Goa - Overview

Much has been written about Goa and its role in the development of a worldwide alternative culture. The details become murky in the re-telling, and the story tends to depend upon who’s telling it - but the broad lines remain constant.

Today, the state of Goa has become a major international tourist destination, all the way from its northern tip down to its southern end. We we would be hard-pressed to insist that an underground culture still flourishes there.

But the bohemians still hang around, and some of the old gathering spots still feel powerful and welcoming. It is undeniable that despite the shabby new tourist developments up and down the beaches of Goa, there remains an energy that rises from the Earth in Goa - similar to the incredible vibrations coming out of other legendary spiritual spots worldwide.

Because 6362MetaForce has Goan roots, we can't help having our own view on what is GOA - - both the reality and the mythology of the place. That view necessarily influences the story we tell on this page, but we hope it gives you a lens into the roots of the bohemian dreamland we try to maintain as our everyday life - even here, in New York City.

As the old Goaheads still say: "Goa is a State of Mind."

A Very, Very Brief History of Goa

Western hippie culture flowed into the Indian state of Goa in the 1970s and 1980s. Goa was a mecca for this influx because it had been under colonial Portuguese rule until 1961. Under Portuguese influence, Goan society was more familiar to Western travelers, and it was also more accepting of them.

Within this context, the tropical beaches of Goa were an ideal landing spot for Western spiritual seekers – especially after these travelers had backpacked across India: a large, difficult and often frustrating country that did not necessarily welcome them in the way they had anticipated.

During that era, Goa’s enclaves of hippies were melding a new culture together from many disparate elements. Musically, 1960s psychedelic rock and new electronics were being incorporated into all-night beach parties that wove together Hindu philosophy, Western Hippie culture, and recreational psychotropic drugs to create intense party experiences intended to provide spiritual liberation.

While dominated by Westerners, the scene that developed in the northern part of Goa State attracted Indians as well. Incorporating elements of yoga, Shaivite philosophy, and diverse organic and electronic musical elements, “Goa” became synonymous among the global underground with pure liberation – a community based around spiritual strength and personal freedom.

In contrast to this expansive Goa mindset, Goa the place – as opposed to “Goa,” the state of mind – was a pretty small geographic area. Of the entire small state of Goa, it was the Northern beach areas of Anjuna and Vagator that were attracting more and more Westerners to their parties and community. Most of the state of Goa remained (and remains) quite conservative.

Since 2000, massive waves of Western and Indian tourism have overwhelmed Goa, attracted to its reputation for all night tropical beach parties, and leading to the increased commercialization of those formerly-underground experiences.

In the last few years, party-seekers have been met with less hospitality from the locals than in the earlier years. Goan politicians and other locals are now trying to root out the party scene that they consider to be both “immoral” and a source of tourism that offends and repels the richer tourists, who flock to Kerala and avoid Goa.

The Goa state government now focuses on appealing to more commercial tourists, both from abroad and from within India. The days of 1000-person all-night beach parties in North Goa are no more.

The Music: Goa Trance (and Then Some)

As more industrial and electronic sounds developed in the US and in Europe throughout the 1980s and 1990s, “Goa Trance” was born. At the time, it was called “Trance-Dance” – indicating the state of trance that the music would induce in the listener or the dancer. The music was supposed to provide the psychedelic tools necessary for us to reach Heaven, however we define it.

Like the early techno that influenced the development of this genre, Goa trance loops were repetitive; but unlike techno, those repetitive loops formed only a “bed” upon which more psychedelic electronic sounds and layers were added. The layers of sound were the real trance-inducing elements – forming the essence of Goa trance music and the trance experience.

The heyday of Goa Trance is commonly said to be 1994-1998. There was a surge in the genre’s popularity, supported by booming all-night parties in Goa and the export of that party vibe and music to other countries around the globe.

Israel was one of the major new focal points for the development of Goa Trance. Because of so many Israelis spending months and years in Goa following their discharge from military service, Israel became its own Goa trance universe, and produced some of the best artists of the 1990s’ trance era.

At that time, trance parties were cycles of experience, within which there was “night music” for the night-time hours, and “morning music” for the hours after sunrise. These two different styles of music sounded like their names: night music was heavier, filled with more intense layers of psychedelic sounds and driving beats; while morning music was slower and more melodic, intended to help the dancers decompress after the long night. (For more information on the philosophy and cycles of trance parties, please click on the Section,“Hindu/Buddhist Symbolism & Terms”)

However, a seismic shift after 1998 saw a fissuring of the trance scene into multiple subgenres. New divisions developed in what was once a largely united underground trance community.

“Goa Trance” fractured into multiple cliques and musical styles: “darkpsy,” “full-on,” “twilight,” and more. At the same time, "psytrance" (i.e., psychedelic trance, or the old "Goa Trance") became a whole different universe than the club-based, repetitive "trance" produced by artists like Paul Van Dyk and Tiesto.

Today's psytrance parties are different - not so surprising given the 20-year history of the genre. Now it is rare to find a single "trance party" within which different musical styles share the same night-to-morning celebration they used to. Psytrance events and festivals today often contain multiple stages for the different genres rather than a single unified stage with “night music” artists in the night, and “morning music” artists in the morning.

But, at the same time, psytrance no longer exists in a vaccuum. So while divisions have come into the picture for some ends of the trance spectrum - other more unifying factors have arisen, not least of all because outdoor music events are now under increased scrutiny by the authorities in every country where they occur, irrespective of genre.

Ten years ago, psytrance was on the edge of electronic music development - and die-hard fans will still argue that nightpsy is where the greatest creativity is happening in electronic music. But now we also have psychedelic chill-out, breakbeats, global grooves and other genres. All of them have much in common with psytrance - both culturally and technologically.

Each and every of these genres has produced its own festivals and tribal gatherings where Goaheads usually feel right at home. So while Goa moves to a more distant realm - mythology replacing reality - we have new opportunities to join with new people worldwide to enjoy new sounds, as well as new geographical locations where the celebrations happen.

For more information about festivals and events worldwide, please check out our "PARTY" section.