second one especially makes you feel like you’re on the dance floor!
With the member threads, given that the groups are private, perhaps consider removing the names of the Facebook users above each of their posts? I would also suggest increasing the side of the posts or using a rotating image gallery to display these images, as they are a little small and oddly laid out in the article.
I think the discussion about drugs and alcohol at these events is particularly important. These events certainly do have a stereotype and it is worth considering any deaths that do occur at trance parties within a wider context of drug consumption and substance abuse. It would have been good if the drug and alcohol stats could have all been from the same time period.
On the whole, a very interesting article that shows there is more to trance music than just what we read in the headlines.
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June 9, 2015 at 8:05 pm
Hi Nick,
Thanks for your advice! I had completely forgot to remove the names of the members, thank you for reminding me. I will definitely take that into consideration for my next article. The statistics for Drug and Alcohol abuse were nearly impossible to find for 2014 (I failed to grab an appropriate interview for those or source the official death statistics) so unfortunately that was my option. Thanks again for reading and I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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June 5, 2015 at 2:55 pm
I was attracted by your title which drove me to figure out what you would talk about. It is really a surprise that trance is a kind of music. And after finishing my reading,I can hardly wait to join such music party.
Your videos really helps me to know what it looks like in real. It is colourful, relaxing and active, totally different from the bars on the street sides. But I just want to know more about this kind of music, for example, what is the relationship between trance and music? why we call it trance?
The use of hyperlinks in the story enables me to know more about the organizations and backgrounds.
As you also talk about the death of some people in the event, this intrigues me to think why the public always relate music party to drugs and alcohol?
Look forward to your further stories about trance music!
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June 5, 2015 at 6:44 pm
I was drawn in by the title of this post: Give trance a chance. I knew trance was a type of music, often associated (fairly or unfairly) with illicit drugs. But I knew very little else about it!
I felt this news commentary piece was a thoughtful introduction to the music and trance scene for readers with no exposure to it. I note your proposal for the feature (assignment 2) suggests pitching to the Sydney Morning Herald, because it’s target audience are “Sydneysiders, predominately aged 35-49… [regarded as] an audience who want to feed their minds with new perspectives.”
The second part of this certainly sounds like the SMH should be a good fit for this piece – but I suspect that they would shy away from a news commentary piece of this style, partly because, as you point out, their readership is older.
While I learned a lot about the trance community in this piece, I would have welcomed hearing more of the music. I appreciate that there was some video to view, but these were more giving a snapshot of an event and an interview with Lorin Pearce – so didn’t really share a sense of what fans love about the music. I have limited technical skill in this area, but I know from class readings and a few of the items we’ve viewed in class that stories can be supported by a soundtrack, so I think for this sort of story – when appreciation of an often-maligned genre of music is the angle of the commentary – then use of more sound would have been really valuable. It would have made this really interesting piece really convince the reader about the validity and appreciation of this style of music.
A very enjoyable read – thank you.
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June 9, 2015 at 8:02 pm
Thanks so much for your input! I actually wanted to incorporate a song or two with this piece but I felt that it wouldn’t suit my proposed publication. Will definitely take your advice on board for my next piece.
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