The underground electro takeover.
Electro-Shoegaze artist Goochems shot by Lea Wise.
I attended my first small live performance at Roses Midwest in Bloomington, Indiana a venue nestled into a vibrant college town. The energy seeping out of the admission door was so lively you could put your finger on its pulse. The room for the performance was rather small but in the heat of the crowd and the ear splitting 909’s it might as well have been Madison square garden. The euphoria I felt being apart of such a space went toe-to-toe with my first high-school experience with psychedelics, completely raw and mesmerizing. I was late to the show, doors opened at 7 and I had just driven 5 hours and 23 minutes to attend it so I had missed a performance but when I got there I was blessed by the production and sound of Ange1grr1’s “overshaering”. I danced, and I kicked, and I hair whipped through the rollercoaster that was her performance. Ange1grr1’s stage presence and crowd engagement made me feel as if my body was simply a vessel to amplify the experience happening around me.
After Ange1grr1, came the performance of Goochems which was the main event in my own narrative. I met Goochems through social media, he booked my photography services and since then we’ve been good friends. My discovery of his music truly felt like a turning point in the makeup of my interests and music palate. The second the opening beat of Shoegaze909 infiltrated my conciousness must’ve been what Joseph Smith felt when discovering the rumored gold plates of scripture. This was my first experience seeing Goochems live and not only was it on parr with the digital experience, but it also surpassed it. The crowd erupted with production tags of “god-damn goochems” and hollers of support and hype. I found his set short-lived and leaving me with a feeling of longing similar to an addict going through cold-turkey treatment, but it ended with excitement, contentment, and satisfaction.
My perspective on the potential of not only these artists but this specific sound goes beyond opinion and the success of both feels almost inevitable and factual. With the rise of artists like 2hollis and Jane Remover, comes the success of all creatives associated with this new wave of hardcore electronic music adorned with cathartic lyricism. These young minds will be the same ones that shape music as we know it in the years to come.
