A completely inexhaustive history of Vancouvers electronic emergence.

1986: Graceland opens at 1250 Richards Street. Owned by Vince Alvaro, the club caters to the post-disco era and functions as a rival to nearby Luv-A-Fair, owned by the Kerasiotis brothers (The Greeks), which is more tailored to the industrial, new wave and punk crowd. The Greeks would later acquire Graceland.

1987: Resident DJ Robert Shea plays the rst night of house music to a packed club. The response is immediately positive, and Sheas Come to House nights become a regular xture at the club. DJs Debbie Jones, Mick Shea (Roberts brother) pick up the mantle with electronic nights of their own. 1991 onward: Shea and co.,

1988: Shea and Jones begin pub-

lishing Discotext, a monthly magazine dedicated to the new house, techno and evolving electronic music sound. The pair starts getting gigs in Seattle, where the house and techno scenes are beginning to boom.

following the trends drifting up the coast from Los Angeles and over from Europe, throw the rst raves in Vancouver. The underground warehouse parties go all night and can draw as many as 1,500 people. Straddling a legal line, party locations are kept secret until the last moment to prevent police being tipped o . Revellers are often transported to out of town locations on school buses. A young DJ named Tyler (T Bone) Stadius arrives in Vancouver from Toronto, quickly becomes one of the top house DJs. The rst Summer Love music festival is held.

Electronic music is getting more play with local musicians producing their own sounds and releasing compilations and are working into regular rotation at raves. By now, dozens of sub-genres 1993: have emerged Luke McKeehan, (house, acid moves from Toronto house, drum `n to Vancouver and bass, jungle, techno, quickly becomes trance, ambient, a major player electronica) each with in the citys their own devotees. electronic scene.
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1994: McKeehan brings electronic music back to clubs with the MoFunk acid jazz night at Richards on Richards with partner Seren Kahlon, bringing in artists that had broken through in Toronto, Europe and Seattle but had yet to enter the Vancouver scene. Mo Funk would also become a record label, primarily licensing and distributing music from out-of-town artists from 1995 to 1999. Tyler Stadius opens Bassix, a record store at 217 East Hastings that specializes in bringing in new music from the States and Europe. 1996:

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Robert Shea returns to Vancouver after a stint in L.A. working for the Harthouse record label to start his own Map Music in Vancouver. McKeehan and Kahlon open Chameleon nightclub, where Stadius establishes a regular following. Other production crews, such as Swing Kids, the 1067 crew and DOSE, spring up, putting their stamp on the rave scene.

1997 Luke McKeehan starts

Nordic Trax record label dedicated to developing Vancouverbased house artists along the lines of Jay Tripwire. McKeehan, Khalon and Stadius take over long-standing live music venue The Town Pump and turns it into electronic music venue Sonar.

1999 Height of rave culture in B.C., with attendance at Summer Love peaking at 20,000. Meanwhile, Shea makes a bid to penetrate the mainstream with his live electronic music nights. The rst show at a newly reopened Commodore Ballroom features Sheas recording artists: Cooldown, featuring Miss Benny, and Pilgrims of Mind. By now, Stadius and McKeehan are regularly touring Europe, where dance music is huge.

2001 rst indications the bubble burst. Low ticket sales for the annual Summer Love festival send organizer Richard Gablehouse into a frenzy trying to save costs by cancelling stunts and light shows. Indie rock emerges as the new sound of the underground.
Researcher: Jessica Barrett

2002 Shea shutters Map Records. Leaves Vancouver for Montreal and a 10-year stint in business. The electronic scene retreats further underground.
To be continued on August 8
Graphic: Maggie Wong

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