Were you there?
Did you feel the rhythm rip through you when
the DJ laid it down and made everything feel so good? Did your arms and
legs move in secret rituals that you made up on the spot? Did your
lips float irresistibly upward into a smile that you never wanted to
end? Do you remember how wonderful it was, and how you couldn’t wait
for the next one to come around so you could do it all over again?
Did you rave?
Hi. My name is Michael Tullberg, and I’m one of the
longest-running electronic music photojournalists in North America.
During the 1990s and 2000s, I was writing and photographing for most of
the major dance music magazines in this country, covering the hottest
and most controversial music scene in the land: the rave scene.
That’s
right, the rave underground. The secret dance music network. The
parties that were so intense, they became instant classics as their
growing legions of fans raved happily well into the morning on a regular
basis. And now you can go back to those heady and fantastic days by contributing to fund my new book, DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM: Land Of The Free, Home Of The Rave.
![]()
Electric Daisy Carnival, 2001
DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM: Land Of The Free, Home Of The Rave is
about the glory days of the American rave scene as it exploded
nationwide like wildfire. It's a photo-heavy book that contains
hundreds of my very best images from the formative years of epic parties
like Electric Daisy Carnival, Nocturnal Wonderland, Dune and
others. It gives you VIP access to legendary electronic music artists like Paul Oakenfold,
Moby, Fatboy Slim, Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin, the Chemical Brothers and
more.
![]()
The author
Michael Tullberg and the one and only
Carl Cox, 2000 or so.
![]()
DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM will take you back to the warehouses,
deserts, mountains, beaches and clubs where rhythmic magic was
made. In other words, it's a rave hot tub time machine. And, this campaign is the ONLY way that
you can reserve your copy ahead of publication. So pre-order with a donation today!
![]()
Richie Hawtin, L.A., 1999
![]()
Dune 4 desert rave, 1998
![]()
And here's some
more from Frankie!
“Michael
Tullberg is a long time photographer of the west coast scene. He has been
trying to fund his book project for some time now and I think anyone who truly
loves this culture should help this guy out to live his dream. Unrelated to
STORM, yet totally related to PLUR, just take a look, and spread the love.”
DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM: Land Of The Free, Home Of The Rave is
going to be the first photo book of its kind in the U.S that presents the
visual record of a crucial era in American pop culture. The first to
show what raving was really like, from the point of view of those who
were
actually there, as opposed to the outside academics and press who could never fully (or accurately) describe what was really going on.
BEHIND THE SCENES!! An *exclusive* story about the secret party world of SUPERSTAR DJ KEOKI and SANDRA COLLINS! Prepare to laugh!
![]()
DJ Donald Glaude and fans at JujuBeats, Southern California.
Trance-master DJ Christopher Lawrence gives a great shout-out!
WHAT ARE YOU PAYING FOR? The printing of the book.
Getting thousands of photo books of 300+ pages made on high-quality paper
isn’t exactly cheap, as you might expect. Thus, this is where the money is going—the making of a high-quality product meant to last a
lifetime on the shelf or coffee table of any electronic music or pop
culture fan.
![]()
Dune 4, 1998
**RADIO ALERT!!** Click the link below to hear Michael being
interviewed by Swedish Egil on POWER106's "Powertools" EDM radio show!
You'll hear him talk about this campaign at 1:27:00! (That's one hour, twenty-seven minutes in)
PowerTools link
Ken Jordan from THE CRYSTAL METHOD gives his support, and recalls the day when he first met Michael Tullberg!
And as you can see, we've got a bunch of cool rewards for
those who choose to support this project. Of course, the biggest reward
is the book itself, which you can reserve for yourself with a donation. You'll be avoiding the shipping costs that are normally included in
shopping online, and California residents get a special bonus: NO SALES TAX! And that's not all! You can also receive CUSTOM PHOTO PRINTS of several of the images appearing in "DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM",
in 5"x7", 8"x10" and 11"x14" sizes! You can even get a Skype
photo seminar with yours truly, where I'll tell you the secrets of
creating fantastic nightlife photography!
![]()
John Digweed at the Viper Room
If we exceed our target donation amount, we're certainly open to
stretch goals. We definitely want to meet the demands of the fans of
the music, so if we take in enough to expand the initial printing beyond
our planned amount, that becomes a distinct
possibility.
Look! A great shout-out from DJ Jason Blakemore,
one of the classic old-school Southern California rave DJs! Jason has
been playing in the scene for as long as I can remember, and it's great
to get such a nice recommendation from him! Way to go, man!!
***UPDATE!!!*** The legendary DJ/producer
Swedish Egil talks about one of the great rave haunts of all time, the
Alexandria Hotel in Downtown L.A.--which has its own chapter in "
DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM: Land Of The Free, Home Of The Rave"!
People sometimes ask me, "what was shooting a rave really like?" Here's my answer!
OH WOW HUGE FRICKIN' UPDATE!!!!
Check out this new AMAZING article in SLATE.COM! This is a huge deal, folks, because this Slate article is quite likely the very first article from a major mainstream news outlet (NOT a music one!) that has profiled the crowdfunding of ANY rave-oriented project! And take a look at the great gallery of photos they included! Click the link below NOW!!!
http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2015/06/14/michael_tullberg_photographs_the_in_his_book_dancefloor_thunderstorm_photos.html
Here's what the press is saying about DANCELFOOR THUNDERSTORM!
·
From URB.com: “Photographer Michael Tullberg shot hundreds
of images for URB and other magazines at the height of LA’s 90s rave scene.
From raves on the Venice boardwalk and downtown’s Alexandria Hotel, to the
National Orange Show in San Bernardino and the desert raves all the way to
Indio, no collection of photos from this magical time and place have ever been
assembled before.”
·
From VIBE.com:
“Every subculture includes a handful of tech-friendly souls who function as their
movement’s de facto historians. Reviewing and shooting festivals like Electric Daisy Carnival and Nocturnal Wonderland for outlets like
URB and Mixer,Tullberg amassed a
collection of thoughts and images that chronicle Southern California’s rave
scene from 1996-2002, one of its more pivotal eras.”
·
From MagneticMag.com: "If
you’re either a veteran of the original rave scene, or if you’re an EDM fan who
wants to see just how this whole thing came about, this is the book for you.
It’s no stretch to say that there really isn’t any other book like this out
there, for nobody else has captured the essence of this critical period of
American music history like Michael Tullberg. If you want to explain to anyone
just what the rave underground vibe was when it blew up across the country,
just point to “DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM” and
say, “This is what it was like.” It’s the
real thing, the genuine article, and it deserves to live on the shelves of
electronic music fans everywhere."
***NEW ARTICLE!***
GREAT new article in Magneticmag.com about the book!! Check it out!!!
***************************************************************
Here's the book's official web site:
www.dancefloorthunderstorm.com
***ALL Photographs copyright by Michael Tullberg***
***ALL music in the promo video by DJ Mark Lewis and his band, Interstate. All music used with permission.***
.........................................................
UPDATE: June 29, 2015
**SUCCESS! THE CAMPAIGN HAS REACHED ITS GOAL!!!**
DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM has reached its target goal of $10,000, and will be printed and then shipped out
in the second half of 2015.
Most of what now remains
involves coordinating its future arrival with our warehouse and fulfillment center. At this point, that looks like late summer or early fall of 2015, after which all pre-ordered books and bonus items will start to be shipped out.
So come take part in electronic music history, by contributing to
DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM: Land Of The Free, Home Of The Rave! Yes, it really
is all good.
