Party Vibe

Free Your Mind in the NETHERLANDS

http://www.trancersguide.com/netherlands.html

In Holland we enjoy a freedom which is suitable to the psychedelic lifestyle. Amsterdam is a beautiful international city with an abundance of coffee shops, cafes, and parks. The days of the Elf (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7) and the Trance Buddha may be in the past, but a lot of the same faces are at parties today and some of the same organizers are still on the case; there are parties every week. The scene is international with people from all over. I often see people I met at festivals in other countries back here in Holland, so it seems it is an attractive place to visit or live for a while, especially in summer.

Goatrance made its way to Holland around 1994 with Dj’s Lucas, Danyel, Fidel, HC, Mitch, Yaco and Zen playing the stunning new sound at Club the Mazzo in Amsterdam. For most of us this was the first time we heard psychedelic dance music. At the time a lot of people were experimenting with psychedelic drugs like LSD; and I remember us tripping and being stunned at how profoundly suitable the music was to the state of mind we were in; as if the music was made for it; (maybe it was!?). It seems that we were not the only ones to feel this way. Soon more organizations were doing goa / psy parties, Acidophilus, Alien Heritage, Circus Hofmann and Empathy. Dave the Lunatic and crew had the yearly rejuvenation party on the beach at Wijk aan Zee which was really an unforgettable transcendental experience!

The psytrance club scene moved from the Mazzo to the Trance Buddha in the Red light district of Amsterdam. The club offered more space, quality sound, two floors; and was a great venue for a number of years. Acidophilus did monthly full moon parties at the Buddha which were always on the full moon; and that meant they were often during the week. DJ-Zen was busy with a night called the Doors of Perception until the Buddha had to close in 2000.

By then the Elf had been rocking for some time. The old Belgium Embassy at the Vlaardingenlaan 11 in Amsterdam had been squatted in the spring of 1998. It became the most sophisticated squat that Amsterdam has ever seen. Words don’t do it justice as you had to be there to understand the facilities they had; a professional kitchen, temple, meditation room, chaishop, and of course the Skylab which was a marble dance floor on the top level, with windows on all sides overlooking the outskirts of the city. Sometimes in the morning the sun could shine through the windows into parts of the building and through the deco onto the dance floor! Many parties at the Elf went on for several days, and a lot of new artists got a chance to play and practice their stuff there. The amazing thing was the complete freedom: to dance, hangout in the chaishop, visit a friend’s room or go for a walk. In that way, it was nothing like a club and there was literally no closing time. As long as people were responsible the freedom was there, so it was a great example of what is possible. The scene has missed the freedom of such a venue. The Elf had to close in 2001, and a lot of people had to find new homes and we, as a collective, have had to find other solutions for parties, chill sessions or just a place to be together.

Between then and now, there have been various organizations and clubs which have come and gone, like Club Time and The Beetles. Empathy organized many good parties in big venues like the Melkweg; Mutual Hypnosis did some quality parties across the street from the Melkweg; and 9lifes of Hofmann made various parties and events that all kept the ball rolling.

Psytrance in Holland Today

During the winter all parties must be inside and there are several organizations taking on the challenge. Centipede Productions have been organizing parties with new ideas such as “Prog as a Frog” in the Wilhelmina Pakhuis, which has been totally rebuilt into a nice club. Namaste is still organizing parties with quality line ups and good venues including “The Chaishop” in De Rookerij, as well as bigger psytrance events. *Riches (Aerophobia) and Zirk started the weekly “Aknatronix” which trance pioneer DJ-Zen and Liftshift later became involved in. The Trance Maffia are also organizing many parties recently in Amsterdam, keep your eyes and ears open for them! The Ruigoord village is still hosting events including the yearly Solstice party which has been a great success, especially with the intensely beautiful weather we had last year. Other yearly events are Queen’s day (April 30) a national holiday with many parties and psy-trance is represented by Bom Voyage at the droogbak, as well as an Ozmali event at Frederiksplein; and many other parties throughout the country. EarthDance is synchronized worldwide as well as in Holland. There is also a DJ-café called Tetra in the center of Amsterdam, which is a nice place to hangout for a few drinks and a spliff. Summer is without a doubt the most attractive time to party; whether allowing for outdoor events as well as extended chill sessions in the park or trips to the beach.

