While Morocco's club scene remains embryonic, more and more festivals and outdoor events are springing up. We take a closer look with Amine K.
ADE celebrates its 20th birthday this year so there will be a number of themed concepts at ADE Pro, including a MyCity series in a 20 X 20 sessions shape: 20 minute talks by key influencers about their base of operation. In this article we take a look ahead, starting with Marrakesh and Morocco, where by coincidence the government is 5 years into Vision 2020, a project intended to make Morocco "one of the top 20 tourist destinations in the world and to double the annual number of international arrivals to 20 million by 2020."
Happy accident aside, Morocco’s club scene remains embryonic (earlier acclaimed house clubs such as Platinium Skhirat closing in recent years as EDM swept them aside) though an eclectic scene centred on events is thriving, says Moroko Loko promoter/ DJ/ and serial entrepreneur Amine Akesbi (aka Amine K).
“There are great parties and promoters here including Lost Frequencies, Pure, Re:Creation, Y? Serious, Runtomorrow, Jeudeep, Les Patrons du Vertige, One2One... About Festivals, appart from Transahara and our new project (Dunes Can Dance) and the new Oasis festival (photo), there’s many new projects coming up” he enthuses.
Polyswitch from Lost Frequencies agrees.
“What’s exciting in Moroccan nightlife nowadays is this big wave of electronic music sweeping over and being explored by Collectives who organize parties here that sometimes include some of the key figures in the international electronic scene and gather people through this music without relying on the same old clubbing clichés,” he says.
While mainstream pop dance music continues to dominate locally (‘EDM mixed with hip hop and Latino’ as Amine puts it) the likes of Max Cooper, Minilogue and Matthias Meyer have all performed sets in recent months, while Oasis Festival brings headliners including Ame, Agoria, DJ Harvey and Will Saul to their huge event in September.
Local star DJs including Amine and scene pioneer Unes also perform at Oasis, and both are passionate about the vibe Moroccan clubbers bring to every party.
“Most DJs who come here stay for a few days to enjoy our hospitality and Moroccan food and to bond and connect with people here,” says Unes.
“There’s something really special about our crowd who are so devoted to the artists. In fact Avicii (not my cup of tea but he’s a good example) played last Monday in Rabat in front of 200,000 people and here’s what he said on Twitter afterwards: "Played in front of 200,000 beautiful Moroccans yesterday! It was truly amazing and definitely one of my best shows so far. You guys have a rare energy and that was my biggest solo show to date!!”
Amine’s emphasis and enthusiasm is similarly focused on underground house and techno (he runs numerous desert festivals including Transahara and Dunes Can Dance and recently purchased Morocco’s first ever Funktion One sound system for hire).
“The underground scene here is still small but has definitely grown in a positive way,” he says, “Five years ago we were almost the only ones bringing underground electronic music into Morocco whereas today so many different parties have been created with very good music.”
Underground aside though, he’s recently teamed up with Morocco’s Minister Of Culture to establish MEMM (Moroccan Electronic Music Movement), an ongoing project dedicated to developing the electronic music industry and push the Moroccan House and Techno Artists abroad.
“Authorities were indifferent to club culture here initially, then even against it but nowadays after much work, they’re becoming supportive,” says Amine.
ADE Pro: MyCity: Marrakesh
Date, time & venue: TBA.
Tickets for ADE's conference are available here.
Photo credits: Housecult
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