For Johnson, the arduous task of organizing, digitizing and properly preserving these pieces of music history - all of which are stored in a climate controlled environment - started as an ode to his family of fellow ravers in the Bay Area. “I do this to give back to a scene that gave me so much over the years in the way of friendship and enlightenment,” Johnson explains. “I believe that love is left behind in the memorabilia and I took on the job to preserve it.”

The website started off as a database for his personal collection of flyers - a tool he could use to reminisce with friends about “the good old days” in the early California underground scene. Soon after launching, friends began asking if they could donate their memorabilia to the site, and the project took on a whole new lease of life.

In order to “keep with the original underground ethos”, the Rave Preservation Project only accepts paper contributions and does not exchange money for any memorabilia. Eventually, donations from all over the world were flying in for Johnson to organize and share online. The website features over 2,400 galleries with rave flyers from 23 countries - all of which are meticulously organized by event, country, state or province and city or town.

“The memorabilia is a reminder to live a loving life, cherish those you care for, give more than you take, always grow and become a better person and leave everywhere you go a better place than how you found it,” states Johnson. Serving as a point of remembrance for some and a catalyst of inspiration for others, the deep-seated magic that lives within dance music flyers is something that the Rave Preservation Project strives to share and protect. “A little thing like a flyer that may have led someone to an event with untold amounts of positive energy is worth preserving.”

Check out the Rave Preservation Project here.

We picked out 75 of our favorite flyers from five different countries out of the Rave Preservation Project's massive archive. Check them out below.

Cameron is Mixmag's Jr. Editor. Follow him on Twitter here