I first discovered the ethos of Underground Resistance in the early 90's. It was a radical moment that connected the missing dots on a increasingly desperate dance floor.
Having survived several years of the raving I was kicking around in WGT fringing on house music and splicing together the first steps of the DnB scene.
Techno in NZ, was (and like it is today) considered the bastard child to clubs, raves and every party in between. It was a sound for purists, a selective few who had abandoned the high times and arpeggios of rave music for the dry stripped out minimalism of Techno.
I was sceptical of the these Techno Dj's in framed glasses, tidy shoes and oblique fashion. But this was rapidly resolved when I went to my first Techno party where I systematically had the cynic smacked out of me by the most blisteringly intense sonic experience of my life.
From that moment on I was a convert, a believer in the message that is Techno. The raw mechanical energy of the music infected the emotion of my brain like no other sound. It cut right to the heart of my raving, my penchant for large sound systems, immersive bass and fresh energy. It addressed my desire for rebellion, revolution and ultimately the need for some reality on the dance floor.
There was no dress ups, day glo, borrowed culture or disco dynasties. Techno was pure unadulterated machine music, mechanical, deliberate, relentless. A gritty street level expression of raw skills, blind tenacity, self confidence and self belief from artists who knew who they were and where they were from.
Underground Resistance revealed to me that dance music did not have to be about escapism, or an elaborate illusion to hide the dirty truth of low paid jobs, grey city streets and mostly meaningless existence.
It could be a resistance to this real world. A method of liberation, activation, inspiration. A process by which to empower yourself against the oppression of industrialised civilisation. A way of using the machines to fight back against the programming and control of a corroding society.
Techno is not just music, it can be a way of living. A way of grabbing the world and fighting back. Since 1988 Underground Resistance have been speaking the truth, they are telling you want you need to know, even if you don't want to hear it.
Come and be part of the experience. CHCH 30th August, WGT 5th September.
