The year 2018 was quite an incredible one for music in Cape Town. Audiences witnessed a fresh revival of the questionable indie scene, and the calibre of international acts that visited our shores sent shivers down our spines. Although the months preceding Rocking the Daisies (one of the biggest music festivals in Africa), we witnessed a counter culture develop and like an earthquake a divide formed among audiences. Their options for the first weekend of October were between the popular yet somewhat problematic Rocking the Daisies, and being sonically immersed in techno rhythms at a new festival called Small Town Beat. The fact that the counter culture bloomed from the techno crowd highlighted the significance of the techno scene in Cape Town.

If someone told me it’s the biggest movement in the city, I wouldn’t argue with the individual. I don’t have too much of a keen ear for techno music nor do I attend many techno related festivals, but even if you’re just a bystander to the scene like myself you’re still bound to be exposed to the ‘duf duf duf’ and the riveting synths of techno. The sounds associated (Deep Tech/Tech-House/Minimal etc.) runs rampant over popular festivals and parties in Cape Town – even at events based on food such as Feastival. Because I am after all a bystander, I’ve interviewed:

In my respective discussions with each of individual, we covered the ‘Techno Culture’ in the city and the key figures that are involved in sustaining the heartbeat of the scene.

Techno may very well be in the same Whatsapp group as other Electronic genres, but it certainly has its own personality and attitude. Dear readers please do not confuse Techno as EDM, or Trance. It is a kind of electronic music generally characterized by fast synths, high energy beats, heavy use of samples and a guided sense of repetition throughout the track. In genres such as Dubstep or EDM the drop or a particular bassline tends to be the focus. Techno offers a different kind of gift presenting itself in the form of the overall groove or rhythm of a track, partly explaining why people can spend +- 8hours in a club and only leave once the sun has crowed the city skyline. Beyond the actual music, the essential principle of techno is crossing borders, experimenting, and DIY. Fans evolve into DJs or even party promoters and networks are formed without established structures. Modular, the club leading the techno wave in Cape Town offers a surreal form of escapism where there’s a high chance you won’t remember a single melody from a track you heard, but only the feeling you had of being there.

It all started at Vice City… Oh so I thought. My interaction with Rayne revealed that before Vice City a spot named Bullion Bar was THE place locals would be absorbed into the dark world of ‘duf duf duf’. By dark, I mean a space deprived of light. According to Sebastian it was a small basement venue that cultivated the culture through exposing audiences to music never heard before in the city. He also stated that it paved a way for the popular Vice City particularly because of the music, the overall experience, and it provided a home for the weekend warriors of the morning light. After the closure of Bullion Bar, Vice filled the void of a city which lacked a prominent techno community and just in a matter of months… Four o’clock (in the morning) became ‘Vice o clock’. With the majority of clubs in Cape Town closing at 4am, Vice didn’t just cater towards techno enthusiasts but also towards the young and restless. Additionally, between the time of Bullion’s departure and Vice City’s rise, festivals in city and outside of the city garnered some much needed momentum with more locals displaying signs of interest. As time went on Vice City grew in popularity, but it also grew out of control. Countless people would stroll through its doors and navigate their way straight to into the bathrooms and spend a good 15 minutes doing things we’d tell our future kids not to do. Vice became knee deep with their reputation with drugs. That was the least of their worries though. The law simply wasn’t on their side and they had legitimate reasons not to be.

– The club didn’t have a business nor a liquor license yet they continued to trade with a disregard of the legislation.

– Vice city was not sound-proofed.

– The establishment continued to trade even after they were informed by authorities to cease activities

– Trading beyond the legislated operating hours occurred frequently.

– Surrounding buildings experienced severe noise disturbances.

All this and more resulted in the death of Vice City on the 21st of August 2016, thus leaving the city without a ‘Techno Hub’. This moment wasn’t only permeated with sadness, but in many ways, this came as a blessing in disguise.

Festivals and clubs embracing electronic arts sprouted all over and right now, it is not just a scene but also a regulated industry. The tide of popularity in Cape Town has shifted from live music to an electronic wave that’s energizing the masses in a different kind of way. I asked Jed Cohen about this shift, and he stated, “Bands became expensive for clubs and festivals to book. Booker’s started to realize they could pay a DJ a tenth of what a band would cost for the same set time. The larger cultural change towards electronic music has given rise to a multitude of artists who are releasing and playing ‘Techno Music’ at local festivals and clubs”. Sebastian also added to this topic when he raised the point of South Africa’s weak exchange rate, along with the global shift in music trends contributing to the decline of live band performances.

