Gabber

Originated from the Rotterdam hardcore scene in the late 1980s to the early 1990s, “Gabber” or what was known as Early Hardcore is a subgenre of hardcore techno. Unlike the conventional 120-130bpm, Gabber takes it up a notch by bringing the bpm all the way up to 160-300bpm, pushing one to the verge of cardiac arrest. Gabber came about from the DJs and Producers who were initially from the Techno scene back in the 80s. A journey into heavy sampling and massive synth stabs while speeding up songs to a whole new level of speed gave birth to Gabber. Also, Gabber was made in reaction to the “snobbish” and “pretentious” house scene that was going on at that time in Amsterdam.

Gabber was then commonly perceived as this extremely fast, havoc-wreaking and mind fucking music as most of its themes were based off violence and drugs. This can be perceived through the samples and lyrics which were often delivered through distorted screaming and pitch bended vocals alongside a whole train of distorted Roland TR-909 Kicks.

Gabber Fashion

When Gabber first came into existence, it brought about a whole new rave fashion culture alongside it. Ravers who frequent Gabber gigs saw an increasing need to dress in something comfortable that they can rave endlessly with. The idea of sportswear as Gabber fashion then came into play. Shaved heads, garish 90’s Adidas tracksuits (or tri poloski in Slavic convention) and Nike trainers became the staple of every Gabber head in Europe even till today. It was as if ravers were athletes taking part in a 100 mile run through an endless soundscape of head banging bass lines and synth stabs.

It was really the fashion sense of Gabber goers that got the sound into mainstream media today. Key brands such as Vetements and Reebok even released a Rotterdam track jacket in homage to the Gabber fashion culture. Christian Dior elevate the genre further by including the Hakken - which is a dance move associated with hardcore and gabber - into their 2017 winter campaign.

The UK Scene Struggle

Before the late 90s, Gabber production was pretty much isolated within the borders of Continental Europe. DJs therefore relied heavily on UK distributors such as Simon Underground to attain Gabber records. Many other record stores, though holding some, tend to not distribute it openly or ironically despise the genre and would not allow DJs to listen to them at all. The fact that even the sellers despised it is testament to the sort of reception gabber has faced in the UK.

The genre was hit the worst when an article title “Nazi Gabber Hell” was published in 1998. The article warned that “Nazis have adopted gabber music as their unofficial anthem” and ended with the words “parents, you have been warned”. That affected the genre tremendously, especially when the article went viral and inculcated a very negative attitude towards the subculture.

“Perhaps gabber was just a bit too aggressive, a bit too dissolute, at a time when British clubland was looking for more mature or sophisticated sounds.” - DJ Traffik. At that time, the genre was competing with the rise in the UK Garage scene and Intelligent Drum and Bass and this further contributed to the decline in the Gabber scene.

Hardcore Never Dies

But though Gabber was deem as unappealing, immature and unsophisticated, in reality it holds some of the most friendly and inviting people, more so than the police and press at that time. Gabber - or “Friend” in Hebrew, can be seen as one of the more inclusive scenes unlike other mainstream scenes which have been infested with pretentious individuals seeking fame or popularity rather than respecting the music genre.

Even with the constant clamps on Gabber raves and the perpetual negative sentiments towards it, the genre thrives, ever more so today than before with labels and artists picking up the genre and spreading their love for it all over the internet.

“That old adage ‘hardcore will never die’ makes it immortal”. It seems there really is no rest for the wicked. - Producer.

Anyway, for those who are interested in learning the Gabber moves, you can check out this video by the Russian Village Gang below and follow along.

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