The Song that Started it All

We all know which songs we make a deep, personal connection with. Whether it’s a specific artist or track, some forms of music speak more clear to us than others.

As more and more people get involved in the electronic community, the music continues to connect us with ourselves and each other. For many of us, it was a specific song that started it all.

For me, it was 2012, and Pretty Lights was finishing up his Illumination tour. My friends had invited me to travel down south to experience the tour as my first electronic music performance. Growing up attending heavy metal concerts, I really had no idea what kind of crowd I was getting into with such a different vibe of music. I had always enjoyed early electronic music, Skrillex, Cascada, Basshunter, and the occasional underground artist, but it was time to further my understanding of it all.

I brought up YouTube to search for a popular Pretty Lights song. “I Know The Truth” was the first one I picked, for the thumbnail of his live visual performance from Bonnaroo grabbed my attention. As soon as that beat dropped, I was sold. Besides some old school Caspa and what was new age Skrillex at the time, I had never really heard anything like it.

Pretty Lights – I Know The Truth (Bonnaroo 2011 HD Video Recap)

When we packed everything up and headed down to ISU, I was with my soon-to-be best friend and a whole group of people who would soon be some of my closest friends.

Pretty Lights came on and his set blew me away. I had never heard such a compilation of music. In addition to all of these new sounds I was unfamiliar with, I did recognize some tracks I had heard before, but they were re-mastered into something totally different.

It was incredible. The feeling that was upon me the entire time I was under the roof of that arena, listening to Pretty Lights, falling in love with a new version of music and myself. I couldn’t even begin to explain it. When “I Know the Truth” began to play, I remember jumping up and down with excitement at the sound of the first build. Eagerly waiting for the drop, then once it finally did, I lost control of my body. It was bliss.

Flight Facilities – Crave You (Adventure Club Dubstep Remix)

“I chose the song ‘Crave You’ because of how it brought me into the electronic music scene. I’ve been listening to electronic music for as long as I can remember, but it was not until 2014 until I went to my first electronic music concert. Adventure Club was playing a show in Buffalo, about an hour away from me, and a few friends and I decided we had to go see them and hear them play Crave You. The show was phenomenal, and hearing that song live was ten times better than I ever could have expected. Ever since that show I have been attending as many electronic music shows as I possibly could. The electronic music scene has had a profound impact on my life. Never have I been to a place where I felt as accepted and free as I have electronic music concerts.”

– Bert Craig, Rochester, NY

Keys N Krates – Dum Dee Dum

“I went to Spring Awakening for my first festival in Chicago, never hearing electronic music and Keys and Krates were the first people that stood out to me and the vibes… I’ve been going to shows ever since, and every time I go to a show/concert it’s nothing but good energy.”

– Nicole Zawacki

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgs9QUtWc3M
Better Off Alone

“I live in a small town so I don’t get to attend many events. I would say I’m more behind the scenes creating my own flavor and relate more to the production subculture of edm. Some of the first songs that started it for me were Better Off Alone by Alice Deejay and One More Time by Daft Punk. That song being thrown in to my youthful Toonami binges was a huge spark in my love for edm.”

– Travis DeSpain, Safford AZ

Daft Punk – Around The World

“Basically, the first time I heard that song I was in middle school … heard it while I was playing a videogame and it stuck in my head. It reminds me of the late nights growing up going on adventures. As far as my life, I’ve come to meet some of the most genuine and best people along the way, people I truly love and can count on. Wildcat had that perfect fusion of urban sounds with electronic based basslines, Ratatat was HUGE for me.”

– Michael Nocera, Scottsdale, AZ

Inna – Amazing

“That was the first song that really hooked me. I remember how unique it was. It was unlike any other electronic tune I had heard before. ‘Inna’ is what got me into Romanian Dance Music, and international edm in general. That passion for music from around the world cultivated in the creation of my radio-show podcast, Euromerica Radio, which covers pop and EDM music from Europe and America!”

– Melanie Rogoff, Phoenix, AZ

Kaskade – Its You Its Me

“2009 I was searching on Youtube in hopes to find new music. All I really listened to at the time was classic rock and current punk and metal. But I always had these club songs in my head. My babysitters use to play house, techno, and trance in my house. I never even realized it until I got older, now I’m only 19. I was 10 at the time, so finding music was a really big deal to me at that age especially.

I scrolled past “It’s You, It’s Me” by Kaskade and decided to click on it. The cover art was relaxing and appealed to me. I was immediately taken away! The smooth vocals gave me a more classic vibe and then this really groovy, yet hypnotizing, relaxing melody just made the entire song. No one in my area ever listened to anything like this my age or order. This was total exposure for me. This was the moment I knew I needed A LOT more of this music in my life.

2017, I am now 19 years old and Kaskade is still one of my favorite producers and DJs to date. All I listen to still today is house, tech house, deep house, etc. I also took on producing and DJing on my own with Kaskade being my number one inspiration! I hope to open for him one day!”

– Bryan Liptak, Peoria, AZ

After all these years, who would have thought these tunes would have taken us all on such a journey? As electronic music continues to grow tremendously since its initiation in the 60’s, it has become embedded into many of our lives. The numerous versions of it attracts people of all sorts, and we allattracthese sounds as we come together as one.