“Electronic Awakening” Fuses Music With Spirituality at Bay Area Event

On December 21st, the Electronic Awakening community will gather in person at Temple SF for a presentation, panel discussion, memorial area, and dance celebration.

Eleven years ago, the world was first introduced to Electronic Awakening, a documentary film that investigates the close connection between electronic music and the spiritual realm. Electronic Awakening paints music, dance, and human interaction at the forefront of modern spirituality and as an access point oneness. In particular, EDM is positioned as the re-introduction of shamanic ritual, something long embraced by indigenous cultures.

The electronic music movement has made the spiritual community more accessible and mainstream than ever, fostering transcendent experiences on dance floors across North America (often called raves, but with much more at stake than you might expect from a traditional rave). The film’s director AC Johner, suggests that the repetitive rhythms of EDM may hold the key to unlocking the “hive mind,” or collective consciousness.  

Filmed across a five-year period, the documentary features scenes and stories from like-minded festivals like Burning Man, Earthdance, LoveFest, Moontribe, Wicked, Shambhala, and the Boom Festival in Portugal. Executive producer Julian Reyes sees the experience as rooted in contemporary culture and building upon ancient belief systems, again, as they relate to modern shamanism. 

To celebrate this historic film and act upon its message, AC Johner and Keyframe Entertainment will be hosting a live event in San Francisco on December 21st. Julian Reyes will be performing as ManyNames a.k.a. KeyFrame, alongside Ken Jordan, Satsi, Random, and Code369. Attendees can expect to hear the music of Shpongle, The Crystal Method, Random Rab, Phutureprimitive, Govinda, Cosmosis, Vibrasphere, Nadis Warriors, Bird of Prey, and many others.

In addition to embracing sound, Electronic Awakening will host an impressive roster of six speakers. Among these are the writer, director, and producer of Electric Awakening, AC Johner, as well as Ken Jordan, formerly one-half of The Crystal Method.

Additional speakers include Robin Sylvan (author of “Trance Formation: The Spiritual and Religious Dimensions of Global Rave Culture”), Liana Sanada Gillooly (Strategy Officer for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Science), Janine Jordan aka JIVANA (Author, Founder of Green Wave, and Executive Director of Electronic Music Alliance, and Satsi Sonik (Event Organizer, DJ, and VJ).

On the forthcoming event, Julian Reyes says, “I’m honored and extremely happy to share this unique event celebrating “Electronic Awakening” with the Bay Area Electronic Music community! AC Johner and I are both grateful to our contributors, interviewees, and producers. This project was truly a community effort and that is very special! We screened the film at Harvard’s Anthropology Dept., Yale University, Finland University, the EVOLVER network, Japan, Europe, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Boom Festival, Rainbow Serpent, LIB, MEME, Symbiosis, Photosynthesis, Atlas, Earthdance, multiple Burning Man camps and many more amazing places. We look FWD to seeing you at TempleSF Dec. 21st!”

Details of the Electronic Awakening event can be viewed on the event’s Facebook page. Tickets may be purchased ahead of time through Eventbrite or for $30 at the door. You can also view the film on the Eventbrite page!