#1

Hi, I’m looking into moving to the UK, and I was just wondering where the electronic musicz are happening most, meaning, where is it busiest for electronic music? (hehe, my words sound like i can’t speak english… just started going through a divorce right now… heart-broken… she loved me deeply, but we couldn’t take the financial strain of the times, and my descending mood over never finding a respectable living took too much of a toll on her… will miss her deeply, but already feel like i won’t miss the …uh… ‘maintenance’ ;D)…
I’m most interested in IDM/Braindance/DnB, but also very much into Glitch-Hop, Trap, and Grime, as well as more live-band style mixtures of these musicz(i plan to do more like that last one, except i’m building a software-suite which allows me to use loopers to do a one-man-band style thing). I’m not exclusive about anything, but these are my basics that i love the most, that help me feel like continuing to live, and I need to find gigs and start being a musician to get out of my current shitty context in the most… uh… conducive-to-my-survival kinda way.

(Also, on a sidenote, hehe, I’ve always had probs with seasonal-affective-disorder and clinical depression, where does the sun shine the most in the UK? …haha… i know i know… it’s probably not the best question since it seems there’s going to be far less sunshine than here in california no matter where i go in northern europe but, just figured i’d ask all the questions i could to prepare me. …And where does racism exist the least? And where is humor the funniest? And where do i find the hottest looking chicks who are into multiracial love? okok i’m asking silly questions now, but ya, just have so many…)

And finally, I’m looking at the UK first and foremost simply because i can speak the language already (and can even absorb the accents really well already ;D), but would love to hear about electronic music centers in the rest of Europe as well(because i hope to travel all around since it sounds so easy to do once there).
If i move, probably wouldn’t be 'til mid-2016 but just looking for glimmers of hope in different ways. (Never been hurting more in my entire life(losing the love of my life, lost all hope for finding any good jobs, lost touch with all my friends, and my parents are having fatal-looking health-probs all at the same time… hahahahahaha, ah, it’s almost the perfect soap-opera, if it wasn’t happening to me i’d probably laugh it off like any other sociopathic american would, sheeeeeit), but i’ve found this is also kinda liberating, like putting a gun to your head and blowing a hole through only the shittiest parts of your brain.)
So help me out here, please, with any advice(of any kind really, but mainly about where to go if i want to succeed as an electronic musical performer of the kinds of music i listed above, or perhaps a weird, more-live-than-you’ve-ever-seen-before, mish-mash of those aforementioned musicz).

I will be moving in with my parents(pure HELL! :frowning:), but they’ve agreed to patiently give me some space, not judge me as harshly as they always had, while i simply focus on making an album and finishing my live-performance software(and it’s probably something i should do, live closer to them for a few months, to say goodbye before they die). So i don’t have everything ready yet(story of my life, which i’m hoping to change once and for all starting right now or rather a week ago), but change has finally shat itself all over my face, and i’m finding the taste to be rather appealing :blush:
Let me know any of your thoughts(even if you have some insensitive humorous comment, lay it on me, i’m in the mood for anything and everything now).

(oh, and i might be on and off the internet for awhile, but please never think that i’m ignoring the LINES/monome community, simply trying to move like the wind)

Thanks for any support.

2 Likes
#2

Bristol
for this


plus its legacy as home of dubstep,triphop et al. on-u sound, lo-fi noise of flying saucer attack/3rd eye foundation. and now labels like subtext
also great food and general mentality

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#3

Raja coming to the UK; are we ready?! Sorry to hear of your trouble man. I’m in the bit of the UK that’s also claimed by another country; come visit some time.

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#4

i wish you the best for your next moves

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#5

Raja, very sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope the UK offers a fresh start. Best of luck with everything. I have nothing to add except to come visit Ireland when you get here :smile:

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#6

I would recommend coming to Scotland

But the thing is … it’s generally cold and wet :slight_smile:

But if you want to visit Raja your welcome here too

s

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#7

“Welcome to the UK - did you remember to bring a coat?”

^ they should put that on a sign at airport customs

if you’re really affected by the weather i’d live as far south as possible. it is cold and wet over here. so far we’ve had about a week of summer sunshine, might get a bit more in august if we’re lucky. move to cornwall - good enough for aphex twin :wink:

with regards to the race thing it varies from place to place (i’m white, life’s one big party for me). i’m currently living in nottingham in the midlands and it’s definitely not as tense as it could get where i grew up in the north. again the further south you go tends to be more multicultural but then again there are big swathes of the country that’s just 100% posh white (stay away from the home counties, you’d literally be the only non white in a 200 mile radius).

music - most major cities will have some form of electronic scene - bristol already mentioned is the famous one.

here’s some more top notch advice

  • you can’t shoot anyone (legally)
  • google pasty and get ready to put on weight
  • be prepared to be patronised every time someone hears your accent
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#8

Oh man, sorry to hear that. (separate email incoming)

I’ve been very happy with Manchester and it has it’s benefits being quite central in the country geographically. London is 2hours away on the train, most of the other cities in the North/Northwest are less than an hour on train. It’s quite cheap living here (compared to Miami, and definitely compared to the west coast), and as an expat, I can tell you that the cost of living (in general) in the UK is signiiiificantly lower than the US (in terms of food costs and such).

It being a relatively small country it’s very easy to get around (including other countries).

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#9

I’d say that anywhere other than London would be a good bet. the price of accommodation is a killer and you’d be one of thousands of people trying to get noticed for your electronic music.

Depends if you want somewhere like Bristol that has an established music scene, but might be more expensive to live, or somewhere that’s less known for its music scene but probably gets you better accommodation/studio space and cheaper living costs.

I hear that places along the coast are getting a lot of people leaving Brighton/London, so in a few months/years these might be really cool places to live. Hastings is getting loads of people moving from London, so give it a year or so, and that might be a cool and cheap place to live.

Manchester / Liverpool have really great music scenes, but they are noticeably colder than anywhere south of London. Same goes for Scotland, but I would only recommend Glasgow. Glasgow has one of the best electronic music scenes in the country and its a great place to live and make music. It’s rainy as hell though…

Racism exists many small town areas, but thats the same everywhere, most cities will be cool and you’re just going to be seen as a loud American first.

As for the hottest chicks into Multiracial love? you’ll have to work that out for yourself…

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#10

Glasgow is great. But if you suffer from SAD it may take time to get used to it. Or summer this year has been wetter than ever. And winter is cold and wet.

People are generally decent, and there’s plenty going on.

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#12

Hey Raja,

very sorry to hear about your situation.
I want to say how much I learned while working through your tutorials, and I’d like to thank you again for that!!
Beside that my brain was melting while watching your “Serpent Eclipse” video the 1st time…
Please keep up the good work mate!!!

I’ve never been to the UK, so there are definitely guys who know better, but if you’re in Europe you should visit Cologne!!
You’re always welcome - visit anytime!!

bless

#13

Thanks so much, Red. I truly appreciate it :de: :love_hotel:

#14

Any news Raja? Have you decided where you’ll be?

#16

Well keep going. It’s an up and down thing I’m sure. CS Lewis famously said “Grief is like a long valley, a winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape.”

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