30 years of rave community with Manoj Mathew (Episode 28)

11/09/21 • 51 min

Manoj Mathew (@dj_manoj_pdx) is a Portland-based electronic music promoter and DJ who has been throwing raves in Portland since 1991. Manoj and I have been in touch a lot lately as we’re planning a Rhythm Nation event together on November 20th at his venue Epicenter. As we’ve been talking through the event, it became clear that Manoj’s approach to putting on events is deeply personal to the point that it borders on spiritual, so I wanted to get the full story on his views on dance music communities as I think it relates so strongly to the community organizing we do at Rhythm Nation. It happens to include some great stories and tracks of early west coast raves that I think you’ll really enjoy.

Previous Episode

Re-opening schools with Michelle DePass (Episode 27)

Michelle DePass is the current chair of the Portland school board who is currently focused on the unenviable task of re-opening public schools during the onset of the delta variant. It’s an incredibly tough job given that she has to weigh our constantly changing scientific understanding of delta against the varying opinions of thousands of concerned parents. In the episode, we talk through the thoughtful approach she and the board are taking to ensure our students and teachers are healthy. We also touch on lighter topics, such as the artistic path that led her to public office, the roller discos that are getting her through the pandemic, a playlist of her go-to jams and how we can get high school students dancing again.

Next Episode

“What’s Going On” with Jo Ann Hardesty (Episode 29)

Portland, Oregon will never be the same after the events of the past two years. To City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, that’s a good thing in some ways. In our wide-ranging conversation that touched on music venues, police budgets and homelessness, Commissioner Hardesty outlined a vision for a more equitable Portland that she hopes will woo voters more than fear based messages when she runs for re-election in May of 2022. On the show, Commissioner Hardesty also told me the story of how music brought her and kept her in Portland and also how Marvin Gaye’s 40-year-old classic “What’s Going On” continues to inspire her to this day. https://www.rhythmnation.us/podcast/29