Chaos Master Chaos Master

Episode 45: WARLOCK

For the final epsidoe of our hardcore series with Dance or Die, we're joined by London-based DJ, producer, and Rag & Bone label founder Jason Alexander, better known as Warlock, who documents his 36 years inside UK rave culture. We revisit the early days of breakbeat hardcore, the impact of Belgian and Dutch rave records, and the rapid mutations of jungle, darkcore, techno and dubstep. We talk about dodging the DTI while broadcasting pirate radio, the parallel rise of squat parties and mega-raves, and how media panic, the Criminal Justice Act, and major labels all reshaped the scene. You'll also hear stories from legendary spots like Slime Time, Labyrinth, SW1 Club and Helter Skelter and learn about Rag & Bone's raw, punk-adjacent take on breaks, electro, and early dubstep before we take it up to the present and find out about this wizard's current obsession with 160+ bpm bass music, Hooverion Blur, and the joy (and labor) of digging for new sounds in an algorithmic age. Hosted by Vivian Host (aka DJ Star Eyes). For more info and extras, visit Ravetothegrave.org or Instagram @ravetothe.grave.

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Episode 36: HAAi

Rave to the Grave podcast with HAAi, the Aussie-born, London-based DJ & producer known for her eclectic, psychedelic take on techno. Topics include wild rave locations, drug trips, fat pants, dinosaur energies and doof sticks; how she selects records and going B2B with The Blessed Madonna, plus her forthcoming record HUMANISE on Mute.

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Chaos Master Chaos Master

Episode 26: SHAWN REYNALDO

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.

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Episode 23: McKENZIE WARK

McKenzie Wark is an Australian born writer, critical theory professor, and 61-year-old trans-femme techno raver currently living in NYC. Her latest book, Raving, thinks deeply about dancing, dissociation, drugs, bodies, and identity as McKenzie, recently transitioned, navigates the queer techno spaces of Bushwick, Brooklyn. On the line from Berlin, we talk about experimenting with language and writing, bodies and the beat, smart vs. stupid drugs, cultural theory, rave utopias, and McKenzie's extraordinary journey from growing up in an Australian mining town to dancing on the bleeding edge of the NYC underground.

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Episode 22: SEANA GAVIN

Seana Gavin is a London-based visual artist who spent 10 years immersed in the free party culture in the UK and beyond, traveling to week-long parties in the Czech countryside, the mountains above Marseille, or Berlin squats with soundsystems like Spiral Tribe, Bedlam, Desert Storm, and Hekate. Her photos and diary entries of the adventures of these roving cyberpunks are collected in books like Spiral Baby and Spiralling, and we sat down to talk about border crossing, squat raves, politics, drugs, freedom, and just how dirty things can get.

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Episode 11: KURT ECKES PART 2

Kurt Eckes put Milwaukee on the map in the ’90s with his Drop Bass Network parties and Even Furthur festival. In Part Two of this interview, he talks to Rave to the Grave podcast about Satanism and rituals, how to throw a rave, the craziest stories from Furthur, the RAVE Act, the Drop Bass label and Midwest hard acid, plague raves and starting a Kult.

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