The Techno Scene In Fort Worth Isnt Out Of Nowhere
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/NQAQ4UTZIBFLDJ4QWQKUKLHISQ.jpg "Fort Worth's techno scene is like no other.")
Dallas has the clubbing and nightlife infrastructure needed to party - a legacy of the famous Stark Club on McKinney Street - but the Texas techno scene is evolving in unexpected ways, crystallized in the current Gen Z techno renaissance in Fort Jones. It's worth it.
Techno music came from black musicians in Detroit, spread to Berlin, throughout Europe and finally to Texas. Texas techno has its problems. First of all, dancing in a warehouse without air conditioning in the summer heat is difficult. Unlike the north, Texas has dancing and nightlife laws (hence our lenient laws ) that only prohibit partying until 2am.
In the beginning, the techno scene was centered around Dallas. DJ and producer Minta George founded his label Down Low Music in Dallas in 1999, making a name for himself with the city's sound and supporting artists like Fort Worth's Plastic Sleeves and Austin's Bill Converse.
At the time, Fort Worth DJ Rick Simpson was playing techno music in Dallas, not Fort Worth.
“I wasn’t focusing on anything in Fort Worth because I knew I could go on tour and [Dallas] was ready to go,” he says. “It was probably 1995, or maybe the early 2000s. I really was a teenager. I played all kinds of rave music, techno and other mixed music... It was a no-frills style because it was not the Internet age,” he said. Everyone is part of a specific group or has a voice enabled. It was just, “This is electronic music, we're going to a party.”
Thiago Varsa was also one of the pioneers of technology in Fort Worth.
“It all started with me visiting places I went to when I was younger and discovering house music and techno in general in cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco, where there was a great DJ culture ", he says.
A small-town boy whose main source of exposure was early Internet culture, Varcao connected with out-of-town artists through MySpace and flew out to see them and buy records.
Verza was also ready to bring techno music to Texas and played his first show at the Rubber Gloves rehearsal studio in Denton.
“We had our first gay or LGBT night at Ruby Gloves,” he says. “We called it Denton Is Burning, after the famous [film] Paris Is Burning .”
Varzao continued to DJ in the area and eventually rented a loft in Cleburne, south of Fort Worth.
“I will be hosting free private parties with world-famous DJs from all over the world,” he says. “It was a group of people from all over Texas and it just took off from there. It was like a party in a safe place, which was unheard of at the time.”
Years later, Skyler Salinas, one of Verhaa's Cleburne bandmates, burst onto the Fort Worth music scene with a punk band and then, after spending time in Mexico, switched to techno music under the name DJ Cowboy.
“I know a lot of people who have been in bands, especially in the punk scene, are into dance music, especially techno,” Salinas says. “Any other city in Texas has a lot of DJs, but their scene isn't necessarily that big. They don't necessarily reach the same number of people... I think we have a bigger, healthier scene now. in DFW and especially in Fort Worth.
Now, Gen Z bands like the Beverly Hills Cowboys are at the forefront of techno music in Fort Worth. The group consists of three permanent DJs: Jesus Freak, Maya Loft and Luna, all 20 years old.
Jesus Freak started throwing parties two years ago.
“It literally started as a small series of parties that I threw with my friends,” he says. “And of course it eventually turned into something more.”
He grew up in a Mexican family, and his childhood was influenced by cumbia and other traditional Latin music. By the way, his uncle was a DJ and allowed him to try his hand at DJing from his computer.
"When I was a kid, I would always go to my cousin's house and play on the computer and listen to some of his songs," Jesus Fricke said.
During the pandemic, he started watching YouTube videos about rave culture and was immediately drawn to the 1990s parties in Chicago, Detroit and Berlin.
“I watched it all happen,” he says. I was very inspired by this idea. I kept telling myself, “I want it here.” “I want the whole rave culture to be here.
Despite all the disasters, the pandemic also had positive sides.
“When the pandemic happened and all the clubs in Dallas were closed, I think it really helped us in some ways,” the DJ said.
Small parties were born from simple gatherings with friends, but still retain their original DIY character.
“I just want people to come here because they play great music and provide a great venue...we create an atmosphere,” Jesus Frick said. “We are doing everything we can to prepare for the show. We ensure that the lighting we have will impress people. We used to use TVs to create the full ambiance.”
Parties have become so big that even seasoned DJs can't ignore them.
"They're bringing in rave, techno, cumbia, Latin music, some '90s electronica elements, and that's what attracts people to come out to the streets now," Simpson says.
The term is of course full of nostalgia, but it is also avant-garde.
“Part of techno music is always about the future and progress,” says Simpson. "And when we always go back, we don't use futuristic formulas or try to create something unique."
Jesus Fricke and the Beverly Hills Cowboys maintain the same security that Varza had years ago in Cleburne.
“The main thing is to create a community where people of all colors, races, genders and backgrounds can come together, feel safe and have fun,” Jesus Frick said. “That was the most important thing for me: creating a safe space for LGBT people first.”
While a new generation in Fort Worth is embracing techno music, longtime DJs are excited to see the culture grow.
“The kids love it,” Varzao said. “Never in my life did I think we would have a safe place for gay people... people just dancing to techno music in a bar. Where I grew up in Fort Worth, there was a lot of rock and roll. There was never any dance music.”
“I really hope that kids will enjoy the music and play for each other and advocate for each other and have this experience together in this environment... It’s important that people feel free to dance with color.”