If you discovered techno through TikTok, Boiler Room and debates about Gormiti, just know that before you came along, both the internet and the scene had already suffered quite a lot.
Article en français.

There was a time when Richie Hawtin pushing a speaker could dominate the electronic music press, when DJs settled their scores publicly on Twitter, and when a request for a sauna could turn into an international drama.

Welcome to a perfectly useless little history lesson… and therefore an absolutely essential one.

deadmau5 trolls Martin Garrix at Ultra — 2014

Imagine replacing Avicii at Ultra and deciding to use the opportunity to troll Martin Garrix.

In 2014, deadmau5 stepped in for Avicii, who had been hospitalised, at Ultra Miami. During his set, he played his remix of Martin Garrix’s Animals with… Old MacDonald Had a Farm.

A level of trolling that truly belongs to an era when deadmau5 could wake up in the morning and decide to pick a fight with pretty much anyone on Twitter.

Richie Hawtin and #SpeakerGate — 2014

Richie Hawtin pushes a speaker towards a fan filming him. The internet explodes.

At Time Warp New York in 2014, Richie Hawtin apparently had enough of being filmed by a woman in the crowd and pushed a monitor in her direction. The speaker tipped over and hit her. Fortunately, she wasn’t injured.

Hawtin later apologised, explaining that he had only intended to push the monitor towards her to make it clear that she’d filmed enough, not to knock it over. Which does make you wonder how Richie is coping with today’s scene, where half the crowd seems to spend the entire night filming.

Seth Troxler discovers Dyro — and hates it — 2014/2015

The underground vs EDM debate, except embodied by two actual human beings.

At Tomorrowland, Seth Troxler walks past the mainstage while Dyro is playing and describes what he’s hearing as “sonic ear rape”, while claiming he has no idea who the DJ is. The footage was filmed by RA for its Between The Beats series.

The video later resurfaces and Dyro responds on Twitter. Hardwell and Zedd jump in to defend him. Troxler doubles down, essentially explaining that he simply thinks the music is bad.

We, the ancestors, used to call this a Twitter beef.

2017 — RESIDENT ADVISOR KILLS ITS OWN TOP 100

For years, ranking highly in the RA Top 100 could seriously boost a career. Then RA decided… to kill its own ranking.

In 2017, Resident Advisor announced the end of its annual polls. The publication argued, among other things, that the ranking no longer properly represented the diversity of the scene it was supposed to document, and that it had become far too influential: agents, bookers and promoters were using it, artists were campaigning for votes, and rankings could even have an impact on fees.

The final Top DJs poll, in 2016, placed Dixon at No. 1, followed by Jackmaster, Tale Of Us, Maceo Plex and Solomun.

Basically, RA had created a ranking so influential that RA itself eventually decided its own ranking had become a problem.

The Ice Bucket Challenge that traumatised techno purists

In August 2014, Richie Hawtin, Dubfire and Skrillex decided to take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge together backstage at Amnesia Ibiza. And who showed up to pour the freezing water over their heads? Paris Hilton.

Today, the video mostly looks like an improbable crossover from peak-2010s internet. At the time, however, some techno fans took it considerably less well. Hawtin and Dubfire were accused of “selling out” simply for daring to appear alongside Skrillex and Paris Hilton, as if a few seconds of a charity video had somehow erased decades of techno credibility.

The whole thing became absurd enough to prompt a public defence of Hawtin and Dubfire against the “cool and underground” gatekeeping surrounding the video. And a useful reminder: the original point was, after all, to raise awareness and money for ALS. Hawtin explained that the idea had emerged from a conversation with Dubfire, Skrillex and friends about the power of viral content to draw attention to the disease.

Bonus lore: at the end, they nominated several people, including Sven Väth, Grimes and artist Anish Kapoor. Grimes later declined the challenge, citing, among other reasons, her objections to animal testing and wasting water during California’s drought, and instead made a donation to the Malala Fund. Because obviously, this lore needed another episode.

Hardwell vs Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and the DJ Mag Top 100 war — 2015

There was a time when the DJ Mag ranking could genuinely trigger a diplomatic crisis.

In 2015, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike became No. 1 in the Top 100 DJs, ahead of Hardwell. Their campaign became the centre of a controversy surrounding promoters using iPads to solicit votes from the public.

Hardwell made no secret of what he thought about the result and publicly criticised the voting system. The Top 100 had already faced criticism before, but this edition became one of the most memorable episodes in the ranking’s history.

For anyone under 25: yes, people really did argue this much about who was No. 1 in DJ Mag.

Jeremy Underground’s Saunagate: “I AM GOING TO BITE YOU” — 2017

A sauna request. A Scottish club. Threats. 18,000 likes.

In 2017, Jeremy Underground was booked to play for Edinburgh promoter Abstrakt. A dispute broke out over his accommodation: after several bookings, his team insisted that he stay at the Sheraton Grand, partly so he could have access to a gym and sauna. As the costs began piling up, the promoter eventually cancelled the booking.

And that’s when Saunagate truly entered the history books.

Furious, his agent Lionel Marciano began sending messages to the promoter. Among them: “I am going to bite you!”, followed by the considerably more disturbing “I am going to bite you and believe me you are going to lose some blood.” In other exchanges, he wrote “I am on your case” and demanded payment. Abstrakt published screenshots on Facebook and the story immediately went viral.

Jeremy Underground later apologised for his agent’s behaviour, acknowledging that things had gone far too far. He also explained that the gym and sauna weren’t simply some diva-like rider request: after years of touring, exercise had become a way for him to better cope with life on the road. He eventually parted ways with his agent, refunded his fee and offered to return and play for Abstrakt for free, with a donation going to charity.

But by then, the internet had already retained the essential part of the story: a disagreement over a hotel with a sauna had somehow ended with an agent threatening to bite a promoter until he bled.

2019 — THE DAY RESIDENT ADVISOR SHUT DOWN ITS COMMENTS SECTION

Younger readers will never know the pleasure of finishing an RA article only to discover that the real show was just beginning underneath it.

On January 3, 2019, Resident Advisor permanently shut down the comments section on its website. The publication explained that while some discussions remained valuable, a climate of contempt had become far too common, including sexist, racist, homophobic and transphobic comments.

The decision itself obviously caused… more debate online. Some readers lamented the disappearance of a space where additional discussions and information about releases, clubs and events could often emerge.

There is still plenty more to tell, but we’ll keep that warm for the next article. The scene may have changed, but one tradition remains: electronic music absolutely loves completely unnecessary drama. And that, too, is part of OUR heritage.


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