Psytrance. If you’re not familiar with all the ins and outs of different dance music genres, you may wonder what psytrance is, and whether it is distinctive enough to earn its own sub-genre.

I actually don’t think it’s a sub-genre at all: it’s sound, heritage, ethos and followers don’t tend to overlap massively with trance. It is unique in these ways:

• Although overlapping, psytrance runs a bit fast than trance (136bpm+ compared with 135-138bpm)
• Psytrance sounds much tighter – the drums in particular are very clean and snappy. 
• Psytrance is less varied and therefore more distinctive than trance (which does indeed have a number of different styles)
• Psytrance shuns commerciality as much as possible
• It has somewhat more of a cult following
• Is psychedelic rather than uplifting
• Has roots in India, and on the beaches of Thailand. 

Varkala is a small place on the Southern coast of India. It is not populated and attracts few mainstream Western visitors. It has long been a stopping point for travellers though. Despite being nearly 1000kms away from Goa, it shares a similar vibe, and is a wonderful place to visit. 

I didn’t attend any beach parties when I went, so this picture isn’t mine. 

It was a lovely place.

And – being India – one morning we found ourselves amongst the guests of honour at a wedding that we simply happened upon whilst visiting a temple. The array of food spread on a banana leaf below is the finest form of dining I can imagine.