Divin’ into Disco in 2018

It was New Year’s Eve on the Rooftop of the Ace Hotel. There were crowds of people at the bar, chilling on chairs and couches, and quite a few others dancing. Unfamiliar with DJ-ing and house music at this time, I was excited to see what was to come of the music at a free event on NYE. As I sat down and chatted with my group of friends, my ear was drawn to the music. Within twenty minutes, I dragged my friends to the dance floor, sacrificing our warm seats by the fire. It was a mix of disco and present-day house music provided by DJs Project Pablo and Jen Ferrer. Having grown up on the rhythms of funk and disco, my interest piqued, and I proceeded to dance for two and a half hours straight.

Moving to the beat.

Drowning in the rhythms.

2018 started with a night of disco — one I will never forget. Within the first month of the new year, I heard multiple people talking about the comeback of disco. However, I soon came to notice that it wasn’t coming back in the main realm of music. It was coming back in another way, at least in the United States.

Disco-influenced house has consistently displayed itself in different parts of the world at varying times. I came to realize that house is purely our generation’s iteration of disco. As my interest grew, I began to go to more DJ sets whether it be disco, deep house, or acid house; I realized that they all evoked the same feeling in people — a sense of freedom and non-judgement. This scene allowed me to release myself from the continuous societal constructions like gender, race and sexual orientation — the binaries that continuously make our egos prominent in daily life. It became a place where I could just be.

Living, breathing, loving, learning.

A community.

So, I delved in.

Larry Levan at Paradise Garage, New York.

Disco began as a counterculture movement away from the rock and dance music that dominated the 1970s and 1980s. It was actually the key genre that set the stage for the later development of (ware)house music and electronic dance music, or EDM. Frankie Knuckles, known as the Godfather of House Music, presented soul and disco mixes in warehouse shows in Chicago, Illinois in the early 1980s. Along with Knuckles was Larry Levan, an equally important DJ who was renowned at the dance club, Paradise Garage. Both parties began their entrance into house music through LGBTQ+ dance parties and the drag community. Admission to these events initially required an exclusive invitation, as an effort to bring together diverse, underrepresented groups. DJ Harvey, a UK DJ influenced by US house music, also contributed to the movement with his record label, Black Cock Records, in which Harvey made disco track edits.

However, in past years, it seems that EDM has taken over popular dance music, leaving house music to underground scenes where music lovers lie. Below are some of my favorite DJs who are preserving the influence of disco.

Listen to the beat…

Are you ready for the beat?

Todd Terje is a Norwegian DJ and producer. In 2004, he began mixing in the Scandinavian scene with a particular interest in dub, disco, synth pop, house, and techno. His most popular disco-influenced songs include “Inspector Norse” and “Delorean Dynamite.” The spacey intro and solid offbeat with electronic flares makes the 2014 release, “Inspector Norse,” an easy classic for house and pure disco lovers alike. With 18 million listens on Spotify, it’s definitely not one that has been overlooked. “Delorean Dynamite” also has these same spacey vibes with a complex bass beat. With that same offbeat in the background, Terje creates a dynamic dance song for all. Terje’s song makes you want to be on a neon-lit dance floor, swinging your friends around in circles.

Peggy Gou. Credit: MixMag

Another Norwegian DJ and producer, Lindstrøm, started his own label in 2002 afterbeing a part of the underground dance scene. He has released multiple remixes throughout the past decade. My favorites include “Boney M Down” and “Didn’t Know Better.” “Boney M Down” has a very low-key atmosphere to it; it’s something you would listen to at a ‘70s-themed kickback. Despite it not being a “get up and dance” kind of tune, it still portrays disco influences through the emotion it provokes in the listener. “Didn’t Know Better” is for an entirely different kind of party. It features a feminine vocal with a funky backbeat, a perfect song to boogie down to with the homies.

A newer DJ to the scene is Peggy Gou, a 27-year-old South Korean artist. She professes her love for mixing all kinds of different genres including funk, soul, house, and disco. Her disco influences can especially be seen in her single, “It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)” off of her EP, Once, released this year. With a rapid beat to lay down the foundation of the song complemented by a light, higher pitched marimba, Itgehane immediately introduces a disco-dance feel. On this EP, she also uses her soft vocals in Korean as an addition, whispering “It-ge-hane.” Another new Gou song that you can get lost in is “Han Jan.” Whenever I listen to this one, I feel like I’m on a mission to some distant land. Like “It Makes You Forget,” “Han Jan” has a fast downbeat with a higher and lighter trickle of beats; it sounds the way that tiny Christmas lights look when they twinkle.

Thanks to Terje, Lindstrøm, Gou, and many others not mentioned here, disco is not losing its space in the music world. Even though disco may hide in the crevices of alleyways and warehouses, its legacy is here to stay. The history of disco and the atmosphere it continues to create allows for the expansion of the soul — okay, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. Nonetheless, it has definitely has had that impact on myself and those around me, allowing us to let go and forget our present selves in society. All you really gotta do is find the beat, move to the groove, and dive into the disco.

Written by Devyn White

*In this article, I use EDM to describe the popular electronic music scene in the United States. However, house music is technically a subgenre of EDM.