The scene extends beyond just Amsterdam with organizations in other cities like Cosmic Vibration in Leiden, Lucid Vision in Rotterdam, Psynami in Groningen and Shut up & Dance in Den Haag. There are good artists and dj’s both old & new in Holland, as there is no lack of quality when it comes to the music. Recently some new venues are creating new possibilities. ArcTone has been producing some great ambient sounds, collaborating with other artists and providing shanty tripped-out live sets at various parties and festivals. The Well has also been active in creating and playing quality ambient music at various parties and festivals. Dead Parrot has been producing some interesting tunes. Cytopia.org is based in Amsterdam and myself (Servellen) played my own tunes for the 1st time just last night which was met with smiles and dancing so I hope to be doing this again. The big Dutch success has been *Zen Mechanics with various quality international releases on some big labels like Iboga; most of you have heard of him. On the DJ front, recently Bart (Sonic Dragon NL) has been mixing very well with a great variety of styles between sets making him stand out. Betty (Adjuca) has been a real crowd pleaser with her particular taste in track selection. Ions has come out of the wood work as a new versatile DJ. Marcia has really developed her sound in the last years and Dogo continues to provide solid progressive. Satyr is still active as a quality DJ who is versatile in style and enthusiastic about what he does. Zebra_N has been active organizing conferences for musicians to share techniques and has been on the case with Troy making some new tunes as CCL; Steven HC has opened Ozmali Records; and not to forget our favorite madman La Nebuleuse has released his 2nd album “Serial Killah” on Galactic Federation Media. Respect Big Brother.

Most parties and great info can be found on goatrance.nl and goatrance.net, we advise any travelers in need of info to check there; also a good place to ask for help or a ride to a festival.

Other producers: Akbal, Andromeda, Bassid, Boobytrip, Cyberlions, Cyrus the Virus, Fol, Frequensqueez, GMS, Jocid, Mad Contrabender, Paradox, Prahlad , Synchro an Rev. And other Dj’s are BlueStorm, Danyel, Deva Tameesh, Dogo, Dr Vinni, Fluoelf, Jiggi, Dave the Lunatic, Matt Boom, Nilis, Ocean, OD-pus, Poly, Rafadelic, Shaktycat, Shawnodese, Shitaki, Tintal, Forgive the lack of elaboration. Deco artists that need mentioning are: Dead Parrot, D-Core, Deco Droom, The Hive, Sun Pedro, Antishanti, Flextest and Vj’s: Artivizuals; Rorschach & Rorschach, Zenthar, Airplane Visuals, PsyLover; you all make the parties much more beautiful, thank you.

*my sincere apologies to Riches (Aerophobia) for the inaccuracy in the printed version regarding Aknatronix; and to Zen Mechanics for missing you; unfortunately the printed version was already released by the time this came to our attention

Facts:

Capital: Amsterdam

Population: 16,150,000

Climate: Nice summers with long days, moderately cold wet winters with short days.

Public Transport: Excellent

Cannabis: Legal to buy/carry 5 grams, tolerated to smoke in some cities. This is a privilege to be enjoyed but respected; recently new laws forbid smoking on street in some places in Amsterdam.

Links:

http://www.Boomrecords.com
http://www.Consciousdreams.nl
http://www.Cosmiccombination.net
http://www.Cytopia.org
http://www.Goatrance.nl
http://www.Goatrance.net
http://www.Hoipolloi.nl
http://www.Psykick.net
http://Psynami.is.dreaming.org
http://www.Ruigoord.nl
http://www.Samsara-music.nl
http://www.Soma-natesa.nl
http://www.Thedreamfactory.tk
http://www.xs4all.nl/~robin/
http://www.3rd-bit.nl
http://www.cytopia.org

Things are more like they are now then they’ve ever been before.

Text

Sander van Servellen
Artist (Servellen) / Cytopia.org A&R
»One day a young man took acid and …«