Celebrating 25 years of techno parties and raves at Intellephunk
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Fatima Rahman | Carbon Sound
Over the course of a REM cycle, Intellephunk’s 25th anniversary party lived in the space between waking and dreaming. The 12 hour rave wasn’t for the faint of heart — knowing it ran from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m. (and amusingly, how it closed out with a pancake breakfast), I felt a mix of awe and unease as I wove through the partygoers.
That brisk Saturday night, Intellephunk, long a staple in Minneapolis’s underrated electronic scene, had concocted something akin to a spiritual experience: An immense sound system presided over the crowd, thick smoke curling around the dancefloor.
Music enveloped, echoed, reverberated. A vast array of gender, race, age, and style packed the floors. One group wore EDM-style fishnets and hair glitter, another jeans and t-shirts, another completely shirtless. People affected either a nonchalant sway or a full-bodied throttle — people were totally at ease with themselves, with no pressure to conform.
Full disclosure? Try as I might, I couldn’t make it to 10 a.m.
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What is Intellephunk?
Intellephunk is almost impossible to look up. Even after 25 years, a cursory Google search sends you to little more than a punchy website and a private Facebook group (though some strategic Reddit deep dives may get you a bit further). The mystery is purposeful, but not personal: As one of the city’s biggest techno/house promoters, Intellephunk is Minneapolis’s best open secret.
“There’s a level of secrecy because we want this to be an accepting space,” founder Steve Seuling shared. “[Intellephunk] is for house and techno fans, first and foremost. We want to make sure the people who know about the culture are the ones coming.”
To a small but devoted group of techno buffs, Intellephunk is a safe haven. Aside from assorted themed raves, the Intellephunk team hosts weekly Sunday “Communions” in the summer, with a rotating slate of techno up-and-comers.
In conjunction with Minneapolis/Berlin-based label Enemy Records, the two groups organize the Great Beyond, an annual three-day music festival in rural Minnesota. COVID saw new levels of innovation, with Boiler Room-style livestreams over Discord.
Established during the tail end of 1990s rave heyday, Intellephunk came about at a time when raves were hitting the mainstream. These underground, often unregulated dance parties quickly met their commercialized counterparts, major record labels and radio stations sponsoring popular, public “raves” that felt more like concerts.
Steve watched the transformation in real time: “I grew up listening to industrial music … then I came to Minneapolis in 1993 for college, kind of the heat of the rave days. I got super immersed in the culture a couple years later, and got very inspired by it, even though it was changing drastically. It was harder for people to get away with big events, so they started hosting them in legal spaces like hockey arenas.”
Intellephunk, founded in 1998, is an exercise in maintaining that early 1990s, anti-establishment ethos: “Since everything was changing, I was inspired to do smaller, techno warehouse parties. I wanted to do this with my friends, build a community. Most of the raves [in Minneapolis] at the time were very multi-genre, which I really like, but I love techno. Jeff Mills, Plastikman … they’re how I got into the genre.”
Jasmine Seuling, Steve’s wife and eventual Intellephunk co-runner, joined the fold a bit later. “Steve and I have been together since 2003,” she said. “So it’s been almost 20 years!” At that, the duo exchanged smiles.
“I’d spent a lot of the nineties going to house shows, and I knew a bit about how Steve threw these parties. But at the time, I had a big career. I was also a new mom,” she confided. “In 2018, I finally decided I wanted to step into the role of being a promoter. I didn’t just want to be the wife that sells merch at your shows. I wanted to learn the ropes. Like, booking a DJ, booking flights, curating a lineup.”
Having met the two over coffee for our interview, it was clear Jasmine and Steve were a well-oiled machine. A self-described “husband and wife rave team,” they finished each other’s sentences, traded anecdotes, and discussed Intellephunk logistics with ease.
That isn’t to say setting up these events is effortless — Each event is mapped out months in advance, and a 30 person crew is needed to set everything in motion. The process is largely DIY, the crew scouting venues, decorating, setting up sound systems and working hands-on to design promo material. In addition, using a venue’s built-in crew is tricky when trying to create Intellephunk’s particular brand of soundscape.
