Anthropology

ACID69 Interview Transcript

Pedro Monteiro

Anthropology, Interview Transcript by Pedro Monteiro

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 Interview Transcript
Pedro Monteiro

Link for the audio Interview on google drive:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y4elygFm_a15CVjTDhdGknMisjLUudMi/view?usp=s
haring

Interviewer: Okay, hey everyone, how are you today?

Person 1:Great.

Person 2: Yeah.

Interviewer: All right, okay, so let me explain a little bit of how this interview or
conversation is going to go before we start. So we are first-year marketing students
and we're doing a project for the subject of anthropology that consists on creating a
company focused on a cultural group of society and through the individuals who
make the group up, who form it, understand their perspective and use this
information to improve the business that we create and in this way basically taking
your account, the consumers, taking in your opinion in general. And then in our case,
we created a business called Acid69, it's a rave, and our buyer persona, so our
consumers, are expected to be people from 15 to 25 years of age who attend raves
and consume hard drugs daily or very often. And if you have any questions before
we start, you can ask them now without any problem or during the interview, at any
time.

Interviewer: And also please note that if you don't want to answer a question that's
super alright, you can just say like, okay, no comment. And then,

Interviewer: okay, to begin with, we would like to know your age, gender you identify
with, your place of residence, and whether you're currently studying or working.
Okay.

Person 1: Hi, my name is __________, I'm 20, male. I reside in Barcelona and I'm
studying international relations at EU.

Person 2: Hi, my name is _________, I'm 22, almost, and I live in Barcelona right
now. I identify as female and I study interior architecture.

Interviewer: Alright, so to start, would you be able to tell us about your first
experience in a rave? Like, why did you go, with who, how did you feel, and how did
you end up going? Um,

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Person 1: okay, personally, I never went to, or I haven't, I've had the chance to go to
such raves, but I never explicitly went to a rave like that. But I've gone to music
festivals and like art shows and stuff.

Interviewer: Something that would fit the party category of using hard drugs.

Person 1: And I have done hard drugs, but just not in the rave environment.

Interviewer: Okay, then that can help us with this interview and understanding the
buyer persona so we can continue.

Interviewer: And what about you, ________?

Person 2: Um, I think my first rave was a rave that friends of mine, um, did. And
yeah, it was really chill because I knew most of the people there and it was pretty
small. And yeah.

Interviewer: Alright. Okay, and like, why did you, like, how did you feel when you
went to this rave? What was the experience like?

Person 2: Um, I think first I was like, I was curious, like, to begin with, because I
wanted to know, like, how the people are, what exactly is the music gonna be like,
what is the location, because it was like in the middle of a field, like, in between the
woods, which is mostly when you go to raves.

Interviewer: That's kind of normal here for a rave too.

Interviewer: Yeah. Sorry, I apologize. I'm just grabbing my jacket.

Person 2: Should I stop or should I keep talking?

Interviewer: Continue explaining.

Person 2: Okay. Um, and yeah, I think it was really cool because I could go with
friends and because it was done by friends. So I was kind of into

Person 1: the safe space.

Person 2: Yeah, like I was in the safe space, I think. So it was really nice because I
also could say like, no, I want to go now or, oh, I'm going to stay, or I can go, like,
behind the counter and stay there for a little with my friends and not be in the party.

Person 1: Yeah,

Interviewer: yeah, I understand.

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Interviewer: And for you, ______, going to these festivals that were similar to the
rave vibe?

Person 1: I mean, look, um, I was actually like in a sort of pursuit. So I was really
there to enjoy the experience. But along the way, I met some really cool people and
it was a vibe.

Interviewer: Who did you go with? And like, why did you decide to go?

Person 1: I went with my cousin, uh, just my specific cousin. He went to a lot more
raves and like actual raves and stuff like that. But at least these types of festivals, I
went with my cousin and yeah, it was because I'm an artist. So I was interested in
how

Interviewer: did you partake in the hard drug usage?

Person 1: Not in those, not in that environment.

Interviewer: Not in, not in the beginning, you're saying?

Person 1: Not in that environment.

Interviewer: Okay, I understand. No, I see, I see what you're saying. I get you.

Person 1: Yeah.

Interviewer: I get you totally. Okay.

Person 1: I would, I would, but like I just never have.

Interviewer: Okay. Uh, now we're going to go into this next question, which kind of
helps and you're able to talk about this better because you fit the buyer persona for
our product. And it's, when did you try drugs for the first time? Was it at a rave or like
in a different context? And like, was it through influence of other people? Was it
through curiosity? And like, tell us about what the experience was like on the first
time, if you're okay with it. And, uh, yeah.

