Rave culture grew the same way as other music cultures, like rock ’n’ roll, swing, jazz and punk: Young people created their own identity through music, style, fashion and mantra. Like those other genres, electronic music started underground but quickly caught on, outgrowing basement shows and small dance halls, filling stadiums and fairgrounds in some cities.

“I think every music culture, subculture and genre has something that makes it special,” explains Jonathan Hines, known for throwing events with Indy rave promoter Scarab before they moved to Hollywood. “What made the rave culture unique was how so many walks of life could come together and be accepted, mostly for their love of the music.

“In this specific culture, everyone can be something more than just a performer or a spectator,” Hines explains. “Here we had DJs, promoters, sound people, musicians, record store owners, clothing designers, printers, graphic designers and so on who all were little people just like any partygoer, but in the grand scheme of the scene were just as essential as the DJ or the music itself.”

DJ Shiva, a recognized mainstay of techno and dubstep, recalls what made the rave scene so special to her: “I remember a party called ‘3-2-1 Contact’ where [Chicago DJ] Traxx was playing the best set that, to this day, I think I have ever heard: pure jackin’ Chicago house vibes.”

The second room was packed and the house lights were on. “He was spinning and feeding out all of this great energy, and the crowd was just feeding it right back,” she explains. “It wasn’t a performance; it was an exchange between the DJ and the crowd. And the people were dancing and the walls were sweating and the sound system was blown hours before and it was just ... sheer joy.”

Then he dropped Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech over the top of a tune that he was slowly spinning backwards. “It was like time stood still.

“Right then, in that moment, you knew that everyone in that room was feeling the same thing, and it was that moment of connection between people. How do you describe that to someone who has never experienced it?”

“It’s indescribable, really,” local DJ Chocolate admits. “And when I do try to describe it to someone who’s never gone to one, they think it’s an experience they can live without. That is, until they experience first-hand for themselves, experience that connection with a group of individuals who may be completely different from the type of person they normally associate with. Then it’s like, ‘Man, what have I been missing?’”

“It was a true melting pot,” says Crystal Campbell, who’s been attending Indianapolis raves regularly since she was 16. “And as a girl, I felt comfortable at a party, in a way that I don’t [now] feel in a nightclub. People were respectful of each other. I don’t think I ever heard of a gay guy getting gay-bashed at a rave. I don’t think I ever saw a fight break out in a rave.

A few electronic clubs remain in Indy, but raves have disappeared, aside from informal house parties or the occasional show in a non-traditional venue. Though everyone speaks of the rave scene in Indy in past tense, they still happen all over the world, even as close as Ohio and Illinois. Unfortunately, Indianapolis fought the War on Drugs on all fronts, including skirmishes on many a local rave. More about that crackdown next month.