In tribute to the underground

Abstract

The dissertation investigates the Electronic Dance Music subculture, and how it has evolved over the years. Focusing on the original underground parties hosting less than two hundred people, the work moves on to describe how moral panics happening in 1993 led the scene to explode into mega-parties attracting up to thousands of Maltese youth. Concentrating on the present scene, the work describes how differences in social class, appearance and power relations existing in the scene today have segregated the subculture's members, giving rise to several 'crowds' pertaining to different DJs or types of parties. This study focuses on the existing disparities between these crowds, and highlights their preferred drug of choice, as apparently different EDM scenes have differing drug preferences. It also gives an insight to what happens at illegal parties, what the aims of illegal parties are, why they occur, and what are the problems that illegal parties are presently facing. The dissertation combines a triangular approach of research techniques. These include an extensive literature review, a semi-structured interview with party promoters, as well as a focus group with members of the subculture. The members of the focus group have all been present from the beginning of the subculture, all form part of 'crowds', are all recreational drug users, and have all been to several illegal parties. In view of these factors, the participants of the focus group were in a position to comment on all of the aspects investigated in this study. The dissertation shows that the Electronic Dance Music scene is dynamic and ever changing. It also reveals that a number of young Maltese have embraced recreational drug-use and have shaped a life-style that revolves around the use of music and illegal substances.