my first warehouse party

     In the late eighties is when electronic music became more and more popular and when the underground scene of raves began. In the early nineties raves were known as secret, illegal parties; sometimes outdoors on a secluded beach or sometimes in warehouses, and these parties were never advertised. The only way that one would know how to get to a rave would be by a secret map that only some people were given. When my friends and I threw "future primitive" up in the mountains, we made maps for people to go to and we never made fliers or had promotional media for advertising. We didn't want it to be commercial and we wanted to keep our party special, I imagine in the early nineties that was some of their goals for keeping a low profile too. Also the notion of being part of something secret and in some sense hand picked to go to, was all the more exciting to fuel a  night full of adventure, music, dance, and magic.
     The first warehouse party I went to was when I was sixteen. This was in the nineties and there were illegal raves going on in Hawaii then, much much more than they have now. Well, rarely do they have them now, I think HPD got wise to what was going on. Any way, the rave I went to was only advertised through word of mouth. No fliers, no maps, only people through people to people contact and words. The warehouse was called "Atomix" and it was located in a discreet crevice in the warehouse district of Nimitz highway. It was huge inside with an upstairs where they usually played jungle or drum and base, and also an outside area with tents. This was before the big ecstasy scare with kids dropping dead. This was before spinning glow sticks was popular, and this was before the time when girls dressed like strippers to raves. Everyone here was part of an underground family that supported music, and of course there were drugs on the scene, but it was never an issue if you went sober. I must say, that first experience of going to atomix at the age of sixteen changed my life. I loved the experience because it was pure freedom, and I felt so comfortable. At punk rock shows when I would go, there wasn't the same vibe of carefree that raves had. I mean you could dance with your eyes closed at a rave for hours and no one would bother you or question your behavior. At punk shows, I found many people had to uphold a facade and it often times was very violent with the mosh pit being full of big white guys with steel toe boots ready to kick skulls in. I never really was one for violence, so the p.l.u.r. (peace, love, unity, and respect) vibe of raves was a welcome change. If any one of you has ever been to atomix, I'm sure you will remember it fondly, remembering some of the big named dj's that you have seen there.