WRITTEN BY DAN BAIN – FOR·MA·TIVE CONTRIBUTING WRITER.
As a kid growing up in the suburbs of Detroit in the late 90’s, we were poisoned by shit commercial radio and a general disconnection from the richness of Detroit’s musical history.
Growing up, I fell in love with Wu-Tang, and I was elated to learn about a warehouse party where the GZA was doing a show off the radar. This was where I was introduced to techno and an invisible culture that had been developing for years.
Although I was very late to the party, experiencing the Wild West of Detroit’s rave scene, I was immediately smitten by the way these parties broke every social norm and everyone could just be free—for a moment in time.
It wasn’t long before I was hitting Record Time and Melodies & Memories to chase down records and attempting to DJ on a couple of shitty belt-drive decks.
Fast forward to a point where I’m throwing parties and renting sound, only to get raided by gang squad and seeing familiar faces in a courthouse weeks later.
At some point, I threw what I hoped to be an apex rave, with DJ Three headlining, only to be crushed by the competition.
This was a moment where I realized: if you can’t beat them, join them.
Paxahau acquired the rights to run the Movement Festival in 2006, and I always held their work in the highest regard. I wanted to be a part of the process, and they welcomed me into the fold.
These days, we were a team of seven guys trying to make the most incredible music events in the city possible. The most compelling part of the Paxahau aesthetic was creating a new and unique space for every event. We were landing in the same venues often, but bringing in a completely different level of production and reconfiguring a room so it was unrecognizable. These values resonated with me deeply.
I started work doing promo, flyer duty for the 20+ events annually, in addition to being part of the core team on-site at Movement to connect all the dots and make sure everything was delivering to the standards we held ourselves to.
Not many years later, I met Eli & Charlie from Soul Clap, who really changed my life as a DJ and selector, helping me feel more comfortable leaning into the music that I loved the most.
It was an honor to be one of the core local DJs to represent the House of EFUNK in its early days at TV Lounge, which led to some unforgettable moments (especially alongside Mister Joshooa riding the sunrise in the alley).
In 2013, I moved to Houston and suddenly realized how spoiled I had been growing up in Detroit.
I have to drop a DEEP shout-out to Henry Chow, Sascha Braverman, and Noey Lopez, whose Rekliner events in Houston were the only thing that felt familiar to me.
I started my own event series called The Release in Houston on Tuesdays on a beautiful patio by the airport. It became an oasis for the weirdos in a town that had a very small pocket for rave culture.
Eventually, I met Ross Kelly and Angelo Vasquez, who became my brothers and partners in crime.
We established a warehouse space called WAYS, and I brought the boys back to work with me at Movement to find inspiration.
Over time, it became an inimitable establishment in the Houston scene. It was incredible to apply everything I learned from Paxahau, Movement, and the Detroit rave scene to a blank canvas in Texas.
In 2018, I moved back to Detroit and have been pushing The Release as a channel for DJs to be their truest selves. Fuck the crowd—play the records you want to hear and show them why you love them.
Looking ahead, I’m taking The Release on the road and blending field recordings with patrons and promoter interviews over sets at various gigs. Trying to tell more of a local story about what makes these scenes, venues, and promoters special.
