The Techno Scene In Fort Worth Isnt Out Of Nowhere
Dallas has the clubs and nightlife infrastructure to keep the party going—a tradition that began with the famed Stark Club on McKinney Street—but Texas' techno scene grew and crystallized from unexpected corners in today's Gen-Z techno renaissance in Fort Worth.
Techno music came from black musicians in Detroit, traveled to Berlin and throughout Europe, and finally reached Texas. Texas Tech faces its own challenges. Firstly, it is difficult to dance in a warehouse in the hot summer without air conditioning. Texas, unlike the North, also has dancing and nighttime laws (even for us free spirits ), meaning the partying doesn't stop until 2 a.m.
Originally the techno scene was concentrated in Dallas. DJ and producer Minto George founded the Down Low Music label in Dallas in 1999, making a name for himself for urban sounds and promoting artists such as Plastic Sleeves from Fort Worth and Bill Converse from Austin.
At the time, Fort Worth DJ Rick Simpson was playing techno music in Dallas, not Fort Worth.
“I didn’t focus on doing things in Fort Worth because I knew I could go out and have a party [in Dallas],” he says. “It was probably between 1995 and early 2000. I was really a teenager. I played all kinds of rave music, techno and mixed stuff... It was a pretty naive view of the whole thing because it wasn't on the internet." Nowadays everyone stuck to a certain cycle or a certain word. We thought it was electronic music and went to party.
Thiago Virgão was one of the pioneers of techno music in Fort Worth in the early 2000s.
“It started when I was young and traveling places and experiencing a lot of house music and techno in cities with a big DJ culture like New York, Chicago and San Francisco,” he said.
Virjao, a small-town kid with an early internet culture, communicated with other artists in the city via MySpace and traveled to see them and buy records.
Ready to bring techno music to Texas, Virzao gave his first performance at Denton's Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio.
“Our first gay or LGBT night was at Ruby Gloves,” he says. “We called it Denton is Burning, named after the famous film Paris is Burning .”
Varjao continued playing in the area and eventually rented a loft in Cleburne, south of Fort Worth.
“I’ll be hosting free private parties with famous DJs from all over the world,” he says. “A lot of people came from all over Texas and it went from there. It was like a party in a safe place, which was really unthinkable at that time.”
Years later, Varejao Claiborne student Skylar Salinas broke into the Fort Worth music scene with a punk band before switching to techno music after a stint in Mexico City - under the moniker DJ Cowboy.
“I knew that a lot of people who played in bands, especially in the punk scene, were interested in dance music, especially techno,” says Salinas. “Every other city in Texas has a lot of DJs, but their scene isn’t necessarily as big. They don't necessarily attract as many people... I think we have a much bigger and healthier scene now in DFW and especially Fort Worth.
Now Gen Z teams like the Beverly Hills Cowboys are in the heart of the tech city of Fort Worth. The group consists of three resident DJs: Jesus Freak, Maya Loft and Luna, all over 20 years old.
Jesus Freak started hosting parties two years ago.
“It literally started with a small series of parties that I threw with my friends,” he says. “Of course, at some point it got a lot bigger.”
He grew up in a Mexican family and was influenced by cumbia and other traditional Latin music during his childhood. Fittingly, his uncle was a DJ and allowed him to use his computer to try his hand at DJing.
“When I was younger, I used to go to my cousin's house and play on the computer and listen to some of the songs that were there,” Jesus Frick said.
During the epidemic, he started watching YouTube videos about rave culture and was immediately drawn to the parties in Chicago, Detroit and Berlin in the 1990s.
“I see all these things happening,” he says. This idea inspired me a lot. I kept saying to myself, “I want that here.” » I want the whole rave culture here.
Despite all the chaos the pandemic has caused, there have been some small positives.
“When the pandemic hit and all the clubs closed in Dallas, I think that really helped us in a way,” the DJ said.
Small parties grew out of simple gatherings with friends while still maintaining a true DIY vibe.
“I just want people to come here because they play great music and have a great venue...we create an atmosphere,” Jesus Freak said. “When it comes to organizing the show, we go above and beyond. We make sure our lighting touches people. We have used television in the past to create the overall atmosphere. "
The parties are so crowded that even experienced DJs can't help but take notes.
“They're going to bring in rave, techno, cumbia, Latin-inspired stuff and '90s electronica, and it's going to appeal to the people coming out now,” Simpson says.
The term is certainly rooted in nostalgia, but it is also forward-looking.
“Some techno music is always about the future and progress,” says Simpson. “And when we always go back, we don’t use futuristic formulas and try to create something unique.”
Jesus Freak and the Beverly Hills Cowboys maintain the safe space Verzao has sought for years in Cleburne.
“The most important thing was to build a community where people of color, regardless of race, gender or whatever, could come together, feel safe and have fun,” Jesus Frick said. “That was the most important thing for me: creating a safe space specifically for LGBT people.”
As a new generation embraces techno music in Fort Worth, longtime DJs are excited about the culture's evolution.
“The kids love it,” Varzao said. “I never in my life thought we would have a gay-safe space... in a bar-like environment with people dancing to techno music. The Fort Worth area where I grew up was full of rock and roll. It wasn't dance music at all.
"I really hope that in this environment, children can enjoy music, play with each other, support each other and have these experiences together... It's important for people to feel free and dance with color."
