Gamelan, techno-primitivism, and the San Francisco rave scene 1

In August of 1997, at a rave in the foothills of the Sierra mountains, a five-member Balinese gamelan ² group based in Santa Cruz, California, became part of the Vibe. ³ Via a powerful performance experience that fused techno music with traditional Balinese gamelan, the group’s participation in this alternative cultural event ⁴ led to subsequent invitations to perform at raves in the San Francisco area, as well as an invitation to cut a collaborative CD with a DJ in May of 1998. Gamelan Anak Swarasanti ⁵ has since performed repeatedly at events hosted by various Bay Area rave collectives. I find this musical appropriation illuminates two notable aspects of these local events: the value of a kind of musical structure commonly present in communal gatherings leading to altered states of consciousness ⁶ and the juxtaposition of a nostalgia for the “primitive” and exotic with a reverence for high technology. ⁷ I maintain that a paradoxical “techno-primitive” ideology comes into relief as the processes by which this Southeast Asian musical ensemble has recently been incorporated into the San Francisco rave scene are examined. This techno-primitivist construction, one amidst multiple stances performed in rave, involves the interrelated roles of cultural borrowing, homogenized “ethnic-ness,” and the quest for “authenticating” experiences in the context of the technocultural present.