Trance Encounter

Gaian Mind heads for the great outdoors.

by Sean O’Neal

“The trance dance experience provides a medium that allows the individual to surrender their ego and commune with the heartbeat of the universe,” says DJ Allen Milletics. “In a sense, the DJ is a modern shaman and skillfully guides the dancers to higher states of consciousness.”

Milletics, along with DJ Hatari, runs Gaian Mind, the Philly-based psy-trance collective known for its monthly gatherings every last Friday at La Tazza. According to Allen, "Gaian (pronounced ŒGUY-yen') Mind" is the concept of reconnecting and resonating with the pulse of the Earth through a harmonious synergy -- awakening man's inherent ties with the planet and becoming aware of the unconscious collective.

For the hippies, the Gaian Mind was flower power. For the techno generation, it's "Goa." Now more commonly referred to as "psy-trance" because of its repetitive, psychedelic motion with rippling, escalating layers of sound, the genre was named for the dance music brought to Goa, India, in the mid-'90s by backpackers and expatriates. There the full-moon beach parties with UV-lit fluorescent tapestries would last for days on end. The psy-trance movement (also referred to as "trance dance") is now a global entity. Milletics and Hatari have produced psy-trance events for the past six years in Philly, New York, Atlantic City, Toronto and elsewhere -- hosting international acts like Anti, Chrisbo, Digitalis, Dimitry, Goa Gil, Medicine Drum and more.

The La Tazza monthly is just a taste of the swirling sound and visuals that Gaian Mind has to offer -- something to keep the psy-trance culture alive in Philly. The the outdoor gatherings are where one can experience true sanctuary, convening with nature under the stars to the twisted sounds of the night and the blissful morning music that commences.

"We play a different style of music in a limited, indoor setting, music with more nightclub sensibilities and a less ritualistic approach," Milletics explains. "In the open air, we present a more sacred and spiritual experience, and we get to unleash the really freaky tracks. Outdoors, the music breathes, snarls, seduces and comes alive."

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If you've already sampled the mind-bending essence at La Tazza, then you don't want to miss Gaian Mind's forthcoming open-air, three-day Summer Festival. "It's a sacred formula that proves itself time and time again -- whether it be cavemen banging on deerskin drums and dancing around a fire, or modern man stomping to a 909 drum machine around a black light," says Milletics. "Transcendental dance reconnects man with the universe. It is truly an archaic revival."

Gaian Mind’s Summer Festival 2002, Fri., Sept., 13-Sun., Sept. 15 (gates open at noon on Friday), $95, Four Quarters (Artemis, Pa.). For more info, www.Gaian-Mind.com or www.4QF.org.