Why I Started a Pozible Campaign to bring Darude to Australia and why you Should care

"Dun dun dun dun dun da dun dun dun dun dun dun da dun dun dun dun dun dun- dikka dikka du"

Your parents know it, your mates know it, every DJ should know it (and also own every version conceivable on wax, take it with them everywhere, and open and close every set with it) and your personal trainer definitely knows it. Is anybody actually surprised that a young man with a glimmer in his eye and a dream in his little heart would try and bring DARUDE to Australia?

Hi, my name's Rei Barker and I'm addicted to "Sandstorm". At 2 AM on the first of October I was up late listening to THE archetypal late '90s - early 00s trance banger when I recalled a drunken conversation DJ FLAPS and I had about starting a crowdfunding campaign to bring Darude to Australia. Half an hour later, I had a crudely-done video and a poorly thought out crowdfunding campaign.

What I didn't anticipate was the level of support (bemused opportunities for clickbait?) that I'd receive from music media. By the next evening inthemix.com and Stoney roads had both published articles with thousands of hits. Next morning - Tone Deaf, Project U, Ministry of Sound, Nina Las Vegas, Lochlan Watt, and half a dozen Finnish blogs were all over it. Some cheeky scamp even edited the campaign into Darude's Wikipedia entry. Shit, even the 420 Speed Dealer Supremacist boiz got on board.

Next thing I know I'm doing an interview on one of the highest rated radio shows in the country, JJJ's breakfast spot. They didn't ask the reasons WHY I would start such a campaign, because it was so obvious, at least to the three of us. Not only is "Sandstorm" a perfectly constructed slice of '90s pop-techno as to give it both credibility and nostalgia; but it has also been used, rehashed, reborn and memefied in numerous ways to the extent that it has become mass-identifiable without ever being truly mainstream. I propose that not only is "Sandstorm" far more widespread and loved than 99% of songs, with no marketing or PR put into outside of its 1999 release; but it also, believe it or not, contains the power to change the way we appreciate toured musicians.

EXHIBIT A

This man playing Sandstorm on a toy trumpet took the (reddit) world by storm in 2010. Reddit has a pretty varied user base, which is part of its appeal to many. It would be hard to imagine the video going as viral as it did if the song was Eiffel 65's "Blue" or anything by Justin Bieber. Only "Sandstorm" would have this effect.

EXHIBIT B

"Sandstorm" became firmly entrenched in the gaming world and hit true meme status once a Reddit user posted Pandora's lyrics page to Sandstorm on /r/funny subreddit.

EXHIBIT C

UFC fighter Wanderlei 'The Axe Murder' Silva uses "Sandstorm" as his entrance music when he is about to fight. It has arguably contributed to his successful self-branding. No other song would work quite as well.  Imagine a man called 'The Axe Murderer' entering the arena while Hootie and the Blowfish was playing. Nah, mate.

EXHIBIT D

The South Carolina Gamecocks, which I can only assume is some kind of sporting team, use "Sandstorm" to get the crowd pumped up before a game against bitter rivals. The video above has an atmosphere that closely resembles any party I DJ at, but the target markets are worlds apart.

So there we have it. Four examples of "Sandstorm" inspiring humans, whipping them into a frenzy. The song evokes, in no particular order, fear, fervour, anger, humour, violence, and joy, not to mention countless homages and mimicry. "Sandstorm" transcends class, genre, demographic, age, and anyone who doesn't feel their fist start to pump when it plays is either not listening or trying to win a bet. No other song has such widespread appeal, across so many different mediums. It's dance music for people who don't like dance music.

In a country rife with political turmoil (on a 1st world scale), enormous wage and gender inequality issues, racial tension/straight-up racism, a huge class divide that only seems to be widening, there exists a way to unite the people under one metaphorical flag. The flag of "Sandstorm".

All like-minded enthusiasts banding together to appreciate and actively pursue something they LOVE is a beautiful thing. People saying, "YES, we want this experience and we want to be a part of history."

Who doesn't want to look back in ten years time and proudly exclaim that they were part of the campaign that proactively brought out the music it wanted, took the power back into their own hands. I can imagine a future where all large tours are done like this, with everyone free to choose our destiny.

Well, comrades. Who is with me?

Check Rei's Rave campaign via Pozible here