The Formative Years - Acid House
It was during a family holiday to the sandy beach of Arcachon, southwest of Bordeaux as a prepubescent that I spent a whole summer in the thrall of acid house.
Days were spent with a female acquaintance in the Dune du Pilat and swimming in the Atlantic, drinking Kronenbourg at brasseries and eating oysters.
At night I snuck out to visit the local bars and being a juvenile delinquent interested in heavy metal and punk rock, there was not much that resonated.
After indulging in Pastis with the older youth of the region, I joined them late at night to visit an inconspicuous warehouse. The squelching sounds and heavy basslines emanating from the inside could be heard from a long way off and while I was not particularly interested in electronic music at the time, it sounded intriguing .
Not long after entering and an initial period of feeling a tad uncomfortable and out of place in a night club context, I was dragged onto the dancefloor with little left but to start moving and do as the Romans do.
What ensued was an immensely enjoyable night and my first exposure to what I much later on learned to classify as an underground “rave”.
The DJs of the night seemed to explore sonic textures by constantly modulating, altering and manipulating the frequency of simplistic and primal bass patterns, which were interweaved with harsh screeching sounds. When I inquired what style of music it was, “acid house” was the answer.
While I was not intoxicated by any substances, I felt entranced by the collective experience and got lost in the dreamy atmosphere, the thick fog and the intense music, thoroughly enjoying being immersed in a crowd of dancing bodies and sharing personal space.
The collective experience of sound, ambience and bodies created a new sense of belonging and a mind-altering experience, which triggered a lifelong appreciation for electronic music and its powers.
