Watch the trailer for ‘What We Started,’ starring Carl Cox, Tiësto, Martin Garrix and more
Recent converts to electronic music in the last few years may not realize exactly what has transpired in the last half decade or so. The short of it is essentially a massive worldwide overhaul in dance music’s popularity — one that happened seemingly overnight. Dance music completely transformed from a historically underground network to a colossal entertainment subset that’s raking in nearly $10 billion globally every year, and growing. On a cosmic scale, it all happened in a snap, but a new documentary, What We Started, aims to dive deep into dance music history over the last 30 years and examine exactly how we got to where we are today.
What We Started is set to bow in Miami on March 22, followed by a New York premiere the next day, and finally show on March 29 in Los Angeles. The new feature, co-directed by Bert Marcus and Cyrus Saidi, offers in-depth interviews with industry pioneers including Carl Cox, Tiësto, Moby, and Pete Tong, juxtaposed by the trajectory of bright new torch-carriers like Martin Garrix and discussions with frequent dance music contributors like Ed Sheeran and Usher.
Stitched together by archived footage from the rave scenes of the 1980’s and 90’s, What We Started may provide an important history lesson with informed look back at where this all came from, and perhaps a hopeful look at where we might be going from here.