Proper Villains Provides an “Idiot’s Guide to Molly”

In light of the tragedy that struck this year’s Electric Zoo festival, you have to figure that the DJ community is going back and forth on the issue of MDMA and drugs in general at today’s raves and festivals. Just last night we were wondering when DJs and producers were going to weigh in on the “molly” issue. Tommie Sunshine briefly spoke gave his views on the topic yesterday, and while we’re not expecting every DJ to stand up and break down their philosophies, we have to commend Proper Villains for going in the way he did. Proper Villains has been on our radar for the last eight years or so, having releases rack up everywhere from Play Me to Nightshifters, and he even recently remixed a tune by The Rub. He took to Facebook earlier tonight to express himself on the molly issue, and ended up giving a pretty informative “idiot’s guide to molly.” If we’re talking about ravers taking responsibility with what they ingest, conversations like these need to be opened up. Check out his thoughts, unedited:
OK, So there’s been a lot of talk about the people dying at raves recently and the dangers of ecstasy.
I’m not gonna be one of the those DJs that says, “the music is the drug” and leave it at that because I feel like that’s a hypocritical deflection of an obvious reality.
You’d have to be a moron not to notice that a certain segment of the EDM audience is geeked as f–k at shows.
It’s a rave. People have been doing E at raves since the beginning of raves.
Now I don’t really do drugs, but I’m neither pro or anti-drug. I’m libertarian, I think people have the right to ingest what ever substances they see fit so long as that action doesn’t have negative consequences on other people.
So that said. Let’s have a frank discussion about RESPONSIBLE drug use. Again, I must re-iterate that I’m neither pro or anti-drug, but if you CHOOSE to do drugs at EDM events I think you should have the knowledge of how to do so in a safe & responsible manner.
The idiots guide to molly:
“Molly” is street slang for 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine or “MDMA” for short. It’s an amphetamine derivative & works by stimulating the serotonin “feel good” pathway in the brain, the same pathway that get’s stimulated (to a lesser extent) by running, having sex or eating dark chocolate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA
Rule #1 Make sure what you’re doing is actually MDMA.
Since MDMA is illegal in most civilized countries it is made in illegal laboratories with questionable quality control. Many of the substances pedaled on the street aren’t even MDMA. They can range from other amphetamine derivatives such
as MDA (3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine) to straight up crystal meth.
Buy from somebody you know and trust. Do not buy drugs at an event, EVER. Don’t take free drugs from anybody. That guy/girl with the furry backpack you met at the festi
offering you a key bump is probably well intentioned. Who knows what s/he is actually giving you.
TEST YOUR STUFF.
Dance Safe sells testing kits. They are a little pricey, but $65 is cheaper then a funeral. If you’re stuff comes up as not MDMA or adulterated THROW IT AWAY.
http://www.dancesafe.org/products.
Rule #2 Don’t mix your drugs. MDMA has been through some basic clinical trials and has been proven to be relatively safe to use in a clinical setting BY ITSELF. The ridiculous cocktails of MDMA/alcohol/methamphetamine/acid/mushrooms/cocaine/etc that some people take at parties have not been tested and I would venture to say are terrible for you mind and body.
If you’re on psychiatric pharmaceuticals like prozac, paxil, adderall, or whatever SSRI du jour is being prescribed like
candy to the high school/college attending public you should not do MDMA because there will probably be some sort of interaction.
You specifically should not drink alcohol if you’re going to be dancing while on MDMA because it’s dehydrating, which leads us
to rule 3.
Rule #3. STAY HYDRATED. Most ecstasy deaths are from over-heating/dehydration. So if you’re dancing you
need to drink water, keep yourself cool and take breaks.
How much water? About 16oz every hour should do. Don’t over do it, if you start chugging water like it’s going out of style you can just as easily give yourself water poisoning (don’t laugh a couple of people a year die this way).
Asshole promoters sometimes charge $5 a bottle for water, so buy one bottle and re-fill it in the bathroom. Getting some gatorade in there is probably not a bad idea either.
How cool? Jeans & a T-shirt should be fine. Tank top is better. Take the furry hat off. It makes you look like a douche bag anyways.
How often? Take a 10 minute break every hour and sit down in a cool, well ventilate area.
Rule #4 Take care of your brain. MDMA uses up a lot of the serotonin your body naturally produces. This is the reason
a lot of people get a “molly hangover” for a couple of days after a party. You can mitigate this adverse affect by taking 5-HTP, an over the counter seretonin pre-curser. 200mgs a couple of hours before you roll & another 200mgs after you come down should be about right.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=5-htp
Rule #5 Be responsible. Have a designated driver (whose sober) and who will keep an eye on you at the party. Don’t
eat the whole bag like a retard. Take a little bit, see how you feel after 45minutes/hour and then take a little more. Don’t stay up for days at a time like some crackhead, when the sun comes up go home and go TO BED.
Anyway. That’s my piece. Rant over.

