Dimension Magazine

"I want to dance!" screams a high school senior in the movie Dazed and Confused stating what he wants to do with his life. This dream of dancing is the attraction behind rave music. It's in Brian Unke's living room that these dreams start to become reality. Unke is known to some people as DJ Mage behind his two turntables, which now rest quietly in the other half of his living room. DJ Mage produces sounds that are known to cause a room full of kids to plug themselves into the music and get down like they have always dreamed they could. The electronic beats of rave music have been the sound of underground music scenes in large cities across the globe since the late '80s. Now three DJs are bringing the underground to Eau Claire.

Rave music has evolved into many different forms of electronic music. These diverse sounds range from techno to house to trance. Within these three styles are other types that are even more diverse.

When Unke is DJ Mage at The Metro, 205 Lake Street, he produces straight-up techno while mixing in hard trance.
Isaac Keare spins records under the name DJ Izodd when he gets people down at The Metro with hard house and tek-house.

Travis Roberts, or DJ Robe, rounds out the trio that spins at The Metro with house and trance. These DJs, and others like them, are working hard to bring the underground scene to new areas.

Techno started to hit the underground music scene around 1986 in Detroit where the beats of electronic music started in the United States. The evolution of disco gave birth to house music during the late '80s in Chicago's gay underground scene. It was in these underground scenes that a new era of funkier John Travoltas could be found kicking it on the dance floor. Now they have moved a bit more above ground and are coming to Eau Claire.

A club of DJs from the Chicago area called the Cosmic Collective helps bring the rave scene to northern Wisconsin by putting together rave parties in the North Woods area. Unke and Keare are both members of the Cosmic Collective, and when they put on their raver clothes they join forces to become Red-Ize

DJ Mage and DJ Izodd turn off their turntables at raves and plug in drum machines and synthesizers. Red-Ize produces all of his music live as if it was anorchestra performining Carnegie Hall. The two DJs use three different drum machines,two synthesizers with keyboards, and a digital recording machine.

What makes Red-Ize's music unique is the improvisation and timing that Unke and Keare share. By practicing together for hours at a time and creating music through pure improvisation, Unke and Keare learn each others musical styles.

"It's like putting different pieces of an orchestra together," Keare says.

Critics of rave music accuse rave artists of not being musicians and say they are merely pressing a few buttons and letting the machines do the work.

"I don't listen to what critics have to say; I know what is involved in producing this music and it's obvious the critics don't," Unke says.

Talented musicians must have a musical ear to produce any form of good music. DJs must be able to feel the vibes in the music and know when and how much they should increase or decrease these vibes.

Most recently, the Cosmic Collective has showcased rave parties in Wausau and Stevens Point. They brought DJs from Chicago, Madison, and even Spain. Red-Ize is paid to perform and also is given a hotel room, where the duo can sleep in during the daylight hours following the rave.

The raves are held on private property like roller rinks and last until well after the sun has come up. The rave world has experienced some changes - it used to be that knowing the right people meant scoreing some sort of invitation to the all-night party. Now, even though raves are not highly advertised, they are much easier to find and many flyers are dispursed to fill you in on when the next party-til-dawn will be.

There usually is a fee of about $20.00, half of which is donated to charities like United Cerebel Palsy. The donation allows the parties to legally last all night. A rave is the ultimate place to experience what the underground scene is all about. "It's a stress reliever, because inside you put everything aside," Unke says.

Roberts says the first time he went to a rave and heard the music he knew he wanted to be a DJ because he loved the music.

Keare says he wanted to be a DJ because of his love of music and improvisation. "There is no better way to improvise with music," he says, referring to electronic music.

Keare is a well-rounded musician; he also plays the guitar and violin but finds the most release in rave music. He says Unke and he write their music like guitarists write a taave goers come from all aspects of life to form a community of people all out to have a good time, moving to psychedelic beats provided by the masters behind the turntables. Rabilature, they hear something they like, and then they write it down.

Raves form a completely nonviolent atmosphere where hundreds or thousands of kids can get together without the tensions of the outside world. Ravers are the 90's version of the flower children sub-culture.

Unke and Keare say that rave goers are less inhibited and more likely to let out a loud scream just because it feels good. "It gives them a chance to go nuts," Unke says.

Going nuts is exactlywhat raver Liv Aanrud strives to accomplish.

Aanrud says raves help her realize that "you don't suck!"
"I know there is something else going on and the people that normally look at you all the time because they think your weird, don't," she says.

Rave goers informally compete to wear the most elaborate costumes. They are known to sometimes wear Halloween costumes in June and some are even known to attend dressed in drag. Some will don a rented costume of a cartoon character like "Beeker" from the Muppets while others wear classic dracula gear. Glitter is on most cheeks and glow sticks are around most necks or wrists.

Keare says people have asked him if they look stupid and his response to them always is, "No one looks stupid!"

Aanrud says raves are a progressive subculture.

"It's a big electric tribe where you will find no bumping and grinding," Unke says. "Everybody moves to a different beat of the music, there will be some people moving fast and some moving slow."

Catching yourself wanting to dance is a normal instinct, even if you have never been the type of person who goes out to the dance floor.

Take it from Keare, who says, "My mom even likes the shit!"