Exported out of Chicago and Detroit in the late 80s, House and Techno music washed back up on US shores in the early 90s, repackaged as ‘Rave’ (Hardcore Techno) by the English, Belgians, Germans, et al. UK live acts like The Shamen, 808 State, Altern-8 and The Prodigy began to put a face to what most Americans considered to be ‘faceless’ music while the Alternative Dance Music era of American clubbing faded into the background.
Before the World Wide Web made connecting with like-minded heads as easy as a few clicks, news of underground dance culture spread through word-of-mouth and DIY fanzines—called ‘zines—published and distributed by fellow DJs, artists, and insiders at record shops, clothing stores, and other hangouts.
Based in the city of Tampa in Central Florida, one of America’s most fertile scenes, TRiP MAGAZEEN publishers Peter Wohelski, DJ Three, and Grumptronix document burgeoning US rave culture whilst keeping tempo with the global village from 1992 through 1994. Across 16 issues, never before compiled online or in print, TRiP traverses the underground through the eyes of its progenitors during the peak & dissolution of Rave as a major label commodity. Over 750 multi-genre record reviews and DJ/retail charts provide a detailed sonic roadmap along the way.
Created pre-internet on early desktop publishing tools, TRiP conducted over 60 of the earliest American interviews from recording artists, DJs and luminaries including Aphex Twin, The Prodigy, Moby, Richie Hawtin & John Acquaviva (Plus 8), DJ Hell, J. Saul Kane (Vinyl Solution), Cabaret Voltaire, Orbital, The Orb, Autechre, Laurent Garnier, Dubtribe Sound System, Hardkiss Music, Caspar Pound (Rising High Records), Mixmaster Morris, Inner City, Terre Thaemlitz (aka DJ Sprinkles), Paul van Dyk, Seefeel, Black Dog Productions, Future Sound Of London, Global Communications, jungle/drum n bass pioneers Dan Donnelly (Suburban Bass), Rob Playford, A Guy Called Gerald and the late psychedelic explorer / counterculture author / rave philosopher Terence McKenna.
In over 2 1/2 years of publishing, TRiP’s coverage garnered the attention of bigger UK dance culture bibles DJ Magazine, Mixmag, and Jockey Slut, as well as German fanzine Size, with credited quotes from its interviews appearing in stories on Aphex Twin, Future Sound of London, and Laurent Garnier. TRiP even received a postcard from enigmatic Underground Resistance co-founder Mad Mike Banks expressing his utmost respect for TRiP’s coverage of Detroit artists and releases.