‘Between the Beats’ Explores San Francisco’s ’90s Electronic History

While it’s never gotten quite the same recognition as the U.S. electronic strongholds of New York, Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles, San Francisco has long been a dance music center of gravity. Think warehouse raves, sunrise parties on the beach, machine-made music colliding with the early internet and the first iterations of Burning Man.

Now, a forthcoming documentary is exploring the city’s longstanding relationship with dance music. Out Oct. 15 via video-on-demand platforms, Between the Beats takes a deep dive into the city’s ’90s rave history through interviews with artists including DJ Harvey, Doc Martin, DJ Dan and of course, ravers who were there.

The documentary tracks how ’90s rave folded into San Francisco’s many cultural revolutions, from the Beatniks to the hippies to the punks. Then, the ravers arrived with their futuristic music and ecstasy pills, with the psychedelic history of the city colliding with dance music culture and everything happening in tandem with the development of the internet then happening in the city.

Between the Beats was directed by Martin O’Brien, produced by O’Brien and Mike Koeppel and edited by Robbie Proctor. The film is being released in North America by Gravitas Ventures.

“Bringing Between the Beats to life was incredibly personal to me as one of the many people who helped create the rave scene in San Francisco,” O’Brien says in a statement. “The film was made to take viewers on a journey back to an early ’90s music scene that has since grown into the hugely popular EDM/electronica phenomenon across the globe. I wanted to capture the magic of those early years and celebrate transformational music and the powerfully positive energy among its participants.”

Watch the trailer below: