gabber
{{Short description|Subgenre of hardcore music}}
{{About||other meanings of gabber|gabber (disambiguation)|the hardcore music in the 2000s|Mainstream hardcore}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name = Gabber
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| stylistic_origins = {{hlist| Acid house |techno |new beat }}
| cultural_origins = Early 1990s, Netherlands (Rotterdam)
| instruments = {{hlist|Keyboards|synthesizers|drum machines|sequencers|samplers|bitcrushers}}
| derivatives =
| subgenres = {{hlist| Early hardcore |mainstream hardcore }}
| local_scenes =
| other_topics = {{hlist|Happy hardcore|hardvapour}}
| subgenrelist =
}}
Gabber ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|æ|b|ər}} {{respell|GAB|ər}}; {{IPA|nl|ˈɣɑbər|lang|nl-gabber.ogg}}) is a style of electronic dance music and a subgenre of hardcore, as well as the surrounding subculture. The music is more commonly referred to as hardcore, and is characterised by fast beats, distorted and heavy kickdrums, with dark themes and samples. This style was developed in Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the 1990s{{Cite web|title=A Brief History of Gabber - The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision|url=https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/a-brief-history-of-gabber/vALycmEzFVvjKQ|access-date=26 September 2021|website=Google Arts & Culture|language=en}} by producers like Marc Acardipane, Paul Elstak, DJ Rob, and The Prophet, forming record labels such as Rotterdam Records, Mokum Records, Pengo Records and Industrial Strength Records.
The word gabber comes from Amsterdam Bargoens slang and means "friend".
Gabber remains highly popular in the Netherlands, and has seen a major resurgence in recent years.{{Cite web|date=30 October 2019|title=Thunderdome: the Dutch rave with the world's fastest, hardest music|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/oct/30/thunderdome-the-dutch-rave-with-the-worlds-fastest-hardest-music|access-date=26 September 2021|website=the Guardian|language=en}} Gabber formed as an underground, anti-establishment movement with small, underground raves, most often illegally held in empty warehouses, basements and tunnels.{{Cite web|title=About|url=https://multigroove.com/about/|access-date=26 September 2021|website=Multigroove|language=en-US}} Rave parties such as Thunderdome, held by ID&T and Mysteryland, became hugely popular, eventually becoming part of mainstream Dutch culture in the 1990s. The music and culture quickly spread across Europe and the world, finding a home with the rave communities in countries such as the UK, Spain, Italy, US, and Australia.
Origins
Image:Early Hardcore symbol.svg logo]]
Gabber is a style of electronic music and a subgenre of hardcore.{{cite web|title=Hardcore History: Introducing Hardcore Techno|url=http://corehistory.blogspot.com/|access-date=25 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814002057/http://corehistory.blogspot.com/|archive-date=14 August 2011|url-status=live}}{{cite book |last1=Reynolds |first1=Simon |title=Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-78316-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BWf4J6yn9zAC |access-date=19 July 2020 |language=en |format=eBook}} It was derived from house and techno, plus elements of breakbeat hardcore and new beat, in the early 1990s.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} The musical style is described as "a relentless mix of superfast BPMs, distorted kickdrums, and roared vocals",{{cite news |last1=Muggs |first1=Joe |title=Gabber: return of dance music's gloriously tasteless subgenre |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/10/gift-of-the-gabber-the-return-of-dance-musics-gloriously-tasteless-subgenre |access-date=19 July 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=10 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709015827/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/10/gift-of-the-gabber-the-return-of-dance-musics-gloriously-tasteless-subgenre |archive-date=9 July 2020 |url-status=live }} blended with house-style breakbeats and hi-hat fillers. The music is generally between 140 and 190 beats per minute with samples taken from films or other tracks. One of the most characteristic components of gabber/early hardcore first appeared in the track "Anasthasia" (1991) from T99.