Dave Rave brought the popularity of European electronic dance music to Athens, and now the duo is looking to expand that reach further into the roots of southern Ohio.
The group has booked two new shows in Marietta and Chillicothe and have brought on a former competitor, Kieran Manzi, to help get the group into new markets.
Manzi, who used to be the manager for BustedBASS, a competing electronic music group vying for the Athens market, is now using his experience in the Athens scene to promote Dave Rave.
“It wasn’t really a rivalry, but it was another similar group and sometimes we butted heads,” said Brandon “DJ B-Funk” Thompson, half of the DJ duo. “We both have the same goals of putting on quality events.”
With the past behind them, the group members are looking to move into new markets in southern Ohio with a new bolstered reputation to back them.
The group submitted a Start it Up Athens! video among several other contestants to be considered for grant money awarded to local businesses. Though the group didn’t win, the campaign opened up a number of opportunities.
“They gained a lot of notoriety, not just in Athens County but in the surrounding area,” Manzi said. “The Adelphia Music Hall (in Marietta) had actually contacted us directly because of what they had seen from the campaign.”
Most people in the area don’t know about the electronic dance music fad, Manzi added, which is why Dave Rave is an attractive group — they know what’s new and popular in the genre.
Dance music has been around since disco started up in the ’70s, and Europeans have caught on to the electronic fad faster than Americans have.
It’s only recently that the genre has caught on in the U.S. Manzi said it’s not all that different from the early days of dance music — electronic music just changes the way people move and gives the DJ more versatility.
But despite the popularity of the genre, Thompson said it’s still hard to move into new territory where most people don’t know your name.
“With the EDM (electronic dance music) boom on the radio and groups like David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia, there is more of an awareness,” Thompson said. “Because of the Dave Rave brand we’ve created here in Athens, when people see that logo they know it’s going to be a higher quality event, and hopefully people come out for that.”
wh092010@ohiou.edu
If You Go:
What: Dave Rave
When: 9 p.m Friday
Where: The Adelphia Music Hall, 205 Second Street, Marietta
Admission: $5 in advance, $7 at the door
What: Dave Rave
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: The Backstage, 47 South Paint Street, Chillicothe
Admission: $5 in advance, $7 at the door
