The Travelers of Dreamstate 2015
I’m going to come clean and start off by saying I almost turned my back on trance completely (don’t cast your stones yet). With many of its household names deciding to jump ship in recent memory, the scene seemed like it was escaping a crash-and-burn landing by the skin of its teeth. I was basically one trouse song away from joining the naysayers club, before my hope was restored this past weekend at Dreamstate.
A preemptive strike that arrived with whispers of the second coming of one of dance music’s longest-standing genres, Insomniac’s inaugural all-trance event was the first of its kind in North American history. Bringing together the most sought-after names all under one roof, the two-day event was the jumpstart trance needed to climb back into the fore.
With all the subgenres getting a crack at the action, and classics getting dropped left and right, Dreamstate truly lived up to the hype of being “your trance destination.” It was especially true for those who traveled many, many miles to be there when it happened. These are a few of the Headliners I bumped into who didn’t want to miss it for the world.
Name: Adam
Age: 21
Hometown: Hungary, but have been living in New York for five years.
What made you want to travel so far to be here this weekend? One word: Trance!
Where did your trance journey start? Believe it or not, I was two years old. I remember my sister always playing trance music in her room. But the song I remember is “Children” by Robert Miles. Even today when I listen to that song, I can’t describe it; it always brings up so many memories from my childhood.
What do you love about the trance community? It’s mostly the music, but also when I think of trance, I have a feeling for those dramatic solo melodies. On the other side, I have a feeling for those drops with the lasers!
Who are you most excited to see at Dreamstate? Sunny Lax! I met up with him after his set. I’ve always planned to see him, but schoolwork would always come up. Bryan Kearney, too—he’s going to destroy everything here.
Name: Karen
Age: 28
Hometown: Minnesota
What made you want to travel so far to be here this weekend? It’s all trance, and I feel like it’s more authentic in terms of the people who like electronic music.
Where did your trance journey start? Going to EDC and seeing the trance artists there. I’ve always been into electronic music, but I started getting into it more so after that.
What makes you most proud to be a part of the trance community? The fact you can wear whatever you want. It’s really upbeat and chill at the same time.
Who are you most excited to see at Dreamstate? I’m here to see everyone and check out new music.
Name: Elianette
Age: 28
Hometown: New York
What made you want to travel so far to be here this weekend? A lot of times when I go to festivals, I find there’s not enough trance. It’s hard to find all the artists that you really want to see. So, when I saw the opportunity to see all the people that I really love to see in one place, I had to do it. Since it’s the holiday weekend, we’ve actually been in L.A. the whole week.
Where did your trance journey start? My parents had me when they were really young. When I was a kid, I would get dropped off at my grandma’s house, and my parents would be off to the Sound Factory bar and a lot of the really famous clubs in New York in the ‘90s. As a kid, I grew up listening to electronic music, and I remember my dad brought home a CD—I can’t remember the name of it, but it had a black cover, and it was all trance. As a kid I loved hearing it, and I just followed that feeling throughout my teens and my 20s. I’ve always been a fan.
What do you love about the trance community? I would say mostly its history. It’s had a longstanding history in electronic music. There are a lot of artists who have been around for 20+ years, and just the simple fact that they’re still making amazing music and they’re still able to stay relevant. It’s a really amazing thing, in my opinion. A lot of these people don’t come to New York much, and when they do, they go to clubs, which is a little uncomfortable. I prefer this environment. It’s the first-ever, so I said, let’s do it.
Who are you most excited to see at Dreamstate? Paul van Dyk, mostly because he’s a veteran and I’ve never seen him live. I’m super excited to see him. I’m a John O’Callaghan fan all the way, so I’m super excited for that.
Name: Cierra and Ryan
Age: 21
Hometown: Originally from Hawaii, but we live in Oregon now.
What made you want to travel so far to be here this weekend? Cierra: I’ve always been a huge fan of trance, since I started in the scene five years ago. When I saw an all-trance lineup, I was like, “We’ve gotta go!”
