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29: Vivian Host has caught every beat

Oct 4, 2024

Vivian Host, a pivotal figure in dance music known for her podcast Rave to the Grave, dives deep into her impressive journey through the rave scene. She discusses her early days as a female DJ in the jungle and drum and bass scenes, breaking barriers in a male-dominated industry. Host also explores the evolution of rave culture and its resurgence post-pandemic, navigating the complex dynamics of organizing parties in Los Angeles. With nostalgic anecdotes and sharp insights, she emphasizes the importance of representation in electronic music culture.

01:23:11

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Vivian Host

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Quick takeaways

Vivian Host has played a crucial role in bridging American and UK music scenes by introducing grime and dubstep artists to New York's rave culture.

The podcast medium serves as an essential platform for exploring and documenting the often-overlooked narratives and cultural significance of electronic dance music.

Through co-founding Warp Mode, Vivian demonstrates how underground rave collectives can adapt and thrive in post-pandemic Los Angeles despite various challenges.

Deep dives

Vivian Host's Influence on American Rave Culture

Vivian Host is recognized as a pivotal figure in shaping American rave culture over the past two decades. Starting her career at a young age, she played a significant role in introducing UK music to the US, being one of the first to book grime and dubstep artists for New York events. Her involvement during key movements in electronic music, especially in the 90s, helped bridge transatlantic music scenes and fostered a deeper appreciation for UK sounds among American audiences. This trajectory has cemented her status as a pioneer, particularly as one of the first female drum and bass DJs in the US.

Intro

2min

Pioneering the American Rave Scene: A Two-Decade Journey

2min

Navigating Awkward Interviews in the Music Industry

2min

Rave Culture and LA's Music Scene

15min

From Hollywood to NYC: A Musical Journey

21min

Rave Roots: A Teenage DJ's Journey

18min

Breaking Barriers: Female DJs in the 90s

24min

Vivian Host’s rave credentials go deep. Much deeper than we realised in fact, and we’ve been friends with her for over a decade.

There are several entry-points through which you could have discovered Vivian. Maybe it’s her podcast, Rave to the Grave, where she interviews DJs, dancers and ‘freaks of all ages’, from legendary house vocalist Barbara Tucker to performance art pervert Kevin Carpet. In Vivian’s words, RTTG exists to document ‘a vital and resonant global (sub)culture that has often been ignored, dismissed, trivialised and poorly documented.’ Amen!

Or maybe you know Vivian through her journalism? A former editor-in-chief of both Thump and XLR8R, she also hosted Red Bull Radio’s Peak Time show, once the internet’s best resource for audio interviews with unsung heroes from countercultural scenes across the world.

Or maybe it’s simply through throwing parties and DJing under the name Star Eyes. After breaking through as a teenager Vivian spent the late ‘90s and early 2000s becoming one of the most prominent jungle DJs on the West Coast (she may have both been the first woman from LA regularly playing jungle at parties, and one of the first people full-stop to play UK garage in the States). After relocating to New York in 2004 she co-founded Trouble & Bass, a party and record label with an anything-goes approach to genres – far from common 20 years ago. T&B were also the first crew to book grime artists in New York. There are a lot of firsts in Vivian’s catalogue.

In this episode we naturally talk about the current state of play in LA, but we also go back to Vivian’s formative years exploring the city’s nitrous-fuelled punk and rave scenes, how she navigated the world of jungle as a teenager, San Francisco’s ‘90s free parties, and being held up at gunpoint by dodgy club owners in New York’s wild mid-2000s. It’s Vivian’s story, but it also doubles as an education on how raving evolved in the US throughout the 1990s and ‘00s. By the end of the interview we were equal parts inspired, envious and exhausted.

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