Four years down the line, the same community has not only increased their voter registration numbers, they have become visibly active. This new opinionated nature of the dance music scene is at odds with its starry-eyed, spirituality-driven beginnings, the very things that kept the underground society viable for as long as it has. Unlike music-based counter-culture movements of the Sixties with psychedelia, the Seventies with punk, and the Eighties with rap, all of which were overtly political in their messages—and in the process collapsed because of those very beliefs—the electronic sounds of the Nineties have been barren of politics.

Emerging on the tail end of Eighties excess, the landscape for dance music was one of general contentment. With nothing to rebel against, and with the music being—for the most part—free of lyrics, there wasn’t any deep message other than creating a community who felt the draw of the hypnotic beats. Skirting attention from the government and media, and without opinions being expressed in groups, which lead to fractionalization and eventually, alienation, the scene persevered much longer than its predecessors.

But in recent times, the community has come under direct attack via the R.A.V.E. (Reducing Americans Vulnerability To Ecstasy) and Patriot (to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes) Acts in particular, and indirectly via numerous activities of the government they would never have expected. Jobs have been dissolved, companies closed, opportunities blocked, not to mention an enduring, ill-advised war, all leading to rampant discontentment in the community.

“When you’re doing pretty well, you figure the gravy train is going to keep going so why does it really matter?” says Texas-based deejay/producer D:Fuse reflecting on the sociopolitical climate four years ago. “Everybody had a job. We were at peacetime. Everybody was in great spirits. [Now] things are really bad.”

“People didn’t realize how bad things could get,” concurs Kristin Aguirre, who is a Southern California schoolteacher by day and involved in club promotion by night. “Thinking back to dance community people I’ve known for 10-12 years, I could imagine them not registering to vote because everybody was quite happy before. I’m tired of being apathetic and thinking that it’s not affecting my world when of course it does.”

This general dissatisfaction with the state of affairs has had the positive effect of bringing political awareness to the members of the community, which in turn has spurred activity. Among these have been rallies in places such as the Capital Grounds in Washington D.C. and the Federal Building in Los Angeles, and high profile advertising campaigns for Moveon.org featuring Moby, the most recognizable of electronic music personalities.

California-based Christopher Lawrence, one of the scene’s notable DJ/producers points out, “We cannot afford to be apolitical anymore. We can’t stand by and say, ‘Someone will look after us.’ Nobody’s going to go, ‘Oh these poor kids, they don’t get to party anymore.’ We have to look after ourselves. Everything that was fought for [in the past] is being eroded in four years’ time. We can’t afford that. It’s unacceptable for us to allow this to happen while we just go to parties.”

Realizing how the scene was being targeted, longstanding music-based non-profit, non-partisan organization Rock The Vote has gotten involved in bringing awareness to the issues for this community, and of their political voice. Teaming up with German uber-DJ/producer Paul Van Dyk to draw attention to the cause, Rock The Vote’s chairperson Jehmu Greene says, “When we launched the [Van Dyk] bus tour at Ultra Fest in Miami [Winter Music Conference], there were 50,000 people in that audience. Not many politicians ever get the opportunity to talk to that many people at once. They don’t understand the power in the numbers behind this community. Unfortunately sometimes it does take our culture coming under attack to get people to understand the importance of the vote. There are a number of issues that have bubbled to the top where the young people are seeing the impact politics have on their life and they are expressing interest and making sure that their opinions count. Especially for the electronic music community, it is important to hold elected officials accountable and show the strength in numbers this community has.”

As a German citizen who lived under Communistic dictatorship for the first 17 years of his life, Van Dyk has particular passion for the democratic system. Although not eligible to vote in the United States, his extensive time in this country and his connection with the audiences here has allowed him to understand and relay matters effectively.

“My involvement isn’t about politics, it’s about democracy,” says Van Dyk who makes a point of wearing t-shirts with slogans such as “You Can Rock The Vote” when he DJs. Van Dyk is also very verbal in his interviews, as are Lawrence and D:Fuse, who are also always seen wearing their beliefs on their clothing. These personalities use their websites to promote awareness via posted information, links to sites such as Rock The Vote, Moveon.org, EMDEF (Electronic Music Defense and Education Fund), and the like. Each is generous with donations to activist groups and in his hometown of Austin, TX, D:Fuse is involved in organizing benefits to raise funds for such groups. D:Fuse also uses his time on the stage to get on the microphone and encourage his audience to first or all register to vote, and secondly, to actually vote. With the thousands of people these deejays are exposed to on a weekly basis, their messages are being seen and heard by a formidable number.

D:Fuse’s record label, System Recordings—one of the larger companies that specializes in electronic music—is gathering together a sampler and putting on an event to raise money for Moveon.org featuring artists from their roster such as Dieselboy, Josh Wink, DJ Rap, among others. All proceeds from the sampler will be donated and the event will have a voter registration area. The label’s website has a pop-up window urging their visitors to vote.

Aguirre has taken a practical tactic beginning with setting up a table to register voters at Los Angeles’ Respect, the weekly party she is involved in, and approaching other promoters to do the same at their events. In her classroom she has a clipboard with voter registration materials so the parents who drop their children off can have the opportunity to register. Focusing on the Latino community, as well as club goers, Aguirre says, “I feel they’re afraid to register to vote, even if they are eligible. They’re shocked at first because they don’t know whether or not it’s real. People are skeptical rather than seeing it as a community service.”

As the election draws closer, Rock The Vote begin sending e-mails, handing out materials, and changing the focus of their talks, and their representatives talks, to the issues at hand. Although highly informed and extremely vocal about the issues, both Lawrence and D:Fuse see a bigger picture than fighting small battles localized to the immediate dance music scene.

“I don’t think people are that aware of other things that need to change,” says D:Fuse. “A mistake we’ve made with the dance community is saying, ‘This is a R.A.V.E. Act, you’re going against us.’ In reality it is going against every American citizen. It is so broad, it has nothing to do with the dance community. It has to do with the absolutely stripping away of our rights. Once people realize that’s what the government is trying to do, hopefully they’ll try to get more involved in other issues as far as our freedoms with the Patriot Act. We need a president that’s going loosen all the things that have come down from 9/11. We’re living in a very scary time.”

The overt goal of these individuals—which is apparent in all their actions and speech—is to remove the current administration from office. The way to reach that goal is to make as much information as possible available to the voters. Each is using the means available to them to get the points across, raise awareness, and lift apathy.

“[I want to] give people the tools to at least push them along to make a decision in voting,” says Aguirre. “If they’re registered and they get this stuff in the mail, even if they don’t go to the polls, they’re getting information and there’s a possibility they may vote.”

“I’m interested in information coming across,” states Van Dyk. “Even if people are not understanding specific issues, there are major focus points of direction [parties] stand for. You can make up your mind about those things. What these old men make up today, we have to deal with tomorrow.”

You can register to vote at Rock The Vote up to 15 days prior to the election, which takes place November 2, 2004.