Asking people at Farr Festival to define house music

‘House is a feeling’


House music is one of the most confusing and hotly debated concepts of our time. People have been listening to this genre for years and will still argue whether a song is defined as “electro house” or “deep house” or “hard house” (or any other adjective thrown in front of the word house).

Who really can define what truly is “house music”? A quick google search said:

“The common element of house music is a prominent kick drum on every beat (also known as a four-to-the-floor beat), usually generated by a drum machine or sampler. The kick drum sound is augmented by various kick fills and extended dropouts. The drum track is filled out with hihat cymbal patterns on the eighth-note offbeats, and a snare drum or clap sound on beats two and four of every bar. This pattern is derived from so-called “four-on-the-floor” dance drumbeats of the 1960s and especially the 1970s disco drummers.

“Electronically-generated sounds and samples of recordings from genres such as jazz, blues and synth pop are often added to the foundation of the drum beat and synth bass line. House songs may also include disco or soul-style and gospel vocals and additional percussion.”

Now this description offers a lot of different interpretation and we therefore asked the people who should be the most clued up on this subject. We went to Farr Festival to ask the beautiful festival-goers just how would they define house music.

Isabella Eaton

“It’s fun upbeat electronic music that you can dance to with your friends.”

Ryan Wooster

“I guess it’s a chill genre of music that doesn’t need much from you. You can do any type of dance to house and it works, I’ve never seen anyone really go too mental at house events, just because most people are too fucked out of their heads to even care.”

Eloise Sweep

“My cousin summed it up at Farr by saying that she couldn’t distinguish between DJs, seeing as it all sounds the same.”

Molly and Laura

“House music is a opportunity to lose yourself. When I visited Farr Festival last year I found out I was going to be a Grandma when I came back. House has always been that place where I can lose myself for a bit. Its a chance for older women to remember the 80s and now there are a lot of different compositions. It has evolved so much but is still this lovely thing that people can enjoy.”

Adam Alagiah

“I don’t really know how to explain house music. It makes me feel kinda bored. You never really know what to expect but its not really a good thing. Nothing blows you away and the drops can be different but it’s still really boring.”

Ant Smith

“House is a feeling” (Ant then begun to fist pump).

Alexa

“I don’t think I can really explain house, but I love it. It makes me feel happy.”

Elliott Thomas

“House music is electronic goodness. It isn’t so much a type of music but just a vibe you get.”

Reece Hobobastard

“In 2016, it has become quite diverse but we can’t put a name on it. If you asked someone 20 years ago they wouldn’t say house music is what it is today. Has it improved? I suppose that things get better with age.”