Letter from the Editor:

My journey into electronic music appreciation and underground raving begins with a 10,000 pound hammer. Because of those sounds becoming compellingly familiar, I began going out to dance at underground parties, transitioning slowly from Industrial/Punk Rocker and volunteer at Gilman St., in Berkeley to full on Techno loving raver willing to haul stereo equipment to literally nowhere and dance all night. At nineteen, I was already a union Bridge Builder/Piledriver, and employed as a structural steel welder and budding materials scientist. At work, all I heard was the hammering of pile in a steady $4/4$ beat, with its' single piston engine generating fabulous polyrhythms from all parts and so loud: the impact, the sound of the reverberations, and then the bass of standing 5 feet away while the hammer was running.

To this day - I am a fan of hard hitting music that not only touches my soul, but moves it. Sometimes to places of memory, yes, even uncomfortable ones. In that moment I dance it out, with the music, and the dancefloor. I believe movement of energy through the physical form IS life. Time and space become fluid and dance with us as we leave space in between the notes to allow the presence of the divine, and the unknown. Connection to the self comes from this.

The progression of dance music in the Bay Area became something around the millennium that was truly unique. There were specific people heading up our scene in a layering of collectives who threw parties, and groups who practiced radical self-governance. In the local scene, a few people were known to play especially specific subgenres, and they really educated my ears. Downtempo, Ambient, Trip-hop, Dance Industrial, Tech House, and other genres were what I was immersed in at that time. The people felt seminal, and the music, well, stuff of legend, literally.

One reason I started this zine Azarakh, is the sheer number of mind-blowing, amazing DJ's that I know here in the Bay Area. I find them usually to be extremely attuned in their hearing. As in they usually are either classically trained acoustic musicians, and/or multi-instrumentalists, and even some sound engineers. All in addition to their being DJs and producers. In truth, I collect DJs and their sets, in the way DJs collect records (and other electronic media).

In this issue, we introduce Sairé. She is a SF Bay Area Producer, and DJ, who joins Azarakh as an editor, photographer, and author. Please enjoy reading her introductory article in this volume, and get to know her, and her worldview better.

In this edition of Azarakh, we travel farther afield than ever before, and present to you an artist weaving together music and culture from the other side of the world. For this issue, I spent time interviewing Makossiri from Berlin. Originally from Kenya, they are hardcore and are also an Afrofuturetech producer and DJ. They make some of the most original sets, and sounds, that I have heard - voice and percussion which is literally out of this world and propels me into a 'the future is now, creative and visionary space.

And because of that, and for other details outlined in the Electric corner column, I ended up going down a rabbit hole with the music gathering called the Boozedrome Compo, in Helsinki, Finland, which is held annually. In this issue, in my column Electric Corner, which is where I give a brief survey of my new obsession: Amigacore. Yes, music made on 1990's Amiga's. I even was able to get an interview with Ricky Martin, one of the promoters.

Azarakh has been defined as having a finger on the pulse of underground music culture. We want to be a part of something greater and enhance a meaningful curious life. Modern times can be both frustrating and confusing, I hope Azarakh can be a beacon of lightness and interest for anyone who reads a copy.

Welcome to the first print edition, and 6th volume of Azarakh the zine.

~ Aryana Farsai, Editor/Publisher