Exported out of cities like Chicago and Detroit in the late 80’s, House and Techno music washed back up on US shores in the early 90’s, repackaged by the English and Germans as ‘Rave’. UK live acts like The Shamen, Altern8, 808 State, Utah Saints, and others began to put a face to what most Americans considered to be a ‘faceless’ genre.
Before the proliferation of the World Wide Web made connecting with like-minded heads as easy as a few clicks via social media, news of underground dance music and culture spread slowly through word-of-mouth networks and regional, DIY magazines – called fanzines - published and distributed by fans to record shops, clothing stores, and other hangouts.
Based in Central Florida, one of America’s most fertile underground scenes, TRiP Magazeen documented the bourgeoning US rave scene from a uniquely Florida perspective from March 1992 to December 1994.
Published pre-internet on early desktop publishing tools, founder/editor Peter Wohelski and staff captured the wide-eyed enthusiasm of this new culture movement across 17 issues, including the first American interviews from global electronic music innovators, iconic record labels, influencers, and legends such as Aphex Twin, Prodigy, Moby, Richie Hawtin & John Acquaviva, Paul van Dyk, Orbital, The Orb, Autechre, Dubtribe Sound System, Hardkiss Music, Rising High Records, ambient DJ extraordinaire Mixmaster Morris, French DJ legend Laurent Garnier, UK drum’n’bass icons A Guy Called Gerald and Rob Playford, Future Sound of London, Global Communication, and more.
Over the 2 ½ years of publishing, TRiP’s coverage garnered the attention of bigger UK dance culture bibles such as DJ Magazine, Mixmag, and Jockey Slut, with credited quotes from its interviews appearing in stories on Aphex Twin and Future Sound of London and receiving a postcard from enigmatic Underground Resistance co-founder Mad Mike Banks expressing his utmost respect for TRiP’s coverage of Detroit artists and releases.
TRIP MAGAZEEN: The Complete Collection 1992-1994 also includes a rare interview by the late psychedelic explorer, counterculture author, and rave philosopher Terence McKenna.