Goa Trance

Goa Trance

Goa trance is a type of electronic music that emerged towards the end of the 1980s in Goa, India.

Goa trance or goa is not a musical subgenus derived from trance, actually born in India between 1988 and 1990. It bears its name in the Indian state of Goa, where it emerged, being the state with the largest settlement of hippies in the years 1970 and 1980.

Goa trance is a genus very close to the Psychedelic (genre devised with the project "The nommos" by Goa Gil and his colleagues). In popular culture, the distinction between the two genres remains basically a matter of opinion (some consider them synonymous; others believe that the Psychedelic trance is more "metallic", while the trance Goa is more "organic"). There are also softer variants like goa chill and other more progressive ones.

Goan music is characterized mainly by three aspects: usually begins with one or a few instruments to which are added progressively others, usually increasing speed as it progresses, can drastically change the melody in the middle of a theme.

Goa music had a great boom in Israel and Mexico, places where some of the most important concentrations of goa music in the world are still held.

Some of the precursors of Goan music were: Juno Reactor, Goa Gil, Astral Projection, MFG, Man With No Name, Transwave, The Infinity Project or Hallucinogen.

In the state of Goa, Goa trance parties can take place in quite unusual places, such as on beaches, in the desert or in the middle of the jungle, although they are also common in clubs. Today, they have to pay baksheesh to the local police. Once this was paid, party participants are free to wear charas (resin obtained after the beating of the cannabis flower), without the police arrest them. It is attributed to the hippie movement.

Festivities near New Year tend to be chaotic, with hundreds of people coming from places like Bombay, Delhi, and the rest of the world. Travelers, beggars and fakirs also join the holidays.

The Goa trance parties also have a different visual character. Fluorescent paint is used on clothing and decorations. The graphics of these decorations are usually related to things like extraterrestrials, Hinduism, religious images, fungi (and other psychedelic images), shamanism and technology. Urns and other religious items in front of the DJ are also common decorations.