So DJ Mag recently ran a feature ''Exploring the Scottish Highlands blossoming dance music scene'' and the parties which I grew up on got a little shout out.
Thanks to Lewis Lowe, DJ and co-founder of Redstone Press, who hails from the same hometown as I do. “For transparency, I am not technically a Highlander — I grew up in Moray — but it’s the same part of the world.” (5 minutes driving from our hometown you'll cross the official border of what is 'the Highlands'. It's quite misleading actually, as the West side of the highlands is actually waaaay further South than we are. The border runs diagonally North until it reaches our pocket of the Moray Firth. When I meet someone from outside of Scotland, I say I'm from the Highlands for easiness sake. But my local friends and I officially refer to it as 'Up North'.)
“Only when I started playing and attending free parties in the Highlands did I really get exposed to the culture, and the free party scene is a completely different culture to that of prescribed club experiences — but one that I think has helped me to keep a somewhat DIY, ‘fuck the system’ approach to what I do now.”
Having our local free party scene mentioned in DJ Mag really made me smile. I've been to my fair share of raves in a few different countries, and those which I grew up on still stand out as the best. You may think my rose-tinted glasses of teenage-hood and ecstasy are making me biased, but really, everything - from the sound quality to the location to the community spirit and party goers - was 10/10. (Or maybe, Scottish patter is just unbeatable, it's a possibility).
We were so spoiled growing up, having experienced such outstanding raves before even setting foot through a club. Although I lived in a town with no clubs (and a very small population) dance music was around me from a young age and there were so many DJs (really good DJs) around. And when June would roll around, the majority of the town would flock to RockNess (just down the road) to indulge in big headliners and names from all over the UK and further afield. (I saw the Prodigy on my 15th birthday. My friend's mum came to pick us up at midnight.)
'Lowe describes the community atmosphere on the Highlands underground music scene as one forged on loyalty, where clubbers return to the same promoters’ nights again and again. He also believes that the dearth of purpose-built nightclubs is a silver lining. “DIY nights in function rooms of pubs and other odd places is what had to happen,” he reasons. “And I think that those spaces outnumbering actual club events is unique, and makes for a brilliant vibe.”'
This part also made me chuckle to myself, remembering huge sound systems stacked in village halls and deep chats in out-dated frilly bathrooms. Who'd have thought we'd make it to the pages of DJ Mag.
Read Clair Francis' fill article for DJ Mag: https://djmag.com/features/exploring-inverness-and-scottish-highlands-blossoming-dance-music-scene
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