SOME STALGIA IS BETTER THAN NOSTALGIA
I have a theory that if scientists could replicate the feeling of nostalgia in pill-form, it would be ecstasy’s more popular cousin. But until that day comes… listening to old music is the best way to bring back those vibes.
Legendary merch stash from Hugh Waters (Facebook, “BLOGHOUSE ARTEFACTS” GROUP, 2024)
Growing up in LA in the mid-late 2000s, few memories are as fraught with nostalgia for me as the bloghouse years circa 2006-2010. iPhones had just entered the scene but BBMs and flip phones still reigned supreme. We had to enter physical rooms to connect to the internet, before it became an omnipresent force in each of our pockets. We had then what we crave now - intentional, digital connection and true community. And the bloghouse years brought just that.
Steve Aoki, Mark “The Cobrasnake” Hunter and Katy Perry. Iconic. (WIRED)
Sandra Song of PAPER Magazine called “bloghouse” “an umbrella term for a wide-spanning cultural movement that was simultaneously a party scene, a fashion trend and an all-encompassing lifestyle centered on a “very certain kind of dance music.” Picture neon accessories, 80s synths fused with harsh, lo-fi electro beats… and a whole lot of American Apparel. Nightlife photographer Mark Hunter, aka The Cobrasnake, captured the essence of this emerging scene in LA, granting legendary status as one of the pioneers of the modern influencer movement. He was our Andy Warhol in a post Studio-54 world.
Neon colors, glowsticks, digital cameras and sunglasses indoors. Welcome to the Bloghouse era. (Getty Images/PYMCA Avalon)
In 2007, God gave us Yelle - a French electro pop band with a female lead that came to power with the cult-classic YouTube video for Tepr’s remix of their track “A cause de garçons.” IYKYK. We busted out the Tektonik dance moves on our Highschool’s Battle of the Bands dance floor, DJ’d by our very own RL Grime (who went by Clockwork at the time). I’d dance my ass off in my SebastiAn tee, orange high top converse and navy blue American Apparel Zip hoodie. I was chosen as the art class DJ, connecting my iPod to our dingy speaker each day with thoughtfully curated playlists by the likes of MSTRKRFT, Chromeo, Boys Noize, Uffie, Crystal Castles, Fake Blood, Crookers, Cut Copy, Digitalism, Surkin, and DJ Mehdi. Am I painting a clear enough picture? It was the shit, and everyone was on board.
A new religion is born. JUSTICE, Dec. 10, 2007 in New York City. (Johnny Nunez, BILLBOARD)
In April 2009 I attended my first and last Coachella. I wore neon green shorts and the iconic “LEGALIZE GAY” ringer tee from American Apparel, and I carried nothing but my trusty LG shine. Not a single picture from that event, and hardly any memories. But what I’ll never forget was being in the Sahara tent, mid-Sunday, with Bloody Beetroots thrashing alongside MC Steve Aoki …“1..2.. woop, woop.” Once again, IYKYK. That was my first taste of live electronic music, and 15 years later, that memory still ranks in top three event memories. Anyone else that was there will tell you the same.
You can’t spell “Bloghouse” without “The Bloody Beetroots.” (RESIDENT ADVISOR)
Looking back, there's a real bittersweetness knowing that those days are gone. It’s only a matter of time until the internet exists in our literal eyeballs and our hearts beat with WiFi signals. We will never be able to go back to that magical time where, like a climbing stock, technology was something exhilarating and coming of age, not a soul sucking, omnipresent entity. Back then, electronic music, specifically bloghouse, was done in a DIY way that democratized a previously closed-off industry.
It was a revolution for the people, by the people, marking the first generation to experience the privilege of having access to thousands of songs on demand, right in their pockets. And unlike previous years, these songs could be freely-owned if you were creative and tech-savvy enough to take advantage of platforms like Limewire and blogs like Hypem, founded by teenager Anthony Volodkin. Publicists, who once sent tangible music samples in the form of records, tapes, and CD’s, were now emailing the latest Mp3 to college nerds like Volodkin in the hopes that their client would become the next immediate sensation. What seems ordinary now was revolutionary then - it was arguably the dawn of internet virality.
Steve Aoki started Dim Mak Records in his UCSB apartment 1996 at just 19 years old. His label, along with Ed Banger records, defined the electronic music of the era and gave rise to EDM as we know it now. (LA TIMES)
So, if scientists ever do put nostalgia into a pill, sign me up. Because nothing in the last 50 years can complete with this symbiotic level of cultural and technological achievement. The bloghouse era was truly unique and laid the foundation for music and technology as we know it today. It was a time when innovation and creativity flourished and when advanced technology was still a choice, not something bombarding us against our will on the daily.
Catch me OD’ing to memories of a time when the world was a hell of a lot more electrifying. Until then, here’s a mix of some of my favorite songs from that era.
- SID
