An Emergence of an electronic world, more specifically in New York City, has taken the music culture of NYC by storm in the past 20-25 years. Something that started out as a deep underground culture evolving from Post-Disco in the late ‘70’s and early 80’s, has transformed into the massive over-the-top music scene that we see every night after the sun goes down in this loud metropolis. Electronic music is very clearly and obviously a sound of the modern age and could arguably be the youngest genre of music when compared to genres like Jazz or Classical music. With the rise of modern advanced technology, Electronic music moved in tandem with this progression. From what started as; Disco in the Sixties and Seventies, to Funk and Electro in the early Eighties along with House, Acid House and Rave music in the late Eighties, to Breakbeat and Drum N’ Bass in the early 90’, all the way to modern E.D.M(Electronic Dance Music) and all the hundreds of sub-genres that fall into that generalized term. E.D.M is a constantly changing music culture with new sounds to be heard every single day. With all this new music being produced it’s nearly impossible to keep up.

True electronic sound began with the genre known as Electro-Boogie or “New York Boogie” in the early 1980’s. Similar to Post-Disco, Electro was a Blues and Jazz genre with electronic sounds, samples and influences. A hugely important part of the electro movement was the use of the Roland TR-808 Drum Beat Machine. The pioneering artists of the genre at the time were players like, Herbie Hancock, Zapp, Sinnamon and George Clinton. Also, a major defining sound of Electro was a heavy emphasis of sound on the second and fourth beats generally located from 110-116 beats per minute. This genre was the inspiration to the initial early emergences of house and rave music in the mid to late eighties. Although House music was originally created in Chicago,IL and not New York, the House movement quickly spread worldwide and nationwide to major cities like London, Detroit and of course New York City. Early house music was generally dance-based music characterized by repetitive 4/4 beats, rhythms mainly provided by drum machines, off-beat hi-hat cymbals, and synthesized basslines. While House music had many aspects of Disco, it was much more minimalistic and electronic. As House music evolved into the numerous sub-genres with iconic artists leading each sub-movement, Electronic music was continuing to grow and progress into new sounds and beat patterns. By the early 1990’s, Breakbeat electronic music “broke” out onto the dancefloors of nightclubs everywhere. Breakbeat shared much more aspects and origins of sound with hip-hop music than any other genre, with syncopated (a.k.a. “breakbeat”) beats. Opposed to earlier styles of Rave, Techno and House music…. Jungle, Drum’n’Bass and Hardcore placed very heavy emphasis on bass and low frequency sounds and much faster bpm’s ranging anywhere from 135-185 beats per minute. By 1994 jungle had begun to gain mainstream popularity and fans of the music    became a more recognizable part of youth subculture. The genre further developed, incorporating and fusing elements from a wide range of existing musical genres, including the raggamuffin sound, dancehall, MC chants, dub basslines, and increasingly complex, heavily edited breakbeat percussion. Shortly after all these sub-genre movements were fully developed, around the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, E.D.M. began emerging as a “blanket” genre covering all of these smaller more precise types of music. The image of the European club music scene was beginning to be marketed in the U.S.A. and certain famous European DJs such as, The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim were considered to be part of something known at the time as the “American Electronica Revolution”. By the mid-2000’s this movement had progressed and moved up as a full branch of the music industry. E.D.M. gained much more momentum by the quick abundance of live events and show promoters increasing the media coverage and publicity of the whole culture.

Now that we know a little background information on the history and rise of electronic music in the U.S., let’s focus on one of the most iconic nightclubs/concert halls in NYC, Webster Hall. Webster Hall was first erected in 1886 built by Charles Rentz and designed to Queen Anne style along with a mansard style roof. Ever since the hall was built it has alway been considered a “hall for hire” ready to host any sort of social event, formal or casual, big or small. For the first ten to fifteen year (1886-1911) of the existence of Webster Hall, it hosted all sorts of events like, labor union rallies, weddings, lectures, dances, military functions, concerts, fundraisers and other events all specifically geared towards the working class of the Lower East Side of Manhattan at the time. Despite the fact that Webster Hall also hosted many high-class events and parties catering to the “uptowners” at the time, it quickly gained an anarchist, socialist image from all the labor union rallies and other rowdy events that were hosted there.

