I'm oringinally American, and about 8 years ago I moved to the UK cause I couldent find any raves in DC at that time (96). It wasn't the only reason, but it was a persuasive factor in my decision to move. As could be expected I found shitloads of raves/clubs whatever you want to call it, and became addicted to techno, so when all my friends from the US came over here to visit, I took them out to places like Atomic Jam or HOG and soon enough they were hooked as well.

I went back to the US this summer for the first time since september 2001 and was surprised at how much some of my old buddies had been pushing techno. And at how receptive alot of people had been to it. My mate James has always known loads of people, and over the past couple of years he has been on a mission to get people hooked on techno, and he's been doing a damn good job of it. In Leesburg, VA, where I used to live, he's got a little gang of troops who have all got copies of Reason, and they are all well addicted to making tunes, as well he has extended deck sessions at his house and as a result quite a few people he knows can now DJ, and its techno they want to spin. He's been out in Kansas City, pushing it out there, in Florida, and in Minneapolis. I think a few more people like this, and maybe things would get rolling. Those with laptops, take them around with you, play techno at people, and then say look, you can make stuff like this, and show them reason. Get them round to yours and show them how to spin. This is obviously the long game, but also a good one, cause if people are making tunes or spinning them, they are going to want to show them off, so they'll be blagging loads of people into listening to it, and so it goes...

That might sound stupid, but I think there is some truth in it. We managed to make a techno scene here in Shrewsbury, where there wasn't one before. We made loads of friends, got them to a party then played them techno, and then threw another party, and did this over and over until they liked it. So to all the people in the US, I reckon keep it simple, just throw some parties for your buddies, just concentrate on having a laugh, but keep techno as the soundtrack, and get people interested in not just listening, but in pushing it to more people.

I'll be heading back to VA come springtime 2005, and we'll be doing some sort of parties somewhere. Anyone in the northern VA area, come and team up, cause we'll definately be raving, it'll be a laugh. In fact, anyone in VA interested in techno but short of a rig should get in touch with my mate, he spins techno, makes some decent music, and most importantly, he's got a 3k rig, flightcased decks and mixer, pretty much everything necessary to do a party.