Beyond Club Cultures

Abstract

This paper explores the intersection of music and devotion through a case study of the Hindu religious phenomenon called the kanwar yatra and the place of the 'mobile DJ' soundsystem within it. I argue that mobile DJ operators are evolving practices of electronic dance music that compel us to move beyond the club and the rave as primary frames of reference in understanding EDMCs. Regional EDMCs such as that of the kanwar yatra disturb categories and vocabularies derived from club cultures in the global North and underscore the need for new frameworks and theorisations to account for the surprising new forms EDMCs are taking across the world.