Well.. First things first, welcome to Rave Hackers. I’m so happy that you found your way to my little side of the internet!

I found when I was reading and learning about festivals I always wanted to know the story behind the people who’s writing I was reading, and even to this day I ask people all the time what they love about raving, what makes them come back, what got them started. Everything. I love connecting with people on that level. So I wanted to share a little about myself for those of you who are like me and just want to connect on some sort of level.

To begin, I’m Sommer (that’s me to the left <). Spelled with an ‘o’ and everything. I get a lot of season jokes and it’s been a while since I’ve heard a new one, so if you think you’ve got what it takes, drop it in the comments below.. But anyway. I grew up in a small, one lane, one redlight type town with an even smaller EDM community. I grew up listening to alternative music for a good portion of my life and then one day, I stumbled onto a Bassnectar song.

I remember it like it was yesterday, I was driving to school to lazy to change the channel on Pandora (when that was still a thing) and all the sudden these heady, trance-tunes filled my tiny car and I was hooked. My obsession began, I started listening to artists like ‘Nectar, Seven Lions, anything that would entrance me. To this very day, I’m a basshead first and foremost.

But my passions didn’t stop there. I continued my love for EDM music all throughout college until I hit a period in my life where it was time to make some serious changes. I was at a divergence in my path and I needed to figure out where I was going to go. Left or right? I couldn’t decide.  I searched for answers for a while, seeking refuge in the sounds and music that my favorite dj’s were creating. Until one day my best friend asked me to go to Bassnectar 360. (For those of you who don’t know, that’s Bassnectar’s annual New Year’s Eve Event). 

I jumped at the opportunity. I bought my ticket as soon as she asked and bought a plane ticket shortly after. It wasn’t until I got to the hotel and my friends started getting dressed that I realized.. I had no idea what was in store for me.

It was at that show that I realized what makes people love these events. It was the community. The purest sense of be who you are and be who you want to be. No one looked twice at the girls running around with jewelry on their nipples or the guy eating confetti off the ground and praying at the rails. After that event I was hooked. I needed that sense of community, that sense of acceptance that you don’t see everywhere.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve started to appreciate more the little things that we, as humans, do for each other, other humans. And the things we don’t do for each other. When you look at the EDM community, it’s founded on one major principle.

PLUR

| Peace | Love | Unity | Respect |

That’s what I want to share with the world. With the people who already know what it is, to the people who don’t understand that it’s not about dressing up (although that’s definitely a plus), but that it’s about surrounding yourself with people who genuinely want to share the music with you and experience it with you as a whole. The EDM community is like a home away from home, the place where you can find people that you’ll continue to see, love, adventure with for the rest of your life. Don’t miss out of this opportunity to be a part of something that see’s itself as bigger than each individual person, but as something where we are all coming together as one.