Person 1: Okay, picture this. Yeah. 17 degrees.

Person 1: It's 2 AM and I'm at beach front

Interviewer: in Cape Town?

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Person 1: In Cape Town.

Interviewer: Okay.

Interviewer: Yes, I see.

Person 1: And it is at one of these bars kind of resembling a pub.

Interviewer: Which one?

Person 1: Buckley's.

Interviewer: Buckley's. Okay.

Interviewer: So Buckley's is basically.

Person 1: Sweaty, sweaty, sweaty teenagers.

Interviewer: For whoever's listening to this interview, just taking account that
Buckley's is basically a very raunchy Irish pub, but very, very raunchy because it has
low lighting, low quality, everything.

Person 1: You'll either find people between 16 to 20 or like 60 to 75.

Interviewer: Yeah. Okay. Now, now let's, now let's get into

Person 1: How I did the stuff.

Interviewer: Okay. Now let's get into, let's get into the drug usage.

Person 1: I mean, so yeah, me and my friends and I had been going to that area
cause it's like near the house and stuff like that.

Person 1: Our houses. And, um, yeah.

Interviewer: Was it through influence of your friends or by choice? Curiosity?

Person 1: At the end of the day, it was by choice, but like, yeah, it was kind of by
influence of friends.

Interviewer: Okay. And how was the experience? How did this make you feel?

Person 1: uh, I was kind of ready to do it. Yeah. So I was like, I really took in the
experience and I mean, it's nice, but it's not my cup of tea, but I won't lie. I've done it
a few times.

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Interviewer: I understand, No, I get you.

Person 2: Do you want to say which drugs you did or

Interviewer: Do you, do you mind mentioning or?

Person 1: ______.

Interviewer: ______.

Person 1: Yeah.

Person 2: Okay.

Interviewer: Yeah. And _________, do you have an answer for this question or like
context?

Person 2: Yeah, I personally don't take harder drugs. I've never did, I've come into
contact multiple times, but I've just never felt like I wanted to.

Interviewer: uh, also to add for context because __________ is a friend of mine and I
know _______. Uh, so for whoever's listening to this and to why this part is useful for
the interview is because ________ is kind of like a caretaker with her friends when
she ends up going to raves. Do you want to explain?

Person 2: Yeah. So for the, as I said, I've been to raves that friends of mine like did.
Um, and so I've been there a few times before, like they do it a few times in the
summer mostly. And I've been there to be like the safe space for people that take
drugs. So if you go to those raves, you will see people wearing, uh, bright like vests
over their clothes. And that's how you can like see that those are the people that if
you have any problem at the rave that you can go to them.

Interviewer: So just, just a quick thing, because this is an anthropological study and I
want to make sure that we understand this is part of the culture of going to raves.And
this is, this is a widely known thing for people that attend raves. Correct?

Person 2: Yeah.

Interviewer: So seeing people that wear vests and seeing them as caretakers or
people that could help you in those experiences. So necessarily building a safe
space within the community.

Person 2: Exactly.

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Interviewer: I understand.

Interviewer: And so let's head back a little bit to the anthropological side of it,
because if, if we stop to think about it in every culture, there are rituals and, uh,
certain, certain rituals of passage. Some are very famous, for example, bar mitzvahs
or your first time drinking with friends, your first time taking drugs with friends. Would
you say that taking drugs is a part of a ritual of becoming someone that goes to
raves and part of that culture?

Person 2: Definitely. Like most people that I know,

Interviewer: But as you said, you're a part of this community, but you don't partake in
it.

Person 2: That's true. But I am like rare, I guess, like most people that I know that go
to raves, they take drugs or they have taken drugs and stopped now.

Interviewer: So it's like, okay, that's very good context for us to understand better.
Okay. And then let me ask you another question. What is your opinion about drugs at
raves? Do you think they are necessary to go and can you do without them? And are
there many people who don't use them? And like, just in general, what is your
perspective? Because as you, as you already said, like there are a lot of people who
use drugs and go to raves and, uh, just give us some insight into your perspective on
this.

Person 1: I mean, like I've been to, as I said, like I was in such a situation and like I
did enjoy it. I didn't need to be on drugs to enjoy a good rave Yeah. Like nice festival
and shit like that. You know, the environment's nice. Everyone's happy. Good vibes
everywhere.

Interviewer: But like, what is your opinion on drugs in raves? I mean, do you think
that's a good thing? A bad thing? What do you think?

Person 1: Because it's a free space for people to, uh, experience. And if that also
means like psychedelically experimenting and you know, stuff like that, like, you
know, be as free as you want.

