RAVING, WE’RE RAVINGWhat Gavin Watson Did After Skins & Punks
PHOTOS BY GAVIN WATSON, INTERVIEW BY BRUNO BAYLEY
In 1989, Gavin Watson went from being a documenter of skinhead culture to being one of the only people who managed to operate a camera through the ecstasy haze that enveloped England that year. At the time, rave was a revolution, even if it has now been run into the ground. We spoke to Gavin about those halcyon days when you could dance all night on one pill, and about the photos he took which are compiled in his new book, Raving ’89.
Vice: How did you get into the rave scene then?
Gavin Watson: The whole skinhead thing was getting a bit strained. There were no options for most of us, unless you wanted to get married and have a kid. We still felt young enough that we didn’t want to disappear into mature life. Rave came along at just the right time. All our friends went to the raves, and those who didn’t fell by the wayside.
What was the atmosphere like at the parties when you first went?
All the skinheads came together when we went to the first raves. My brother Neville resisted for a while. He used to have power in the gang, but by that stage we just went anyway. We were like: “Sorry, mate, but we are off to the party.” He resisted for a few months. It was totally fresh, it blew us away. It was a real force in the country, like a revolution.
It felt like there was a massive urge to get to these raves. Everyone who was anybody was involved. It was important—we marched in London and changed the licensing laws. If it had been a purely working class thing they would have stomped on us, they would have trodden us into the fucking ground. But it wasn’t, there were middle-class people and even fucking lords going to these raves. Everyone was involved, they couldn’t stop it. The police just didn’t understand it. They had never had to deal with hundreds of people having a good time in a field.
They must have known there were drugs involved?
Very little was known about ecstasy until that wave hit, it wasn’t even illegal. Soon all the rules were changed. But at the time it was a drug designed for psychotherapists or whatever. It wasn’t like heroin, where you could see the damage. The police all thought it was acid we were on! It was a weird time. There were these guys working their balls off to get these raves going, and I was just so grateful they did.
Were you as much a part of rave as you were the whole skinhead thing?
As a person I am very enthusiastic, but I am always a bit outside of things. It was a fantastic release. It didn’t take much to go there, but it’s not like I suddenly decided that I was going to put on a smiley face t-shirt and a bandana and “become a raver”. It just sort of happened, the other stuff fell off me. We still had our skinhead mates, but everything changed, really. It didn’t take much to make the transition.
What was the downside?
It was easy for us lot, we were outside normal society already. We actually became more mainstream as a result of getting into rave. But the guys I went to school with, some had got married at 18 and had kids and when the rave thing happened they went fucking mental. They lost their houses, marriages, their lives fell apart. People didn’t know when the party was over. The drugs took their toll.
Raving ’89 is out this month published by DJhistory.com.
See all articles by this contributor Anonymous, on Oct 8, 2009 wrote:
1989???? i think that makes Watson about 23.. wow he was fucking ancient... | | Anonymous, on Sep 17, 2009 wrote:
er - he didnt go from "from documenting something he was in with to taking being an old git taking bad snaps of young folks he didn’t have a clue about". he stopped being into being a skinhead, got into rave, and took photos or his mates at raves. within about a year, he didn’t age 10 years miraculously. they aren’t meant to be fine art, they just document a time that is fairly badly recorded in photography. read it. | | Anonymous, on Sep 4, 2009 wrote:
80’s style. so great | | Anonymous, on Aug 31, 2009 wrote:
Wow. Calling Watson crap is something I never expected to read. | | Anonymous, on Aug 29, 2009 wrote:
I am supposed to buy this book? Theee are the pictures you lure me in with? Like, is the photographer married to the editor? C’mon, gimmie Gatewood, not this crap dude again and again and again. | | Anonymous, on Aug 29, 2009 wrote:
Ah, so he went from documenting something he was in with to taking being an old git taking bad snaps of young folks he didn’t have a clue about? All the cool pics by younger snappers didn’t know the editor ya mean! Get new photogs and new editors! | | Anonymous, on Aug 28, 2009 wrote:
yeah these girls are awesome. they have some pretty sweet moves | | Anonymous, on Aug 27, 2009 wrote:
girl in the sweatshirt is busting out the carlton. you go girl! | | Anonymous, on Aug 26, 2009 wrote:
the best kind of dancing is with sloppy people that dont give a fuck. it looks best when you dont try. afri girl knows what Im talking about | | Anonymous, on Aug 25, 2009 wrote:
Girls used to get the fuck down on the dancefloor. I think that’s why it’s so rad when they do today. They’re so few and far between. Look at the left. The way her pants’ inseam is it looks like her snatch is hanging out. | |
| tinkerer, on Aug 25, 2009 wrote:
the drugs were great. the music, not so much. i never went to a rave but friends and i did plenty of ecstasy and played our own music and danced and smoked way too many cigarettes and felt like total shit the next day. | |
| hi fructose, on Aug 24, 2009 wrote:
good to know you can now rave drunk. alcohol was frowned upon back in the day. | | Anonymous, on Aug 24, 2009 wrote:
"People didn’t know when the party was over." oohh.. crazy ravers | | Anonymous, on Aug 21, 2009 wrote:
i currently attend desert parties and am part of a group who happily drags out the giant speakers generators and everything else you need to rave your face off. rave still lives. bring great booze, drunk raving is permitted | | Anonymous, on Aug 20, 2009 wrote:
Anyone remember the Spiral Tribe madness at the Roundhouse in Camden? | | Anonymous, on Aug 20, 2009 wrote:
i hope none of them saw the mtv true life about what x does to your brain. it kind of seemed like bullshit though. or maybe i’m just in denial. | |
| Fuck Russia, on Aug 20, 2009 wrote:
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. But one thing’s for sure - the drugs were great. | | Anonymous, on Aug 19, 2009 wrote:
"the good old days of getting fucked up then taking pictures. amazing times. then having to sort through the 200+ photos because you were being a little too snap happy."
HAHA. Been there. And the tricky situation of deciding which need to be deleted immediately and which will make everyone that was with you laugh but not bad enough where you could hinder your job hunt in ten years. | | Anonymous, on Aug 19, 2009 wrote:
no telling how many attempted insertions were attempted a failed in this period due to raisin dick. | | Anonymous, on Aug 19, 2009 wrote:
You gotta get up to get down. | | Anonymous, on Aug 19, 2009 wrote:
the good old days of getting fucked up then taking pictures. amazing times. then having to sort through the 200+ photos because you were being a little too snap happy. | | Anonymous, on Aug 19, 2009 wrote:
early 90’s girls are awesome. if only i had a time machine. | | Anonymous, on Aug 19, 2009 wrote:
the guy with the go tshirt is seriously throwing some shit out there. BAM!! ! ! | | Anonymous, on Aug 19, 2009 wrote:
that afro girl dancing up on the table looks awesome. I wanna dance with her | | Anonymous, on Aug 19, 2009 wrote:
ahh! cant wait to read this. gavis watson is amazing | |
| kennyp, on Aug 18, 2009 wrote:
these people all look theyre having a blast | | Anonymous, on Aug 18, 2009 wrote:
i want that go! tshirt | | Anonymous, on Aug 16, 2009 wrote:
funny, I just got to the rave/madchester part of (the book)Casuals, so this fits right in. | |
| dangerboy, on Aug 14, 2009 wrote:
mustve been wild to be around whe nthe rave scene started | |
| thedon, on Aug 14, 2009 wrote:
interesting time to write about, i cant imagine a movement like the rave scene blowing up today | | | Next 30 comments > |
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