Techno Shuffle: Rave Culture & the Melbourne Underground

New York 1978, London 1988, Melbourne 1998. Twenty years on from the disco revolution and a decade after acid house, Melbourne’s warehouse party scene was at its peak.

Informed by the author’s interviews with over 40 DJs, promoters, artists and partygoers, including many voices that have never before been heard, Techno Shuffle traces rave’s evolution from tiny underground clubs to vast waterfront wonderlands sparkling with creativity. We meet the personalities and places that shaped a subculture and we learn how bitter rivalries, the internet and a city on the move ultimately tore the scene apart. Techno Shuffle unfolds against a backdrop of postwar migration, gay and lesbian rights, the AIDS crisis, Australian drinking culture, the Melbourne gangland killings and the global ascendancy of dance music. During these anxious times in our post-truth age, ‘90s rave teaches us the value of freedom, community and respect. Let the party begin.