How did it all started? Life is everywhere we look, from worms in the soil beneath our feet to tiny plants in the purest spring water, in the air we breathe. Where there is life there is evolution; it’s a part of the deal. Evolution affects not only the physical forms life takes but also its behaviour, and homo sapiens has certainly developed some remarkably complex cultures and societies over the millenia. But also music is constantly evoluting… That’s why there is Goa-Trance right now!!

Now let’s jump to the sixties and remind ourselves of a place called Goa in India. During the late sixties Goa has turned into a beach for freaks, rock stars, travelers, and various other excitement hunters, who lived by the ancient mantra of “sex, drugs and rock and roll”. Although the fab of Goa has dropped by the late 80’s, a hard-core group of Europeans and Americans have remained in that place. By the early 90’s, people in Goa have found out the wonderful effect of the Acid music on a stoned head and started to further develop the style. The first people to do so were Goa Gil (It’s really THE Goa-guru and a completely insane hippie from San Francisco) and his friends, who were living in Goa and experimenting with various musical styles to dance to since the late 60’s (They made a LP with their post-industrial band Kode IV on Belgium’s KK label).

Anyway, in the 80’s there was still no Goa-Trance in Goa, at that time you’d be likely to hear Talking Heads or Yello. The turning point was Techno, in the times before it was cool or had even been named. The days when it was Industrial or New Beat. While Acid House was shaking the UK, Goa was being pounded by the Belgian group Front 242 or A Split Second.”It had the type of stomping groove that people could settle into for hours and hours” explains Mark Allen, famous Goa-DJ, owner of the Phantasm-label and member of Mindfield.

But there were more influences as the New Wave/Industrial music of Front 242, Einstürzen Neubauten, Killing Joke and the likes. At the same time there was the electronic disco of Detroit and because of all the hippies there was still a psychedelic influence from the music from the 70’s. All those styles were mixed together till there was a new kind of music. The people discovered that this music was still very psychedelic and XTC and LSD-friendly! Since that day this Trance-music had a name: Goa-Trance!

2. The Psychedelic Goa-Trance…

To start I want to say that I’m using the words “Psychedelic Trance” and “Goa-Trance” for the same kind of music! But what really is Goa-Trance? Because Goa-Trance came out of New Beat, Gothic, New Wave, Industrial, Electro, Detroit & Psychedelic Rock it has an unique sound that is more complicated as the most modern Electronic dance music! I can’t give you a definition of Psychedelic Trance simply because there’s NO definition!! But I can give You some typical things of Goa-Trance : The time of a track is generally around 8′30″, but can be between 6′00″ and 12′00″ … sometimes more, sometimes under 6′00″ (especially on mixed compilations), but too short tracks are generally hard to get into. The beat is generally 4/4 and around 135-150 BPM … sometimes less, rarely more! In the music there’s a constant use of strange and psychedelic sounds, and that gives a strange atmosphere. Sometimes those sounds are frogs, barking dogs, crying baby’s but mostly you can’t describe it… You simply have to hear it!! Also used are the famous acid or 303 sounds, and even guitars, who drive people completely crazy!

-Most Goa (but NOT all) is also very melodic. -The music is mostly very full on, good to dance…
-The basslines are mostly harder and deeper as from normal Trance or Techno.
-The combination of all those things make this music very good for dancing, tripping and listening…!

So like you see Psychedelic Trance is something different. Before I end this part it’s maybe good to know the explanation of some terms used in English for some kinds of Goa-Trance:

“Nizhonot” = The cheesy, pretty simple and happy Goa-trance, the most famous Nizhonot producer is Holy Men “Minimalistic Trance” = A rather new and progressive style, it’s made out of a hard bassline, with only a few but well chosen Psychedelic sounds, very good to dance! Famous artists are Intact Instinct, Son Kite, Die Sonne,…
“Morning Trance” = The melodic dream-trance, it’s good to dance during a sunrise and after… And mostly the melodies are really touching! For example: Yahel, MFG, Shidapu, Hyperion,… “Psychedelic Ambient” = This is the softer Psychedelic Trance, great for chilling or listening at home when you’re tired.

3. The magic of the Goa-parties…

Everyone who’s ever been to a Goa-party knows that they are really incredible and that it is 100% different from normal parties or clubs! When you arrive at a Goa-party you mostly can’t believe your eyes, most of the party’s are on locations where you can only dream about… Sometimes it’s in an ancient castle, sometimes in the middle of a big forest, sometimes on a boat, sometimes in the middle of the desert,… But mostly they are in a basement! But once you’re going in, you’re walking straight into another world… The only things you can see are peoples UV-clothes and UV-decorations all around you. And surely there is that magical Goa-music… When you start to dance you’ll understand, it’s all about ritual but also about people coming together, having fun and reclaiming certain powers we’d lost. There’s always so much energy at Goa-parties, you can feel that when you’re dancing, after a certain time you’ll get tired and your head says “stop” but you’ll still dance and dance… You won’t feel any pain or anything, because at that moment you’re going into a deep trance! Or like But there’s more, when the parties are in open air it’s all one big journey towards the sunrise. Then the sun comes up and then it’s, “Yeeeessss!”

Suddenly the sun is here already. A new dawn begins and the mood changes once more. You look around the dance floor - seeing people for the first time. Radiant smiles, shining eyes, that polished sheen, that knowing smile. Music uplifts now, this is a celebration - everything is so warm; the air, the sand, the sea, the sun. We are marching now together onwards and upwards, the sun reflects the myriad of colours amongst us all. Rubbing fluro paint from the trees and smearing our faces with it. Going for walks and spending some time with precious strangers - meeting and loving, wishing the wishes of a thousand dreams. Two hundred dancing freaks defiantly surrendering their souls to the DJ - things don’t get much better out here. Evenings spent in the Shore Bar in South Anjuna, watching the sun come down. Chillums to the left of me, mushrooms to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you. The sun sets and the music pumps up big time. People spill out onto the beach, dancing and trancing their way forward. Gazing at the majestic horizon - seeing a million things there. Stars start to appear inside and out - join our trip! The tunes get faster, the floor gets busier, sand kicking up. Feel the beat, feel the power, this just gets stronger by every hour. A melody floats in and we all fly off. Motorbikes whiz past in the wet sand, causing confusion momentarily - reality is strange here too. Crazy nights in the Shore Bar - the most hedonistic bar in the world then, the biggest adult-supermarket in the universe. A friend called Cosmic Magick who only sold nice magick and definitely nothing too tragic. Dancing your way across the floor, watching the waves float in a few metres away, BOM BOM BOM pounding in your ears. Spliffs attacking you from every angle, running your way onto the sand. Collapsing under the stars, losing yourself in them, the biggest fireworks display in the eternity of the world. A docile cow stepping its way past you, not batting an eye lid - these humans are strange, the people are good, all smiling and everybody’s happy…”

4. Goa is much more than just music…

We all know that Goa is an Indian town, but it’s more than that, 99% of the people who’ve been there changed have really much by the time they returned (if they returned…). “Goa for me is where it all happened in my life. Goa changed me, Goa helped me, Goa transformed me, Goa made me what I am. It gives and sometimes it takes, yin and yang at it’s best. The opposites, the contradictions, the timelessness, the modern, the past, the present. It gives you synergy and saps your energy, revitalises and tantalises, draws you in and spits you out. Goa is one of the nicest places in the world to take a holiday from reality - all norms, all rationality can leave the building immediately. Prepare for the ultimate lift off.”

We trust in trance and love to dance,
Hare Hare Mahadev, Ohm Namah Shivaya!