This episode kicks off our collaborative mini-series with Dance or Die on hardcore and what better way to start the whole thing than by talking to Holly Dicker aka Holly Dee. Holly is a music journalist and raver who has devoted over a decade to covering the history of hardcore while working for places like Resident Advisor, Boiler Room, Tresor and PRSPCT Records. Then she spent four years of blood, sweat and tears writing Dance or Die, a book that traces the history and evolution of hardcore electronic music. Holly and I talk about her formative experiences from renegade UK drum 'n' bass bunker raves to free tekno parties, breakcore squats and Dutch gabber mega-raves. We also discuss the cornerstones of hardcore, compare notes as rave journalists, discuss changing visual and surveillance culture and explore current women-led, queer and inclusive hardcore movements. Hosted by Vivian Host (aka DJ Star Eyes). For more info and extras, visit Ravetothegrave.org or Instagram @ravetothe.grave.

Over the last 20+ years, Shawn Reynaldo has been a DJ, record label owner, radio station manager, journalist and the editor-in-chief of XLR8R magazine. He's a one-time staple of the San Francisco indie rock scene, a former promoter of tropical bass and UK funky parties, and also one of the pre-eminent critics writing about house and techno for Pitchfork, Spin, NPR and beyond. Velocity Press just released Shawn's first book, First Floor Volume 1, which collects the spiciest thinkpieces and hot takes on electronic music and culture that he's penned over the last couple years in his popular First Floor weekly newsletter. To celebrate the kick-off of his North American book tour, we talk about how DJ culture has changed over the last two decades, his view on music writing, his spicy takes on the best and worst sonic trends, the current club scene in Barcelona (where he's based), sober raving, and the time he saw Claire Danes eat shit at Berghain.

Detroit house and techno in the 1980s, underground queer nightlife, raving as resistance, the San Francisco scene: journalist and club veteran Marke B tells all.

Counterculture journalist & party girl Michelle Lhooq on rave utopias and the future of drugs.