Credit : Do Androids Dance

EDM Is Growing Up - Written By Tommie Sunshine

I've been putting off my first "proper" piece for Huffington Post for six months now. People have been in my ear the whole time egging me on to speak my mind and share my thoughts with the masses, far beyond my Twitter followers & Facebook likers. That time is upon us; 2013 is the year of the Snake and although I don't know exactly what that means, I do know it's going to be an amazing year for EDM and the emerging culture around it.
We are four days into a new year and already so much has transpired. Zedd performed "Clarity" on The Late Show With David Letterman with Foxes & Alvin Risk, accompanied by a sit-down string section; Tiesto left his long-time management company for a much bigger one; and Skrillex released some proper listening music that pays tribute to his idols, Burial & Aphex Twin. Avicii has invited the world to help him write and produce his next track; Armin van Buuren announced that his 'A State Of Trance' 600th show will broadcast from Madison Square Garden; Diplo announced he's playing four shows in one night in four different cities and MTV has turned the hashtag #EDMCASTING into everyone's conceivable worst nightmare.

We are at the tipping point. This is it. This is what I've been working at for 20 years of my life now. The moment when this music becomes both a mainstream musical explosion and a cultural phenomenon simultaneously. If that isn't something that causes growing pains, I don't know what is. Some people who live for this music are turned off by it rising into the mainstream, but the ones who are lifers and truly love it will find their micro-scene to disappear into, while EDM takes over the world. This is a sad fact because we would love to have those people at EDC & Ultra, as they could show the younger kids the way into feeling this properly and experiencing it on a much deeper level. This is needed and I hope happens more frequently. I implore you to mentor the younger Ravers and teach them something in the confides of your brief psychedelic weekend encounters.

Earlier this week I performed at Afrojack's Jacked party, one of the largest events I've ever played at in New York City and one of the largest crowds I've played to in the States. Pier 94, with its legal capacity of 6,500 (so let's say attendance was 6,500) is one of the best venues for people to actually interact with each other. Massive LED walls light up the room and if you stand at the back you can very easily strike up a conversation with someone you can actually see. I heard there were food trucks outside, so Polina, my Daniela and I made our way through the crowd and the reactions of the kids were amazing. "What are you doing out here?" asked one girl. I said, "Grabbing pizza, we're hungry!" This seemed perplexing to a room full of kids shut out of VIP, but as a former Raver, walking through a crowded event is always one of the highlights of the night for me. I took hundreds of photos with fans and passed out CD copies of my new EP. I haven't felt so connected to a party in years; other DJ/Producers, I implore you to try this. It's beautiful and truly amazing.

I have so much to say but don't want to bore you with too much at once. Fans of mine are well familiar with my Twitter and Facebook rants about love, music, politics and war, so I will attempt to keep this fresh. We all have the attention spans of fleas, thanks to our phones, so I will wrap this up quickly. This week's Billboard Top 40 is 25 percent straight up EDM tracks and another 25 percent EDM-influenced tracks (see Swift and Bieber), so essentially, we have half the chart. By 2015, I predict we will have almost 100 percent, as Europe has for two plus decades now. But to everyone reading this who loves dance music, please remember that these are the best days of it. Enjoy it while it lasts, savor every moment and go out of your way to bring all of your friends. We are on the right side of history and the whole world wants what we've known forever. This is essentially still a secret, even though people are making it out to be the end. It's not the end at all. EDM is just growing up. The question you should be asking yourself is, are you?

Credit : Huffington Post