Electronic Awakening is a much-anticipated documentary that follows rave’s evolution from large-scale commercial events to the festivals we have today, smaller gatherings in remote locations. The film offers insight into the inner workings of the brain and its metaphysical connection to the repetitive beats that allow for that sense of oneness, unity and freedom that millions feel on the dance floor. It also investigates this culture’s significance to the prophecies of 2012, how this bizarre and sacral relationship to electronic music has evolved the group over time, and where it all seems to be leading them.
It features dozens of experts, visionaries, and published authors who explore the premise that Electronic Music is spiritual technology that allows access to higher states of consciousness. It was filmed over a period of 5 years at events such as Burning Man, Earthdance, Shambhala, LoveFest, Moontribe, Wicked and the Boom Festival in Portugal.
It also contains great footage of world-renowned artists like Shpongle, The Crystal Method, Bird of Prey, Phutureprimitive, Solar Fields, Androcell, Vibrasphere, Random Rab, Govinda, Desert Dwellers, Eastern Sun, Gladkill, Grouch, Satsi and many more…
Featuring Interviews With:
Daniel Pinchbeck: Journalist Author of “Breaking Open the Head”
Alex Grey: World Renowned Visionary Artist
Terence McKenna: Author of “True Hallucinations”
Ken Kesey: Author and Producer of the infamous 1960s Acid Tests
Erik Davis: Author of “Techgnosis”
Starhawk: Author of “The Spiral Dance”, “The Fifth Sacred Thing”
Dr. Robin Sylvan: Religious Studies Scholar, Author of “Tranceformations”
Goa Gil: World-Renowned Pioneer of Goa Trance
Mark Heley: Author of “The Everything Guide to 2012”
Dr. Chiara Baldini: Researcher on Mythological Roots of EDM
Dr. Charles de Ledesma: Lecturer at University of East London
Dr. Graham St John: Author and Researcher of Electronic Music Culture
Dr. Anthony D’Andrea: Author of Global Nomads
Fred Huston: Hobby Researcher of The “Techno Tribal Underground”
Peter Ziegelmeier aka Kode IV: Founder of Ceiba Records
Ross aka DJ Random: Psychedelic Trance Composer
Garth: DJ and Co-Founder of Wicked Sound
Sean Ocean aka DJ Disconnect: Founder of DEFSF Techno Alliance
Moontribe’s Founding Members: Hayworth, Dallas, Tania, Dusti
Sobey Wing: Founder of Tribal Harmonix
Micheal Gosney: Earth Dance International
Todd Stock: Dr. Paradise
Spin nightclub of San Diego was transformed into a movie theater for the screening of Electronic Awakening. As the lights dimmed, smiling faces took their seat next to friends and fellow tribe members. All gathered closely around a single projector screen, all for one purpose, in the name of the universal language, music. Immediately I was plugged in, buzzing with energy. I was excited that someone had finally given the time and resources to better explain this phenomenon. The movie articulates so many things that I and many of my friends feel to be true, that there is indeed a great movement happening out on the dance floor. That despite the stigmas and media hype, this culture is not just drug-induced hedonism, but rather a true renaissance and reemergence of ancient shamanic rituals.
There is clear resemblance between tribal rituals of dance, chants and rhythms and the electronic music events we experience today. To me, the correlation has always been evident. Theories and studies are coming out that even Stonehenge was a sort of acoustic alter, a place of assembly and communion with a higher source through the vibrations of sound waves. Low frequency waves, such as Alpha waves, are being proven to encourage relaxation and healing, helping to achieve altered states of trance-like consciousness. Sound Healing has thus emerged as an industry, reinforcing the idea that sound waves can be powerful agents of transformation. Electronic dance culture induces these very trance-like states through oscillating beats and produces euphoric effects we have all experienced. Regardless of genre or location, these parties share a strong sense of community, and this inter-connectivity and unity around a common beat results in a camaraderie and basic love for one another. Because we are often misunderstood and persecuted by mainstream society, this bond becomes even stronger, and has created a quickly growing and tight-knit subculture that many believe is key to our evolution as a species at this critical time.
Electronic Awakening is naturally becoming a tool for people within the culture to refer to as an explanation and validation of the artform. It is becoming a key not only in providing outsiders with a more wholesome insight into the community, but the important functions of music on the human psyche and cognition.
“…At the end of one of our Burning Man screenings one kid exclaimed, ‘FINALLY! A movie I can show my parents!’ ” said director Andrew Johner.
For Johner, the screening tour is a celebratory breath of fulfillment, a final culmination of all the hard work exerted over six years of production. EA is based on Johner’s research for his book “The God Machine”, born from his undergraduate thesis. Johner always had a intuitive interest in psychedelic culture, and when he started research on these events, he immediately saw a correlation with Shamanic rituals and paganism that intrigued him and hinted that the rave scene was indeed a reincarnation of these old spiritual practices and methods of communing with nature and each other. Modern Americans are so starved for true connection, community and spirituality, and so disenchanted with religion and government, it suddenly seemed important to understand the movement that seemed to be filling the void for the youth.
In 2006, Johner came to the west coast and fully emerged himself within the scene to try to understand and capture it, but he needed help from a west coast OG…
He met Julian Reyes, who he calls “the angel of the project”, on his second trip to the west coast in San Francisco, where they realized they had a common interest in the project. Each brought an essential aspect, Andrew handling the academics & filmmaking, Julian navigating as music supervisor. He has been involved in the scene since disco, is the West Coast representative of Ultra Music Festival and has been managing artists and producing events in the Bay Area for over a decade… He soon became the executive producer and had the resources, knowledge and connections to make the film happen.
“God is a DJ, life is a dance floor, and love is the rhythm.” It is undeniable that at these events, no matter where you come from, there is a general shedding of skin experienced within the individual, awakening them to be fully alive and empowering them to consciously choose their next move. “What these parties are doing is creating a blank slate, deprogramming the cultural background conditioning and allowing for something new to emerge.” – Johner
What people have done with this new-found spiritual connection has spurred the evolution of the scene, allowing projects like this to be possible. I see a pattern, a shift if you will, as a brand new WAV file is being downloaded to Earth’s database. Controlled and manipulated by DJs in a sea of sound waves, each individual, each interaction, each choice is a layer of the track, mounting up to produce the great harmonic felt by all through their skin, in their souls. We are all part of it, right now, as it shows us alternative ways to live and interact.
The film’s fruition was a collaboration between similar people with different skills but a common vision, much like Lostinsound. As synchronicities aligned, connections to the higher became more and more evident and the process of making the movie began to show what it was trying to express. The way the film came together fittingly shows the vast potential of this culture for the synthesis of works far beyond the original conception of an individual.
It’s a must-see for anyone reading this website, pre-order the DVD or check out a screening in your city!
Facebook page for more info and screening updates:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Electronic-Awakening/133959056671273
