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Party HARD this weekend at the Shrine

Electronic music festival HARD Haunted Mansion will be held at the Shrine Auditorium today and Saturday.

By Shelley Brown

Oct. 30, 2009 1:55 a.m.

The idea of a haunted mansion probably does not conjure images of thumping electronic music, DJs furiously spinning on turntables and seizure-inducing lighting effects. However, electronic music festivals like HARD Haunted Mansion are making the most of the emergent electronic dance scene to change the way music fans celebrate Halloween.

HARD Haunted Mansion takes place today and Saturday at the Shrine Auditorium and features artists such as Justice, Deadmau5, Crookers and DJ Steve Aoki.

Although associated with the term “rave” because of its electronic-based music, HARD Haunted Mansion is about more than the cliches of glow sticks and neon clothing.

“HARD is not a rave ““ it is an electronic music festival. The word “˜rave’ is cheesy,” said Gary Richards, who founded HARD in 2007.

Richards, who began as a DJ in the ’90s and also worked on the corporate side of the music industry, created HARD once the CD business stopped being lucrative. Though Richards was a fan of electronic music, he never suspected HARD festivals to become a fad among hip Angelenos.

“I used to do underground warehouse parties in downtown L.A., and I had a couple record labels. I was in the music business for 15 years, and I decided that trying to sell plastic CDs was not a good business to be in anymore,” Richards said. “I love music, and I thought I would choose my favorite artists like Justice and Peaches and 2 Live Crew to perform, and now it is just spiraling out of control to be something so much bigger.”

Fans of HARD often stumble upon the growing underground tradition and find themselves hooked. Fourth-year anthropology student Maral Parsian, who describes herself as a “raver with judgment,” has attended several HARD events after attending HARD Haunted Mansion on a whim last Halloween.

“I’m a big fan now, but when I first went to HARD last Halloween I had no idea what it was, and I wasn’t really into raves. I liked electronic music, but I didn’t know every DJ, but ever since I’ve continued to go back,” Parsian said.

“HARD fest is definitely like a huge spectrum of ages. Most people are really friendly, everyone’s there to have a good time and listen to the music,” she said.

More than just an opportunity to experience electronic music, festivals such as HARD Haunted Mansion also possess an atmosphere that is strictly theirs, tempting college-aged fans with the adrenaline rush of loud, pulsating music and a party atmosphere on an extremely large and rather uncontrolled scale.

“HARD is generally very charged. It gets crazy; everyone is really excited. I can’t really think of anything to compare it to ““ maybe like a club times 500 ““ you just have to go to understand. People just want to let loose and have fun for one night,” said Alfredo Chen, a fourth-year computational and systems biology student.

This crazy atmosphere requires a certain mind-set, however, because of the prevalence of the drug Ecstasy at electronic music festivals. Ecstasy increases serotonin in the brain and is used by some festival-goers to amplify the euphoric intensity of the musical experience. The unsuspecting pedestrian who wanders in without knowledge of the rave culture may be taken by surprise.

“If you’re open-minded to that kind of thing, it is definitely something that adds to the atmosphere. It is partially because everyone is on E that there is that feeling of community. Someone who isn’t into that scene and goes into it might be a little intimidated or find it scary,” Chen said.

Partaking in the drug culture of raves, however, is not a requirement for enjoying the experience.

“Most people are really friendly; everyone’s there to have a good time and listen to the music. Honestly, every frat party is as dirty, if not worse. … I’ve been totally sober at a number of raves and totally enjoyed it, because the music is the most important thing,” Parsian said.

“They are all kind of the same ““ we play out the theme of the holiday, and people wear costumes ““ but mainly we just try to focus on great production and killer music,” Richards said. “We don’t really do the whole spooky Halloween ““ we just party.”

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Shelley Brown
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