Even with the birth of numerous clubs, for some time after the closure of Vice City, a venue that held virtues associated with the underground was missing. The answer to this was a place called Modular. Currently, it is tagged as ‘the Techno hub of Cape Town’. Photographer Aaron Polikoff highlighted the difference between Vice City and Modular is that if you spend any night/morning at Modular; you’re guaranteed to hear various forms of Techno. In Vice City, some nights you would hear Deep House or just other kinds of electronic music all night. The other factor that makes Modular different to any other club is their ‘No Photos’ rule.

Jed Cohen elaborated this concept was originally borrowed from European Techno institutions such as Berghain/Panorama Bar. He further goes on to say “we are trying to create a space removed from the omnipresence of social media and smartphones, thus the chance to dance, interact with others and ultimately have an enjoyable night out”. As you arrive at the hub, the gatekeeper stops you and places a tiny green sticker over your cell phone’s camera lense. The tunnel you’re walking through is shrouded with an air of murkiness, yet the light at the end inspires a sense of mystique for what’s about to come. The moment you open those doors, you’re enlivened by techno beats pummeling through your spirit as you step into a low ceiling space that is designed to almost look like a dungeon.

“Our vision was to create a space that allows the artists who perform there, the freedom to experiment and push the status quo with different sounds and styles and in turn allowing the clientele who frequent the club the opportunity to receive a truly unique musical experience every time they walk through the doors”, said Jed. Over the last two years, Modular has hosted some of the biggest names in techno such as DVS1, Shlomo, Antigone and Lucy just to name a few. The impressive residency line up is another contributing factor to why Modular has cemented its status among the local and international techno scene.

The most popular trend I notice within the community is the ‘all black’ attire from the techno crowd. When I asked Rayne, “What does the term Techno Culture mean to you?” her immediate response was “Black shirts and doof doof music”. It’s great that other alternative scenes in Cape Town can be so fashion orientated, but at the same time it is very easy for ‘bystanders’ of particular scenes to feel like outsiders because their choice of clothing may not be ‘edgy or hip’ enough. In our chat, Sebastian mentioned that the trend started with DJs wearing all black, be it for ease when touring or for showing their goth/punk roots. From there on it was adopted by their fans. And honestly this is great for audiences since it doesn’t put pressure to look a certain way or to stand out as the majority of people would be wearing something similar.

Besides the black shirts, the other prevalent trend within techno parties is the use of drugs – particularly MDMA says Aaron. Drugs are a normal occurrence when it comes to parties. Although Aaron and I spoke about the differences he notices between techno and other kinds of festivals, and he mentioned the higher rates of drug usage within techno associated events. “I personally don’t think it is just for the rush, substances are a way to stay awake till the early hours of the ‘jol’ and a way for people who aren’t used to techno to accept the occasionally hard rhythms.” Rayne believes otherwise. She states that DANCE music will always be synonymous with drugs. “Unfortunately, people that have not opened themselves up to experience the greater variety of festivals or events appear to believe that drug use is predominantly techno centric”.

Festivals such as Bazique, Wolfkoppe Weekender, Future Frequency Festival, CTEMF (Cape Town Electronic Music Festival) and Small Town Beat have steadily become the flag bearers for techno. The disclaimer though is that there aren’t any ‘real’ techno festival in Cape Town says Sebastian. Under the broader meaning of the term, the festivals mentioned above can be considered techno parties although a festival which exclusively jams the hypnotic sounds of techno isn’t actually present in the city. Small Town Beat have done an incredible job of highlighting the prominence of the techno community through attracting a large audience despite competing with Rocking the Daisies, a fiesta hosting names like Mura Masa, 6lack and Sticky Fingers as international headliners in 2018. As long as the organizers for the various festivals and clubs continue providing a sense of remarkable escapism and solidarity pervades throughout the community, this scene – or should I say lifestyle – is only likely to grow beyond the borders of our imagination.