{{Cite web |title=Famous Sounds |url=https://www.synthmania.com/Famous%20Sounds.htm |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=Synth Mania}}{{cite web | url=https://www.muziekencyclopedie.nl/action/entry/Dj+Rob | title=Muziekencyclopedie - Dj Rob | access-date=23 June 2023 | archive-date=24 June 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624101427/https://www.muziekencyclopedie.nl/action/entry/Dj+Rob | url-status=dead }}
The word gabber comes from an Amsterdam Bargoens slang, based on the Hebrew chaver meaning "mate" or "friend", loaned through Yiddish.{{Cite web|title=Hebrew and Yiddish Words in Common Dutch|url=http://www.heardutchhere.net/duhebrew.html|access-date=25 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727151150/http://www.heardutchhere.net/duhebrew.html|archive-date=27 July 2014|url-status=live}} An Amsterdam DJ was asked about the hard Rotterdam scene and said "They're just a bunch of gabbers having fun". Having heard this, Paul Elstak etched in the vinyl on the first Euromasters record (released through Rotterdam Records in 1992), "{{Lang|nl|Gabber zijn is geen schande!}}" ('It's not a disgrace to be a gabber!').[http://boilerroom.tv/its-not-a-disgrace-to-be-a-gabber/ "It’s Not A Disgrace To Be A Gabber!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126183731/https://boilerroom.tv/its-not-a-disgrace-to-be-a-gabber/ |date=26 January 2017 }}, Boiler Room (8 November 2014) The word gained popularity in the Rotterdam music scene and people started to call themselves "gabbers".{{cite book |author=Bogdanov, Vladimir |title=All Music Guide to Electronica: The Definitive Guide to Electronic Music |edition=4th |year=2001 |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=978-0879306281 |pages=x |url=https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetoe00vlad |url-access=registration }} Some, however, state that 'gabber' derives from usage at house clubs which gabbers visited, where 'gabber' became an insult that club security used to collectively describe these people, with often raucous and hooliganish behaviour, that were often seen as undesirable.
Music
Influential early labels were DJ Paul Elstak's Rotterdam Records, Mokum Records in Amsterdam, and Lenny Dee's New York based Industrial Strength Recordings.{{cite web |title=Thunderdome: 25 years of hardcore |url=https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/3149 |website=Resident Advisor |access-date=19 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528141740/https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/3149 |archive-date=28 May 2019 |url-status=live }} Alongside Elstak and Dee, other early artists included Marc Acardipane, The Prophet, and Rotterdam Termination Source.
Elstak and DJ Rob organised parties first at Parkzicht in Rotterdam and when the numbers attending increased they moved to the Energiehal. ID&T later organised Thunderdome parties for up to 40,000 people, running for around twenty years before breaking then relaunching in 2017. When the sound spread to London in the mid-1990s, Dead by Dawn parties at the 121 Centre in Brixton played gabba, speedcore, and noise.{{cite web |title=Dead by Dawn, Brixton, 1994-96 |url=https://history-is-made-at-night.blogspot.com/2007/09/dead-by-dawn-brixton-1994-96.html |website=History is made at night |access-date=19 July 2020 |date=29 September 2007}} In the Midwestern United States, gabber inspired the foundation of the label Drop Bass Network.
