09/11/2025
I haven't shared this story with many people. But at one of the festivals I DJ'd at many years ago, someone died of an overdose on the first night.
This bothered me for a long time and made me question if I should really be providing music for places that tempt people to use drugs and put themselves in danger. I've also had many friends become addicts after becoming ravers, including myself.
I will probably make some people angry with what I'm going to say next. But I've learned that the truth is more important than being liked.
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People justify deaths at raves and festivals by saying things like, "well, in a city with the same amount of people, people die of overdoses too". Well, my rebuttal to that is... the places in cities that people die of overdoses are not good places. In healthy positive environments, people aren't ODing.
I don't want to cut other people's events down. There are many things I love about festivals and raves that other people organize - things that are far more impressive than anything I've ever accomplished. But I believe that even if there are a lot of good things about something, that doesn't mean we shouldn't call out the bad.
I don't believe that the event organizers are completely at fault. Those of us that have chosen to take drugs definitely bear a lot of the responsibility. But I believe as event organizers, it's our duty to provide places that are actually having a positive impact on people's lives and not harming them.
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I love Electronic Music and DJing, I think many of the events I've attended are really cool and beautiful, and I've made some incredible friends through the scene in my 18 years of raving. Lots of positive has come from it and I have some very cherished memories. But the bad stuff is REALLY bad, and I think we have to do something about it.
I hope instead of angering people with my opinion, it instead encourages you to reevaluate and consider how you can start a positive movement in your music endeavors like I am trying to do with this company.