Goa Gil
Jan 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By Lucinda Catchlove
What constitutes today's commercial trance is a long and twisted journey from the trance-inducing rhythmic experiments first heard on the beaches of Goa, India, and perpetuated by Goa Gil, the 50-year-old techno shaman so integral to the birth of Goa trance — and arguably to contemporary trance as a genre. For his dedication to achieving transcendent experiences through music and dance, Goa Gil has become legendary among generations of Goa-trance DJs and traveling seekers of the nirvanic party experience.
Formerly a regular at Nevada's Burning Man festival, Gil is quick to distance himself from commercial trance and rave culture. “I get slightly insulted when people group what I do together with rave, because it's different,” says Gil, who feels the difference lies not only in the music but also in its intent. “For me it's a holy thing. I'm very particular about where I will play and who I will play for. I'm not in it for the money; I'm in it to uplift people's consciousness to the trance-dance experience. Through the trance-dance experience, hopefully people become more sensitive and aware of themselves, their surroundings, the crossroads of humanity, and the needs of the planet. With that awareness comes understanding and compassion. That is the need of the hour and the true Goa spirit.”
Disappointed with the negativity within San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury hippie music scene, Gil set out in 1969 on a journey that led him to Anjuna in the Indian state of Goa, where, throughout the '70s, he oversaw a gathering spot called the Music House. There, jet-set nomads, vagabond hippies, and dedicated travelers gathered during the Christmas holidays and full moons to party, make music, and exchange stories. In the early '80s, Gil grew tired of the routine and began traveling again. On trips to the United States and London, he discovered electronic body music (EBM), German new wave, industrial, hip-hop, and the other burgeoning forms of electronic music.
Returning to Goa, Gil and his cronies set to work bending those futuristic electronic sounds to fit their own concepts, creating the musical model for Goa trance. Taping from records onto Walkman professional tape recorders, Gil edited out the vocals, keeping only the interesting synth and drum machine parts of songs, effectively engaging in a primitive form of sampling that resulted in a continuous psychedelic electrotribal groove. The sound spread: Gil started releasing CDs in 1992 as a member of Kode IV and then moved on to form the Nommos with his wife, Ariane. He also released a steady stream of DJ-mix CDs under his current handle.
The influence of the early Goa-trance scene on Western dance culture cannot be underestimated. Without Goa there would be no Ibiza (though neither the consumeristic hedonism of present-day Ibiza nor the trance that accompanies it reflect the essence of what is now labeled Goa trance). Thanks to the efforts of pioneers such as Goa Gil, Goa trance remains an underground musical movement aimed at creating a spiritual and transcendent experience and based on a global network of artists, labels, and promoters dedicated to throwing parties.
| Want to use this article? Click here for options! |  |
