In 1995 a website named Erowid was founded by an organization called “Fire & Earth Erowid.” The site actually remained as a part-time project up until the end of the 90’s. The website specialized in the controversial niche of providing accurate, specific and responsible information about how psychoactives are used around the world. The site soon became a cross between a library and a journal.
During that same year a jewelry maker named John Dwight wrote a letter to the city to request a traffic tunnel to shoot for a “promotional video compilation.” The idea was initially used during the filming of Stephen King’s “The Stand” which took place in Pittsburgh. However, Dwight’s motive was not to simply shoot a video but to throw a party – Tunnelvision. The city approved and this event went down as one of the most legendary parties on the East Coast.
The Tunnelvision party hosted artists like DJ Sun, Speedy J and Dieselboy. The stage was set up with a wall of television sets next to the dj booth and 1500 ravers danced around in baggy clothes. Halfway into the night a large man stripped down naked in the middle of the party and began humping the speakers. He then attempted to charge the television sets next to the booth but was stopped by Joe Lesesne. The naked man was then loaded into a minivan and kept safe for the rest of the night but became an implanted memory for party attendees. Midway into the night, neighbors in the surrounding area began complaining over noise. This sparked media interest. The event hit the news by the next morning and marked as a turning point for the Pittsburgh scene.
In 1994 Fuel Productions, headed by Rick Worth aka Stickman, hosted Synovial Fluid. The event featured Deadly Buda, Ryde, and Dieselfboy. This was one of the largest Pittsburgh raves during that time period. A week after Tunnelvision, Rick Worth hosted a party at the Washington County Fairgrounds. They had forecasted that the party would pull at least 1000 people, however only 300 showed up. This marked Pittsburgh’s first slowdown.
Across the United States in the deserts, Full Moon Gatherings were growing in popularity. Around 1993 a group of individuals had felt that the rave scene was becoming too commercialized. Their inspiration came from the Wicked full moon parties in San Francisco. The first Full Moon Gathering was hosted o in the Lake Castaic region north of Los Angeles. sound system was soon brought into the desert, however the first few events were nothing record-breaking and attendance was low. Soon the crew was completed by DJ Daniel, John Kelley, DJ Brian, Dj Treavor, Petey, Mr. Annand and Tha Roman. In February of 1997 directions were given out over KCRW radio and an attendance of over 2000 showed up for that particular Full Moon Gathering. In the morning of that event, helicopters flew over the party and police in riot gear descended upon the crowd. Following this, Moontribe began making their events more difficult to access by limiting advertisement of events and finding land far away from civilization.
In 1995, however the scene was experiencing a boom coming out of Chicago. Carlos Sosa aka DJ Sneak developed a new sound that would revolutionize house music forever. The disco filtered grooves became Sneak’s signature sound. The new sound would inspire artists such as Daft Punk and Basement Jaxx.
In 1996 people all around the world were taking cues from Chicago house. Boris Dlugosch produced vocal house bomb “Keep Pushin.” At the same time Strictly Rhythm Records had become one of the first dance labels to recognize the value of actively licensingsingles to non-US territories and actively exploited the advantage. The label continued to push out songs regularly, along with Henry Street Music which license The Bucketheadz popular track “The Bomb.”
Armand Van Helden - Mecca Toast
Norty Cotto - Time To Rock A Party
DJ Sneak - Throw Your Hands Up
Da Mongoloids - Spark Da Meth (Bangin Like A Benzi Mix)
Aleem - Filtri Organi
Ruffneck - Everybody Be Somebody
Boris Dlugosch - Keep Pushin' (Pushin Mix)
Freestylers - Don't Stop (Deep Energy Mix)
ATFC - In & Out Of My Life (Lab Rats Dark NIght Vocal)
That Kid Chris - I Believe