As the city moved further into the Twentieth Century, Webster Hall’s image moved along with it. By the 1920’s Webster was a popular spot for masquerade balls and other soirees reflecting the hedonism of the city’s Bohemians. Nicknamed “The Devil’s Playhouse” by the socialist magazine “The Masses” for its association with more risque and scandalous events that went on at Webster Hall. Artists and  like, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Francis Picabia, Scott Fitzgerald and Bob Brown were all regularly attending and performing at Webster Hall parties around this time. As the 1920’s got more roarin’ and rompin’, along came prohibition which would make one think that partying decreased greatly in NYC. However, these laws didn’t stop the patrons of Webster Hall from continuing to have a great time, with police and law officials turning a blind eye to these activities at Webster, people carried on as if nothing changed. At a certain point in time Webster Hall was rumored to be own by the notorious mobster Al Capone. Once prohibition ended one of Webster Hall’s biggest parties was thrown known as “The Return of John Barleycorn”.

Once the 1950’s came along Webster Hall’s music presence was progressing and changing with the times, hosting very famous latin performers such as Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez along with many folk singers like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. In 1953, RCA Records purchased Webster Hall, recognizing the acoustical brilliance that the Grand Ballroom had to offer and launched “The Webster Hall Studios” as their main east coast recording studio for 15 years. In the RCA years of Webster Hall many superstar artists of the time such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennet, Ray Charles, Carol Channing and Elvis Presley recorded legendary songs within the walls of The Grand Ballroom. On February 2, 1962 Bob Dylan was recorded playing harmonica on the title track of Harry Belafonte’s Midnight Special album, marking Dylan’s recording debut. By 1970 Webster Hall was bought by Unity Gallega (“Unity Gallega/Casa Galicia is a cultural organization representing people from Galicia, Spain in promoting and preserving their cultural ties”) and remains owned by them to this day.

In May of 1980, Webster Hall hosted an event, The Ritz sponsored by Jerry Brandt was a showcase for up and coming rock acts like, Prince, The Pretenders, Metallica, Sting, Aerosmith, Guns n’ Roses, KISS, BB King and many more. Once The Ritz relocated in 1989 Webster Hall was recreated by getting fully renovated in 1992 by The Ballinger Brothers who not only restored the building and recreated the color scheme of each ballroom, but they added all new lighting technologies along with audio and video recording systems. This was the major pivotal moment in Webster Hall’s explosion into the E.D.M. scene, hosting up to four different shows in one night and over a dozen events in one weekend. The Grand Ballroom was host to mostly Rave/House music along with other heavy and loud electronic artists playing their tunes.

As the E.D.M. grew larger and larger, Webster Hall began dedicating specific rooms and evenings to hosting strictly electronic shows and performances. In one weekend at Webster, there are numerous events for E.D.M. such as, BASSment Saturdays hosted in the studio/Lowest level of Webster. Also, there is Girls+Boys Night hosted in the Grand Ballroom/Top Level. All these events happen on a weekly basis and have seen massively popular names amongst the E.D.M culture like, Wolfgang Gartner, Nero, JAUZ, Baauer, Charlie XCX, Feed Me and many more.

Clearly, the evolution of Electronic Dance Music has been evolving long before Webster Hall had anything to do with the culture, but it now can be referred to as one of the most iconic spots for concerts, after parties and club nights. It is truly amazing to have witnessed only a fraction of this frenzied trend that we call the EDM culture. New York City embodies many different cultures and the people we see that walk the streets of the city are all parts of each different culture, be it ethnicity or race or personal interest that brings each group together, it is genuinely amazing to see how each group presents themselves and to observe what each group does to enjoy their lives in the city.