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 worked 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. And now you can go back and experience those heady and fantastic days for yourself by contributing to fund my new upcoming book, The Raver Stories Project.

The Raver Stories Project is about the rave scene as it exploded worldwide like wildfire. It zooms in on the incredible and amazing moments experienced by the people in the rave scene itself. It’s not written by journalists, academics or critics who have no first-hand knowledge of this culture...but rather, by the people on the dance floor. The ravers, DJs and promoters themselves. This has never been done before in this country, which makes this volume both unique and important, on top of being richly entertaining. The Raver Stories Project is the first book to tell what raving was (and is) really like, from the point of view of those who were actually there, as opposed to the outside pundits and press who never truly understood what was really going on.

When I began covering the rave scene years ago, I was immediately struck by the unique sense of participation in the scene by the fans themselves, unlike any other social group I'd witnessed before. The rave scene was different, in that the fans were just as important part of this pop culture equation as the artists were. It allowed the near-total freedom of self-expression, in terms of fashion, musical taste, and of course, dance. You could literally do anything on the dance floor. You could be anything on the dance floor, and you wouldn't be judged or belittled. The rave scene eliminated the barriers of class, social status, race and sexuality. It was a glorious example of celebrating life through dance.

However, traditionally the voice of the fans of electronic music has been overlooked by the mainstream media, who have instead chosen to focus mostly on the controversies associated with the scene, usually in a very negatively slanted fashion. I personally consider this to be deeply unfair, because it is the fans who are the backbone of any scene or movement. It is the memorable moments that the fans are experiencing on the dance floor that make the scene go forward, grow and evolve. You can have the best DJs in the world at a party, but if no one is there dancing to their music, all those DJs are doing is playing for each other.

Back in the day, magazines like URB and Lotus performed the function of letting the fans share their views and experiences with the rest of the planet. Sadly, those magazines are no more, and the mainstream has since failed to provide a fair and open forum for these fans. A group that has grown and evolved as successfully as the rave scene has over the last twenty-five years (for example, the Electric Daisy Carnival festival now takes in nearly 150,000 people per day) does not deserve to be dismissed by those who do not understand why these people do what they do. Yet, this is exactly what has happened.

This is why in the winter of 2016, I put out a Call For Submissions to the global electronic music community, asking them to write their best stories down and send them to me. The response I received was phenomenal. I was inundated with stories from all over the world, and the majority of the authors had dug deep inside themselves and came up with accounts that were at times truly mind-blowing.

The range and variety of the stories proved to be fantastic. There's material about Burning Man, Electric Daisy Carnival and Ministry Of Sound, to name just a few. There are tales of events at warehouses, nightclubs, deserts, mountains, houses, mansions and stadiums. They start in England in the late 80s and finish up in present-day America, chronicling the growth of this worldwide dance movement.

Some stories are of one night. Others cover years of their author’s life. Both are legitimate, for they show how peoples’ lives are affected by the rave scene, both in the short-term and lifelong. Most are uplifting, but we've also got a few from the underbelly as well.

More than anything, The Raver Stories Project is about the diversity of experience that comes with being part of the global dance culture. It's not just partyers on the dance floor throwing their hands up and being silly. It's people coming together in a unique, embracing, tight-knit community that touches something deep inside of them.

Both the old-school rave and today's EDM generations are represented here, because both are part of the greater history of this scene, and therefore each must be represented. From Josh Wink and Paul Oakenfold to the Chainsmokers and Skrillex, from vinyl to CDs to laptops, from warehouses to stadiums…it’s all part of the same overall story, and the individual tales are the bricks that make up this big, beautiful house.

WHAT ARE YOU PAYING FOR? The printing of the book. Getting lots of books printed up isn’t exactly cheap, as you might expect. Thus, this is where the money is going—the making of an unforgettable collection of rave stories that would be at home on the bookshelf of any electronic music or pop culture fan.

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, below the book’s retail price. And, this campaign is the ONLY way that you can reserve your copy ahead of publication! 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 my earlier book DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM, in 5"x7", 8"x10" and 11"x14" sizes! You can even get a copy of DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM for yourself as well, also below the retail price!

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.

So come take part in electronic music history, by contributing to The Raver Stories Project!  Yes, it really is all good.

***UPDATE***!!!

Check out this time-lapse of Michael shooting one of the candidates for the book's cover!