Person 2: Yeah. I think as long as you take it responsibly, exactly. That's like, that's a
big point for me. Like if you, if you decide to take drugs, please do it responsibly and
do it in a space where you have friends with you and you know, you have somebody
that will take care of you if it's like a bad trip or anything, or do it in a like a space
where, you know, there's workers there who are especially there for you to go to

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them if you have a problem or if you have a bad trip or if you just feel like anything's
wrong with you. So don't do it.

Person 1: And you need to be in a Good state of mind.

Person 2: Yeah, exactly. Like only do it when you feel really feel like it and you do it
responsibly.

Person 1: Yeah.

Person 2: I think that's like the only thing that I would say. And other than that, yeah,
do whatever you want.I think it can enhance your experience of course, like
especially at raves, like the music already.

Person 1: No, it's still recording.

Person 2: I think like the,

Person 2: the music itself will make you kind of high if it's a really good, if it's a really
good DJ, the music itself will make you high. And I think if you take drugs to that it's
going to make it maybe better even. Yeah.

Person 2: Interviewer: Okay. That actually takes me to my kind of next question,

which is what genre of rave do you enjoy the most? Cause like, do you like hardcore,
underground, house, electronic? What do you, what is your thing? Do you like hyper
beat, hyper pop?

Person 2: I think I would say

Person 1: I love hyper pop. I love me some hyper pop

.
Interviewer: So your favourite is hyper pop?

Person 1: I would say, but I mean, I love drum and bass as well.

Interviewer: Yeah. It's drum and bass.

Person 1: It's some dubstep every now and then like, yeah, just to like revisit.

Person 2: I think I would mostly go with techno, industrial.

Interviewer: Ooh, yes. Great vibe.

Person 2: Goa, trance.

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Person 2: Yes.

Person 2: More in that direction.

Interviewer: Those are your general favorites.

Person 2: Yeah.

Interviewer: Okay.

Interviewer: And then the question that I have is like, how often do you go to raves
slash festivals? And like, is it more at certain times of the year than others? Because
you were saying your friends did it in the summer. So give us some insight into that
part of it.

Person 2: For me, I mostly go in the summer because I can go outside or because I
can go to raves that are being held outside because I like it more.

Interviewer: Yeah, because there are indoor raves.

Person 2: There are indoor raves, of course. I just don't really like the vibe there.
Like, I don't like the, yeah, I don't know.

Interviewer: You don't like being in the closed space.

Person 2: Exactly.

Interviewer: Tell me like, when do you prefer to go to raves? And like, how often do
you go?

Person 2: I actually don't go that often. Maybe like once a month or once every two
months. Just if I find like a really good rave because I'm kind of specific about it.

Interviewer: Yeah. Yeah. You have, you know what you want.

Person 2: Yeah, exactly. So if I don't find that or it's not happening,

Interviewer: Do you say that you do this mostly? Do you think that you party more in
summer?

Person 2: Yeah, definitely.

Interviewer: Oh, okay. So that's kind of what we're trying to get at. But do you think
there is any other time of the year that you would party more?

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Person 2: I think it just depends when it's warm.

Interviewer: Okay.

Interviewer: So it's due to the weather, not due to free time.

Person 2: Yeah.

Person 2: Okay.

Interviewer: I understand. And for you, ________?

Person 1: Same.

Person 2: Yeah.

Person 1: Yeah.

Interviewer: The exact same feeling about it. So it also depends.

Person 1: Same feeling. Okay. But like, then again,

Interviewer: also to do with the indoor raves and everything?

Person 1: Honestly, I can take an indoor rave.

Interviewer: Okay.

Person 1: Yeah, I can take an indoor rave. But like, I'd prefer outdoors.

Person 2: Yeah.

Interviewer: Okay.

Person 2: Same.

Interviewer: Okay. Now, the next question is, what things would you like raves to
change in order to improve your experience? And like, who are the users who attend
these experiences? And as you were mentioning before, the idea of offering to test
people's drugs in order to get people to know what they're taking, to raise some
awareness to this, and to make it a safer space for people, right? So don't you want
to elaborate on this? Because we were having this before we started the interview.

Person 1: I think that's very important to emphasise the importance of a caregiver.

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Person 2: Yeah.

Person 1: In a rave.

Person 1: Yeah. I think it's not something that's widely spoken about as often as it
should be.

Person 2: Yeah.

Interviewer: Do you think even within the rave community?

Person 1: I don't know. I think you can answer that question.

Person 2: Yeah, I think inside the rave community, it's pretty much everybody's
caring for everybody. Like, if you really go to... It's also gotten a little bit different now
than a few years ago, because techno has gotten a bigger audience.

Interviewer: Yeah, way bigger.

