Since moving to Brandenburg I have the subjective feeling, that I’ve listened to more techno music here in public than any time in Berlin. Some could say it is the Volksmusik here, as all my neighbors including myself are avid techno listeners. When speaking about the Genre there is not one flavor of techno, but multiples of them. So just entering Techno to YouTube won’t bring you the results of the music me and my neighbors are listening to. In this article I am speaking specially of the sophisticated music that has emerged in Berlin after the Mauerfall in the 90s. The rise of this genre was the symptom of huge political changes after the Soviet union collapsed as many industrial halls were abandoned and illegal raves emerged from the DIY-culture that was necessary in times of economical uncertainty and scarcity of resources. The same effect could be witnessed in Ukraine after the Euromaidan 2014, where Ukrainians youth faced uncertainty in all areas of life combined with first waves of war. In those times there was CXEMA emerging as the main player in organizing illegal raves on abandoned warehouses, bringing people together and relieving them from the daily stress while also providing a place for undefinable freedom and liberation.
It is not only the political mindset, the philosophy of liberation or the deep energizing industrial melancholic sound that makes me fall in love with this Genre, but also the role the mindset behind it could lead to another relevant puzzle piece for the future in current times.
In times where I feel like voicing free spoken opinions is the most repressed since decades, despite the progress in many other areas and general creativity as well as inherent uniqueness is at the lowest point, I feel the need for a technological disconnected movement, that brings people together again, especially my generation and the generation after it, as it seems like the stress of Corona and current technology has made most of us unavailable for communication, emotional connection and the ability to let yourself fall freely. Even general data states, that the communication skills of people below 25 are the lowest since the starting point of recording that data. Our western generation of young people is also the most conservative and highest safety seeking generation since long times, what also represses creativity, but balancing real human connection with a desire to find a place that feels like home in a world that feels like its falling apart can be a huge quality booster of life.
