Do drugs have a place in dance music?

The majority of you reading this will likely argue no after that first sentence and proceed to write hateful comments to us for appearing to be ‘pro drugs’. We aren’t pro-drugs. Not even close. In fact I cannot remember the last time I thought about buying drugs in order to enjoy dance music, because I personally don’t think you need drugs to have a good time.

But the unsurprising fact of the matter is, at every dance music event – festivals to club gigs – there is drug intake occurring, and it isn’t hard to notice (look for the sweatiest, most active punter at the front of the crowd with fifty-cent sized pupils and a jaw that doesn’t seem to be that fond of being attached to the rest of their body).

Ahead of A1 Bassline’s performance this Saturday night at GoodGod Smallclub, we touched bass with the DirtyBird producer to have a chat about his introduction to music, his favourite clubs to play, whether or not he is a festival or a club guy, and most importantly we asked him his opinion on whether drugs have a place in the world of dance music, too which he replied, yes.

This baffled us at first with his sheer honesty on the heated topic, but was surprisingly refreshing to hear. Now, once again, I am in no means pro-drugs, but to hear a dance music producer happily admit that drugs are prominent in the industry seems to cut through the bullshit that some people throw down about this topic.

He told us “Dance music has always been drug orientated, not that I condone it; but house music in general goes hand in hand with ecstasy. From having a beer on a terrace listening to Move D or listening to Marcell Dettmann at Berghain on Ecstasy, it has it’s place.”

Being fully aware of the debate that will likely start up again as we post this article, we might as well just go ahead and get the ball rolling ourselves. What do you think of this argument? Do drugs have a place in dance music? Is it still as prominent as it was in the past? Do you think A1 Bassline’s opinion on the matter silly or something that everyone just tends to turn their back on and pretend doesn’t occur?

In my opinion, I think it’s about time somebody in the industry piped up about what I believe is an unspoken truth.

For you Sydney siders keen to catch A1 Bassline at GoodGod Small Club on Saturday, you can grab tickets here