Person 2: Yeah. And if you really go to raves with people that have been raving for
years, they will take care of you. If they see somebody laying on the side and not
feeling well, they will come to them.

Interviewer: Yeah, that's a very different vibe from festivals, because I've attended a
lot of festivals and you see a lot of people who are in not a very good state and
people don't help them.

Person 2: Exactly.

Interviewer: Like, very big festivals like Coachella and that kind of thing. It's insane.

Person 2: Yeah.

Interviewer: Yeah. So that part is very, very good and very different. And so there
wouldn't be anything that you would like to be done in order to improve the
experience?

Person 2: I mean, I think I would definitely...

Person 1: Cleanliness.

Person 2: Cleanliness, yes.

Interviewer: Yes, I definitely understand that. Cleanliness, yes.

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Person 2: For caring for people, I think it should be more of a thing... I mean, it
already is with caretakers.

Interviewer: But what about the experience do you want to be better? Other than
cleanliness that we all know is an issue.

Person 1: Yeah, cleanliness, exposure to caregivers.

Person 2: Exactly, the exposure to caregivers.

Interviewer: Do you think you would be more likely to go to a rave if they're offering
volunteers?

Person 1: Yes.

Person 2: Okay, I see. And I think it's also important. Yeah, especially like, not even
only for people that take drugs, but like, just in general.

Interviewer: For everyone that's attending this. Exactly. Okay. But do you mean
having security or having volunteers to assist in this kind of situation?

Person 2: Volunteers that assist.

Interviewer: Okay, but overall having security in general.

Person 2: Yeah, not like, not even like security, just somebody that you know you can
go to if you have a problem or... I don't know if... Like, when I did that job, for
example, I was also... I was just walking around with water the whole time. And like,
passing out water, free water to the ravers there. Because that's also like a thing that
people forget that water, like, drinking water is so important when you rave. Because
especially people that are on drugs, they need a lot of water. And if it's like raves or
festivals where you don't get free water, it's like...

Interviewer: Yeah, because you're constantly dancing, you're constantly sweating,

you're getting rid of all the liquids.

Person 2: Exactly. And you just need free water. Like, that's also one thing that I
really like.

Interviewer: So, free water you like at all festivals.

Person 1: Yeah, definitely.

Interviewer: Do you think like having a communal fountain or free water bottles?

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Person 2: It doesn't matter. Yeah, free water bottles would be nice.

Interviewer: Okay, I see. It's just that... Yeah. I understand. And okay, now we go on
to our last question. And what do you like most about raves? Is it what it makes you
feel, the people, the music?

Person 1: It's the overall experience.

Interviewer: Yeah. So, you think that it's this entire thing built around the community.
That's why... That's...

Person 1: Yeah.

Person 2: I just love to go there.

Interviewer: So, what you're telling me is that you enjoy the culture of it. Yeah.

Person 1: Yeah

Person 2: I do. Definitely.

Interviewer: That's the best part of it.

Person 2: Yeah!

Interviewer: So, if there was to be a festival and it had the same vibe as a rave, the
same community...

Person 2: I mean, I would... I don't know. I also go there because I really like the
music. So, if it's like different music, I probably won't go that much.

Interviewer: No, but I mean with good music, the entirety of the experience.

Person 2: Yeah. I think for me, why I go to raves is like... Especially as a woman, I
feel safe or safer than in other clubs or in other festivals. Because I know that the
community is like... They just let... They let you do your thing, you know? You go to a
rave, you dance the night away and nobody's gonna care how you dance, how you
look, what you're gonna do. They also... If they talk to you, they're mostly nice. It's
not at other clubs when guys come to you like... So, that's one thing that I really like
as a woman going raving… But yeah, in general, the music is nice. The community
is really good. That you have caregivers is really nice. Just the whole vibe of it is
really cool. Mostly also the locations are really nice because they're mostly really arty
and...

Interviewer: Okay, do you think that decoration is part of the experience?

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Person 2: Definitely.

Interviewer: Because there are definitely raves that people don't decorate a lot. Do
you think that this has to be part of the experience?

Person 2: No. No,

Interviewer: but do you think like... If you're doing it, it's undeniable that you have to
have that.

Person 2: Well, you don't have to have it but it's cool if you have it, you know?

Interviewer: Okay, I see what you're saying.

Person 2: It enhances the experience. Exactly. All right.

Interviewer: And you, _______? Anything else?

Person 1: Everything she said,

Interviewer: no? All right. And here we conclude our interview. Thank you guys so
much for everything.

Person 1 & 2: You're welcome.

Interviewer: And I appreciate it.

Person 1: Thanks. Bye.

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