WHAT WE STARTED: Bridging The Generations Through Music

I’m a proud Gen X’er. We were the first generation to purposely wedge a permanent block between the old ways of the Baby Boomers and start our own new, progressive revolution. Seeing this film has made me even more proud.

What We Started, from filmmakers Bert Marcus and Cyrus Saidi, is not a just documentary about the history of Electronic Dance Music; it is an illustration and metaphor of how much Generation X’s hard work, has paved the way for the Millenials/Gen Z’s.

Early Underground and Clubs

An early child of Disco, Electronic Dance music (EDM) made it’s way through the underground club scene starting in the 80’s and hit a huge peak by the early 90’s. I was lucky enough to have lived through this time, and unbeknownst to me, extra lucky to have been from Michigan, where the underground EDM movement first began. I can remember hearing the first bits of it as a kid and then actually experiencing it in college at the first dance club I worked in.

Hearing it on a radio versus experiencing it are two completely different things. When the music starts in a club, it vibrates through you. It creates an energy and camaraderie with the people around you. It was a place to lose your troubles and just be. It didn’t matter who you were or what you looked like, when you felt the music, your body started to move almost automatically. The scents, the sweat, the feelings and the euphoria created a sensual experience unlike any other.

I jammed to tunes mixed and cranked out by the likes of Jellybean Benitez, Grandmaster Flash, David Morales, Jam Master J and countless others. To this day I believe that a Renaissance of music happened in the 80’s and early 90’s because there hasn’t been any Rap, R&B, Electronica, Acid or Alternative since that comes close. It was such a welcome break from the hokey mainstream music of the 50’s and 60’s. For many Gen X’ers, it represented a Counterculture of our own; a physical, emotional and sexual awakening that appalled most of our parents. What better, safer rebellion was there than music?

What We Started brings together a group of the star DJ’s from the 80’s and 90’s while mixing in one of the newest, hottest DJ’s of today. It delivers all of the heart-pumping excitement and energy that is Electronic Dance Music, starting with its history and world-renowned legend Carl Cox.

The DJs

As a shy young child from Lancashire England, Carl Cox had a love for music from an early age. Depending on the generation timelines you look at, Cox was an early Gen X’er, who had a Baby Boomer father that discouraged his love of music. It seemed to be a resonating sentiment from Baby Boomer’s to their Gen X artistic children, that we had to ground ourselves, give up on dreams and get “real jobs”.

Vinyl was the thing of his day and Cox started out DJing in his room. By the time he was 15, he got his start as a mobile DJ. Working all manner of clubs, raves, concert halls and events worldwide, he is considered one of the founders of EDM. His career has lasted nearly 40 years and is still going.

In contrast is Martin Garrix who, at only 18 at the time of shooting, became one of the newest, hottest EDM DJ’s of today. Born in the Netherlands, he also had an early love of music. As a millennial, his mode of DJing is different from before, as now, it’s done almost entirely with computers. His career skyrocketed astoundingly quick and What We Started shows the prodigy’s first big concert, headlining at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami to 40,000 people.

Between both of their stories, is an intricately woven narrative featuring some of the biggest DJ’s of our time. From Paul Oakenfold, David Guetta, Tiesto-credited with finding/inspiring Martin Garrix-, Steve Angello and Pete Tong; to a couple of the musicians they’ve remixed, the likes of Usher and Ed Sheeran.

At times, there is a palpable tension between the generations of DJ’s due to EDM’s earlier rough start, transforming to “easier” mechanisms. Early DJ’s spent countless nights trudging their way through fields and abandoned buildings, illegally, hauling cases of records to do their passion, whereas, today, anyone with a laptop can start their careers in the safety of their own bedrooms. There are many more legal venues for popular DJ’s to perform today, which simply wasn’t the case in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Early DJ’s fought for and paved the way for its young successors. EDM DJing has gone from scratching multiple records and juggling soundboards, to the ability to prepare entire shows ahead of time, then playing it with the touch of a button from a laptop. And an 18-year-old headlining a giant music festival? Unheard of then!

What We Should Take From What We Started

Gen X DJ’s, take heart. There’s no need to criticize the manner in which the Millennial/Gen Z DJ’s do their music. What you started was a new form of music and a revolution in its own right.

As a parent to young Millennial’s/Gen Z’ers, what I’ve seen of this generation is quite heartening. They are a generation of self-starters, innovators, learners and game changers. With a more mature grasp of what they are facing in the world, they are growing up in, and, learning from their predecessors. They will take that knowledge and create something all their own, just as we did.

As Gen Xers, we are caught in the middle at the moment. It can be enormously frustrating having to deal with the last grasp of control the Boomers have on our society, yet Gen X still stands as the pavers for the generations to follow. We intentionally broke from the Boomers in order to give birth to the new and what we’ve been building still has yet to bloom. But I hope that when it does, we can fulfill the dreams of a NEW society that future generations can be inspired by.

What We Started: Conclusion

In the meantime, films like What We Started, are a really big deal. Film is the perfect mechanism to record our history while connecting the generations in fun and engaging ways. It melds our generations through what we have in common, instead of what is different. Millennials embracing Gen X music opens the door to them embracing Gen X’s progressive methodologies and beliefs. This can only bring about good things as we work collectively to heal our cultures and countries.

Imagine a world that is able to have adults and kids working together toward one common vision. Xers, instead of looking down at young people the way the Boomers looked at us, let’s show them nurturing and respect. While Gen Xers have a greater understanding of how life was, Millennials and Z’ers know more about how life is now. Let us open our minds to learning from each other in order to positively move forward, opening the greater consciousness, as a whole, to one we can all be proud of.

One last thing Marcus and Saidi, how about a Part 2 next, featuring all of the awesome female DJ’s of Gen X and now??

Have you seen What We Started? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

What We Started is available on Netflix.