Where did your trance journey start? C: Probably Above & Beyond, when their Group Therapy album came out. It got me through some hard times, and that’s what made me fall in love with it.
What do you love about the trance community? C: I think just the vibe in general. It’s such a huge family, and it’s got that PLUR vibe that’s hard to find nowadays.
Who are you most excited to see at Dreamstate? C: That’s a hard one. Pretty much everyone, but I’d say Jordan Suckley and Bryan Kearney.
Name: Sara
Age: 26
Hometown: Tampa, FL
What made you want to travel so far to be here this weekend? It was just really based on a trance environment, which is what I always look forward to in a music festival.
Where did your trance journey start? I was 16, and one of my best friends in high school gradually introduced me to all different types of electronic music, and it gradually turned into strictly trance. I was listening to Grum, and now I see him everywhere, and I’m so proud of him.
What makes you most proud to be a part of the trance community? I think the feeling I get whenever I listen to trance—no matter if I’m running in the morning or if I’m just listening to it in my car—the feelings that I feel, it’s not just me feeling it. It’s everyone else feeling it when I have those feels.
Who are you most excited to see at Dreamstate? Paul van Dyk and Aly & Fila—they’ve always had a special place in my heart.
Name: Gagan (Left) and Harleen (Right)
Age: 22 (Gagan) and 27 (Harleen)
Hometown: Vancouver
What made you want to travel so far to be here this weekend? Gagan: The fact that this is the very first all-trance festival in history in North America. That’s exactly what it was.
Harleen: We’re here for the love of trance. We’re part of the Vancouver Trance Family, and this is amazing for us.
Where did your trance journey start? H: It started with Above & Beyond. It was a life-changing experience. It really was.
G: For me, it started with Tiësto—his old trance from 2009 and before. He was who I was exposed to first, and that’s where my love for trance developed.
What do you love about the trance community? G: The trance community is one of the nicest communities you can ever be a part of, the most welcoming you can ever be a part of. You can be lost in the crowd, and all you need to do is find a trance family flag of any sort, and they’ll take you in. They’ll take you in any time.
Who are you most excited to see at Dreamstate? G: Paul van Dyk. He’s a legend.
H: Bryan Kearney. I saw him in Ibiza this year, and he killed it. He is amazing. The energy he brings is unbeatable.
Name: Natalie, Alisa and Justin
Age: 30
Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT
What made you want to travel so far to be here this weekend? Justin: All the awesome people, and just being here with my friends and listening to great trance music.
Where did your trance journey start? J: It was because of my best friend Natalie, here. She took me to my first EDC Las Vegas, and now I just do it all.
What do you love about the trance community? J: How friendly everyone is. Trance fans are always watching out for each other. It’s everyone feeling safe.
Who are you most excited to see at Dreamstate? J: I’m excited to see Paul van Dyk. I’ve been listening to him all day.
Name: Star
Age: 31
Hometown: Portland, OR
What made you want to travel so far to be here this weekend? I love trance music. I’m the founder of Trance Family Oregon. I’ve got my flag with me, actually. I’ve literally been going to trance shows for years. This flag is being retired after this show; it’s going up on my wall.
What do you love about the trance community? I just love the culture and the acceptance. You can come from any background, and no matter where you come from, you’re accepted by the community with open arms. That’s something I struggled with a lot growing up.
Where did your trance journey start? My first show was in 2001 at Dusk ‘til Dawn—it was a local show. I really started getting into trance music when I went to EDC 2010, the last one in L.A. Above & Beyond was amazing.
Who are you most excited to see at Dreamstate? Definitely John O’Callaghan. I saw him in August at Future Sound of Egypt. He can just take you on such a journey with his music. I love to get into it and dance and have a good time with my friends.
Name: Alex and Alison
Age: 25 (Alex) and 30 (Alison)
Hometown: Seattle (Alex). Originally from France, but now in Seattle (Alison).
