The Night I Fell in Love With Dance Music: Kaitlyn B

The first time Kaitlyn B. went to a rave, she knew almost nothing about the dance scene and even less about the then-burgeoning world of social media. In the six years since attending her first festival, however, the Los Angeles–based social media expert has not only adopted the PLUR lifestyle full-on, she has combined her passion for both the music and public relations into one of the scene’s most popular Instagram pages, EDM Humor.

Now a bona fide online celebrity, Kaitlyn’s goal is to use her voice to spread the same love, positivity and whimsy to EDM Humor’s 168,000 followers that she herself has received from the dance music community in Southern California and beyond.

“It’s ultimately an attempt to spread things that are uplifting,” Kaitlyn says of her page, “because you never know who’s going to need that.”

Featuring memes making light of some of the most relatable aspects of the festival lifestyle, (physical exhaustion, baes, booty, bass, etc.), the goal of EDM Humor is to make people laugh and spread good vibes on the daily. With this mission, Kaitlyn has come a long way from the days when she believed that the dance world was actually something to fear. Here, in her own words, she shares the story of the night she fell in love with dance music.

The first time I experienced any sort of club culture was when I was 13 and went to visit my sister, who was living in Paris. She took me to a nightclub—that was my first time hearing electronic music. I really fell in love with it and brought a bunch of CDs my sister made me back home. I was living in Ohio, and no one there was listening to electronic music at the time.

My friends and I would have little dance parties and dress up and dance all crazy, but I didn’t really know there was a rave culture beyond what I was taught in health class, which was that raves were a bunch of people dripping in sweat, dancing in warehouses, overdosing and foaming from the mouth. It was like, “I’d never go to one of those things. Hell, no.”

I ended up moving to L.A. for college. I still loved the music and saw there was a real scene here. My best friend in college introduced me to modern electronic music—the stuff that was trendy at that time and wasn’t just the hardcore European stuff my sister was sending me. During winter break of my freshman year, he convinced me and some friends to go with him to a “nightclub” to see DJ Sammy.

I threw on my leather jacket and True Religion jeans, but when I got there, it was anything but a freaking nightclub. People were dressed in fluffies, pacifiers and beads. They were giving me light shows, and I was like, “What the hell is all this?” The people were so nice, open-hearted, loving and kind. They gave me a rave name, “Sahara,” and taught me how to trade kandi. I left that night just covered to my elbows in kandi. I got back in the car and was like, “That was not a nightclub. What was that? That was so fun.” My friend had been going to raves his whole life and was like, “You should go to EDC with me; you would love it.”

So, I came back to L.A. from Ohio during my summer vacation that year, and that was the first time I really participated in the culture. It was my first time dressing up, making kandi, and really being a part of it. That was the night I really fell in love with it: EDC 2010.

I remember walking into the Coliseum, and kineticFIELD was already full to the bleachers, and just seeing all of the people there and everyone running in and happy. It was like there was nothing else going on in the world. Nothing else mattered but that moment. I was with my best friend and his sister, who were basically my rave mom and dad. I’ve been to pretty much every event with them. I made so many friends there. It was an unforgettable night.

Finally finding a home for the music I loved so much was really incredible to me. There were people of all different races, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. There were punks and hip-hop people. We were all there and really on the same vibe and energy. Having so many different people from so many different places and upbringings all there for the same reason and so united was really powerful. It was an overwhelming feeling, but I was overwhelmed with joy.

When I’d go home to Ohio, a lot of my friends were like, “Oh, you’re a raver now?” I was like, “It’s not scary. It’s not what we were taught at all.” They asked so many questions and looked at my pictures like, “We have to come with you to California.” All my friends in Ohio even started listening to the music. It was heartwarming.

After EDC, I was hooked. Whatever the event was, wherever it was, I was there. The next show I went to was Lovefest at the Coliseum, and then I went to Nocturnal. Everything. I fell in love with it. The social media aspect came in when I was a junior in college and majoring in public relations. I’d taken an internet marketing class, and they taught us how to create an active and influential voice on social media. I loved applying my formal knowledge to my personal passion. There was nothing I loved more at the time than electronic music, so I started EDM Humor.

I was seeing all of these meme pages, but there wasn’t one for raves, so I started it. I’d use hashtags like #PLUR #EDM #kandi—really only things that people in the community would be looking for. I never thought it would get big—I was just using it to apply the findings from my senior thesis research—but I really fell in love with it. Then the page hit 10,000 followers, which was huge at the time. I started building relationships with my followers and loved being a voice in the community and providing a platform for others to have a voice. Really, it’s a privilege.

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