Subculture
File:BranMoviC Hakken.gif, a dance unique to gabber
]]
The popularity of gabber created a youth subculture in the Netherlands. Gabber ravers were often stereotyped as wearing tracksuits, bomber jackets, and Nike Air Max shoes. Tennis tracksuits from the Italian fashion label Australian by L'Alpina were prized, being often referred to as "Aussies", and possibly being related to the eshay subculture of Australia, where gabber was often listened to.{{cite web |title=Understanding the Visual Language of Gabber |url=https://boilerroom.tv/article/understanding-visual-language-gabber |website=Boiler Room |access-date=19 July 2020 |language=en}} Most men shaved their heads bald, while women braided their hair and shaved the sides. Drug use was common, with ecstasy and speed the popular choices.{{Cite web |url=https://kafka.nl/extreemrechtse-gabbers-anno-2005/?lang=en |title=Extreemrechtse gabbers anno2005|date=28 February 2005|access-date=28 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514203016/https://kafka.nl/extreemrechtse-gabbers-anno-2005/?lang=en |archive-date=14 May 2019 |publisher=Kafka|url-status=live }}
Later the look became blouses and short skirts for women. Men wore polo shirts and shirts with jeans and army boots, similar to that of skinhead punks. Along with a racist minority wearing the Lonsdale brand because of its connection to right-wing extremism. Gabber also had a small following in the German Neo-Nazi fringe movement.{{cite book |last1=Silcott |first1=Mireille |title=Rave America: New School Dancescapes |date=1999 |publisher=ECW Press |isbn=978-1-55022-383-5 |pages=114–7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPLsz1RC1MYC |access-date=19 July 2020 |language=en}} In order to repudiate the connection, labels and artists began to release anti-fascist and anti-racist statements. Some examples include "Chosen Anthem (Against Racism)" by DJ Chosen Few, "Die Nazi Scum" by Party Animals featuring MC Rob Gee, "Time to Make a Stand" by United Hardcore, and "Fuck the Nazism" by Hellcore.DJ Chosen Few - [http://www.discogs.com/release/21108 Chosen Anthem (Against Racism)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109201752/http://www.discogs.com/release/21108 |date=9 November 2012 }} (MOK 8, Mokum Records 1993); Party Animals feat. MC Rob Gee - [http://www.discogs.com/release/21181 Die Nazi Scum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109201800/http://www.discogs.com/release/21181 |date=9 November 2012 }} (MOK 54, Mokum Records 1996); Hellcore - [http://www.discogs.com/release/210584 Fuck the Nazism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109201814/http://www.discogs.com/release/210584 |date=9 November 2012 }} (BDR-CD-02, Braindestruction Recordz, 2003); United Hardcore Against Racism & Hate - [http://www.discogs.com/release/478145 Time to Make a Stand] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109201744/http://www.discogs.com/release/478145 |date=9 November 2012 }} (HUR 001, Hardcore United Records, 2005). Mokum Records made its slogan (printed on all records): "Hardcore united against fascism and racism". Some producers are themselves black, such as The Dark Raver and Loftgroover. When gabber became popular again in the 2000s, Dutch Neo-Nazis attempted to capitalize on it, but their attempts were short-lived.
By the mid-1990s, gabber had become part of mainstream culture in the Netherlands. Billboard magazine called it the country's "first homegrown youth culture" in 1997.{{Cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/gabber-children-netherlands-hakke-zage/ |title=An Entire Generation of Dutch Children Was Ruined by Gabber |date=4 February 2014 |access-date=28 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528144112/https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/mgwqxp/gabber-children-netherlands-hakke-zage |archive-date=28 May 2019 |url-status=live }} Its popularity also led to parody tracks, such as Gabber Piet's "Hakke & Zage", which drew on the theme tune of the Peppi & Kokki children's television show. The name also referred to hakken, the style of gabber dancing characterized by fast leg movements that had become popular.{{cite journal |last1=Balli |first1=Riccardo |title=How to Cure a Gabba |journal=Dancecult |date=2004 |volume=6 |issue=2 |doi=10.12801/1947-5403.2014.06.02.12 |url=https://dj.dancecult.net/index.php/dancecult/article/view/523/495 |access-date=19 July 2020|doi-access=free |url-access=subscription }} Gabber fans were angered by the commercialization of their scene, and Gabber Piet was fired from his job at ID&T. His album Love U Hardcore attempted to make amends but it did not sell well.
The 2023 film Hardcore Never Dies is set during the 1990s gabber scene in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
25 years of hardcore
While the peak of gabber popularity waned in the years after the millennium, there always remained a die-hard few that kept the sound and culture alive. In 2017, Thunderdome celebrated 25 years of hardcore at the Jaarbeurs congress centre in Utrecht. It was attended by 40,000 ravers and was heralded as the official comeback for Thunderdome. The event was the ultimate encapsulation of the history of hardcore, featuring the biggest names in hardcore, showcasing evolution of hardcore music over 25 years from all of the leading hardcore DJs and producers from then and now.
See also
Notes
{{reflist}}
{{Hardcore dance music-footer}}
{{Techno}}
Category:20th-century music genres
Category:Hardcore music genres