What made you want to travel so far to be here this weekend? Alex: It’s a very old-school vibe of people who come here to listen to trance. It’s unlike anything else.
Alison: It’s about going back to basics to the old rave days. You know, just feeling those old-school vibes, because you don’t see that anymore.
Where did your trance journey start? Alex: It was probably 2006, in high school. It was ATB’s No Silence album. I didn’t know any other kind of music besides the 1998–2000s trance.
Alison: Back in the early ‘90s with Paul van Dyk’s “For an Angel.” It was way back when.
What do you love about the trance community? Alex: Not to toot my own horn, but I work with Daniel Kandi and Anjunabeats. So, to come here and see the efficiency it’s going at is refreshing. It’s like it’s all coming alive again, because it’s been really underground and almost shoveled under the stool, so to speak. But it’s sold out, and it’s only trance. I can’t explain it. It’s nice to see everyone come together and support this music.
Alison: It feels like a family. The togetherness. It feels like a family reunion.
Who are you most excited to see at Dreamstate? Alex: It’s nice to see Paul van Dyk touring again. It seemed like he kind of took a break for a while, and now he’s back in it. Hands-down, PvD. He’s a legend, and he’s still playing today. It’s inspirational is what it is.
Alison: Paul van Dyk, of course! I’ve been waiting a lifetime to see him. I saw him the first time in February and get to see him one more time tonight. So, I’ve very excited.
Name: Gabby
Age: 21
Hometown: San Diego, CA
What made you want to travel so far to be here this weekend? I wanted to listen to all types of trance.
Where did your trance journey start? Honestly, it started at my first rave, which was Nocturnal Wonderland 2013. My boyfriend showed me what trance was. I didn’t really listen to it before, and I liked that it sounded different than everything else.
What do you love about the trance community? It’s my favorite type of dance music. It makes me feel a very spiritual feeling.
Who are you most excited to see at Dreamstate? I’m here to see Aly & Fila and John O’Callaghan. I’ve seen JOC at a State of Trance in SF, and I’m just excited to see what kind of songs he’s going to play at this show.
Name: Richard and Ciara
Age: 30
Hometown: Richmond, VA
What made you want to travel so far to be here this weekend? Richard: It’s the first trance festival in the US. It just so happened to fall on our anniversary. Once we saw the dates, it was sealed.
Where did your trance journey start? R: My first exposure to trance was in 2007. I was fortunate enough to see Armin at Fur Nightclub in D.C. It was an amazing experience. I honestly had distaste for electronic music at first. Then I went and saw him for the first time, and it changed my entire life.
What do you love about the trance community? R: The diversity you see here. There are no barriers in trance; there’s only love. And that’s the greatest thing anyone can ask for.
Who are you most excited to see at Dreamstate? R: Everybody! We love Aly & Fila. After tonight, it’ll be the fourth time we’ve seen them this year. And Paul van Dyk—I haven’t seen him in eight years. I’m so stoked to see him again.
Name: Jack (playa name: Cyber Rhino)
Age: 26
Hometown: Seattle, WA
What made you want to travel so far to be here this weekend? I saw it was an actual trance event, so the second it went on sale, I bought tickets. The Seattle trance family was going, so I was going. This is the first big trance show Insomniac throws that had an interest to me, in terms of marketing. I do livestreams and that kind of stuff, so an element of market research was in there.
Where did your trance journey start? In middle school, and MySpace-era stuff. More recently, as people in marketing and video production are looking for genres that are getting some traction, I think that’s an element, too, of why I was interested in coming here.
What do you love about the trance community? Last night, I didn’t have any negative interactions. At a big event, you’ll get a lot of people saying, “Last night was fun, but there was one thing.” But literally, every single person I’ve met here has been so receptive, so welcoming, and so good to be around. I think that’s the biggest element: The community is so open.
Who are you most excited to see at Dreamstate? I saw Oakenfold at Pemberton Music Festival. I don’t know if my expectations were really matched, but it was absolutely amazing. So, him.
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