Ahead of me

I’m 17 years old. The night is young, wet and cold. It was during the time when Dubstep made it’s big breakthrough. All the kids were listening to artists like Skrillex and Knife Party, and so did we. We have dubstep playing through our speakers as we prepare for the night to begin. First we had predrinks at a friend’s house (17 was still a legal drinking age at the time). We can feel the anticipation of the night starting to build up. As the beers start flowing and the tunes start pounding, the vibe starts to build up, and we haven’t even left predrinks yet. A few hours in and we’re ready to go. We take the tram from IJsselstein to Utrecht which would bring us to our destination in 45 minutes. Now this wasn’t just a dubstep party like any other we’ve been to before, no this was something else entirely. This party was my very first encounter with the genre called Drum ‘n Bass. At the time I had no idea, it sounded faster but somewhat similar to Dubstep, but boy was I wrong. I had no idea what I had Ahead of Me…

Camping life at Let It Roll festival 2015, Milovice Airport, Czech Republic

Fast forward almost 8 years to the here and now and I can’t imagine my life without the presence of Drum ‘n Bass every day. Not only am I very passionate about the music, the parties, the artists and the festivals, I have also built my whole social circle around it. Almost all of my current friends are friends who I met either at Drum ‘n Bass events or because of Drum ‘n Bass in any other weird way. I look back at the past 7-odd years and I have been to numerous cities and countries, with so many people who share the same passion for this music. I can say that I’ve become a different person just because of this music alone. It changed my inner and outer social circles as well as how I look at meeting new people and going after new experiences.

The world of Drum ‘n Bass is one where the love of music comes above all else. It can be people screaming at a DJ to rewind that one tune that’s making everyone lose their minds because it’s just so good. It can be travelling 1200 kilometers with 75 people in a bus you organised to a 20.000 people Drum ‘n Bass festival only to be recognised by an old classmate who you haven’t spoken to in years only to find out he has become as much as a fan of the music as you and you instantly click again. It can be meeting someone one the street while playing Pokemon Go who has a cap with the logo of that one amazing party you always go to and you almost don’t even need to introduce yourself to them because you know that you share that one thing that’s the most important to the both of you. It doesn’t matter if you’re at a festival for 20.000 people or at a small venue for just over 200. In this culture, we are all in it for the same thing: Our passion for Drum ‘n Bass.

Enjoying our Hospital Records beer @ Hospitality in the Park 2016, London