Become a FAN TODAY
Grand Rapids Social Diary

Friday, July 30 - August 1, Twenty-Ten

An Electronic Emergence

A pretty good friend of mine recently asked what is going on locally that is propagating all of these Electronic Dance Music (EDM) events; there are plenty of short answers to satisfy the masses, but the larger picture is a bit more nuanced.

Personally I believe it has something to do with a regions ‘Hip Quotient’, which I will talk about in greater detail and refer to as HQ for short. 

In an article that Rob Bliss wrote for the Grand Rapids Press on June 23rd (http://bit.ly/a8hCQx); in reference to his question of a regions ability to attract not just families, but also a younger demographic as well, he writes, "it could be a decade before we ever have an American Apparel." Rob received some heat in a few online forums as well as from some radio station personalities about how they felt that comment was shortsighted, as it appeared that Rob was drawing attention to a clothing store that he would like to shop at and nothing more. 

However, I believe Rob was on to something with his American Apparel comment... how often have many of us thought about how nice it would be to have an Urban Outfitters, perhaps a Crate and Barrel, an IKEA, how about a Whole Foods Market of all things? The short of it is that the stores named above speak precisely to the regions HQ, and the lack of those retail locations unfortunately might say more than we care to recognize.

Regardless of what I touched on above, there are plenty of events locally that bolster Grand Rapids HQ; this little thing we have come to know as ArtPrize, the presence of so many films shoots, emerging fashion shows, and to my point the influx of EDM events taking place. With that said I believe we all sense that something magical is happening here in Grand Rapids, and there are a lot of eyes on West Michigan right now, all of which is enabling the creative minds to further our regions HQ.

EDM events seem to be at the heart of this trend… recently in July there was an event from the local promotion crew GREMM at Rosa Parks Circle called 'Hit the Decks', which championed many of the local underground DJ's. Yet another was Dirty Beatz weekend camping festival called 'Dude Where's My Tent', which has the makings of an established national event with the magnitude of the DJ talent they booked. Benjamin Hunter from Prospecto has discussed at great length his desire to have Electronic Music be a large component of their inaugural festival. Furthermore, you can find an event almost every night of the week now by established and upstart promoters alike. 

And not all of these events are being driven by DJ's either... in September during ArtPrize there is an event presented by Spotlight616 called Style Battle that has booked John Acquaviva for the fashion show and the after-party as well. For those of you that know who John Acquaviva is you know the significance of this event; for those of you that don't know who he is let me draw this analogy... in 1989 Richie Hawtin and Acquaviva started one of techno's most influential labels called Plus-8 records, Hawtin and Acquaviva are to techno what Robert Plant and Steven Tyler are to Rock and Roll. Talent of this caliber has rarely made its way to West Michigan; but just as importantly talent of Acquaviva’s caliber and many others are asking questions like "what in the world is going on in Grand Rapids?"

Electronic Music is one of those things that has permeated modern culture in so many ways, in ways that perhaps only our subconscious tends to react to. Start paying closer attention to automobile commercials, bumpers from radio talk shows, fashion segments to see what I am talking about... I can't even tell you how many times people have asked me to play the 'Geico song' (Röyksopp's Remind Me). 

Furthermore you needn't look any further than local radio to see the impact as well... WSNX now has so many mix-shows that it is getting to be a bit laborious to keep track off; the significance here is that historically pop radio is not where higher bpm music tends to get played. Whether this is as a result of upper management recognizing a greater trend; or simply EOB and Brian Holmes being the lone champions of an emerging sound... the impact is that bigger beats are landing with people; and while they may not always know what it is that they like or are even listening to, something has resonated with them and has people seeking out more.

Starting to see the direct correlation between EDM and a regions HQ?

Today we find ourselves on the cusp of GREMN Volume 2, Rob Bliss’ 2nd installment of the Grand Rapids Electronic Music Night; for those of you not in attendance last year it was certainly a pinnacle moment in the evolution of the EDM scene. It caught many people (including me) off guard for a number of reasons not relevant to this writing; but the significant take away from the evening was that people in the '616' were ready to get their boogie on, and served as a bit of a wake up call within the EDM community that people were not only ready... but perhaps hungry for this sound as well. 

GREMN’s musical representation will cover most EDM genres including House, Techno, Progressive, and Dubstep from local faves Jarret Wallace, Brandon Hill, Steve Swift, and SuperDre. This year's event adds Chicago's Jason Kalendr as the headliner, a Detroit native and MSU grad that has gone global with his talent as a DJ and EDM producer.

Hence on July 30th the EDM community will be out in unison to support something greater than it’s parts in search of our HQ; something we cannot always put words to, perhaps Sander Kleinenberg's global smash (http://bit.ly/bdUOkb) effectively sums it up best...

This is our sound, this is our truth, our religion, our youth
This is our work, this is our chance, our message, our dance
This is our pride, this is our sweat, our joy, our bet
This is our system, our club, our song, our dub
This is our night.

It's a good time to be part of the evolution in Grand Rapids... the Medical Mile is quickly defining medicine for a new generation, Fast Company magazine rated Grand Rapids as 'America's Greenest City', we know we got Google's attention during the Google Fiber initiative... without question it is an appropriate time to ask the question about Grand Rapids 'Hip Quotient' and what can we do individually to increase our regions HQ. 

So to that friend I referenced early on... a classic saying within EDM culture is "Stand Up to Get Down"; it is now time to walk that walk... one person, one song, one beat at a time.