“There are no free rides in Minneapolis techno,” Steve explained. “No club is set up to do what we do.” Steve, who also DJs under the moniker Centrific, underscored Intellephunk’s commitment to great sound: “We want music that’ll shake your body or tickle your nose before it hurts your ears.” He let out a laugh.
“We have specific aesthetics we adhere to, and specific experiences we’re creating. If we have to bring in our own rig in the middle of a snowstorm in December to do that, which we have done, we’ll do it.”
Celebrating 25 years
Two days before Intellephunk’s 25th anniversary, I followed a series of winding roads to a dirt clearing. By the light of day, the venue read far more nondescript, the only sign of any activity a row of cars beside an open, heavy steel door. After surveying the area — largely industrial, nestled in an eerie quiet — and picking my way through brush, the venue’s interior felt startling, bustling with eight or so people working briskly.
Steve and Jasmine greeted me with wide smiles and a quick round of introductions. The two had invited me to watch the party setup, a nine day operation in the middle of what felt like nowhere. The sound system, already fully assembled, loomed over us, perilously close to scraping the ceilings.
“We started moving the sound system on Tuesday,” Steve revealed. “Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are all for setting up, building the dance floor. Saturday and Sunday are for the party, then the next three days we have teardown for the sound system and deco. It’s just a nonstop production.”
A quick glance around laid out a scene of deliberate disarray: Some were at work draping the walls with black tarp, others were hauling tables and coolers. Intellephunk’s signature parachute ceiling lay in a heap next to the sound system.
Amidst the mayhem, I found time to hear a story or two. “I was there at [Intellephunk’s] 20th anniversary party. My college graduation was actually that same day,” crew member Mitchell Goedken shared around a laugh. “I may not remember where my diploma is, but now I’m part of the team! And it's the 25th anniversary. We’ve come full circle.”
Techno testimonials
Midway through Saturday’s rave, I stepped outside to grab some air. In a gated enclosure, people shared a smoke, chatted aimlessly. As I let the cool night air wash over me, I noticed more than a few hugs exchanged. For many, this event wasn’t just an anniversary, but a sort of reunion. A couple committed partygoers brought snacks and folding chairs, clearly intending to power through the night.
One first time partygoer shared his experience: “I just got into techno! I went to a music festival in March, and afterwards I was hooked. I wanted to find more events in the cities, so I searched Reddit and Facebook … that’s how I found out about Intellephunk.”
“The music is just good,” he went on. “They switch out DJs every two hours, so it’s a fresh variety. Plus the community is so friendly. I went alone, and I met so many new people. There’s such a joy, being close to the stage and feeling the music. Even from the few experiences I’ve had.”
He’s right — The night’s slate of performers was pretty fantastic, a good mix of established and newer talent ranging from Enemy Records head (and party co-host!) Dustin Zahn to rising techno stars Holden Federico and Decoder. Intellephunk’s no phones policy lent the night a certain irreplaceable quality, with a crowd unable to document or profit off the night.
“NO BULL——,” one of Intellephunk’s Facebook events proclaims. “NO BLINKY STUFF. NO PHONES, PHOTOS, OR VIDEO ON THE DANCEFLOOR. BE HERE NOW.”
“We set these standards at the door,” Steve mentioned in our in-person interview. “No cameras, no glow sticks. We’ve been doing it since the nineties, and part of it is a privacy thing. Maybe [Intellephunk raves] are something people don’t want everyone in their normal life to know about. To some, maybe this is a sacred space. It doesn’t need to be invaded by an outside eye.”
Looking forward
When asked what this quarter-century milestone meant to them, Jasmine and Steve fell quiet for a moment, deep in thought. Jasmine finally replied, “It just makes me excited for the future. Even though we have all these fun, cool things to look back on, now it’s time to level up, right? Like Super Mario.”
The two laughed. “This didn’t just happen overnight, you know? We need to keep refining, and be more strategic.”
“After 9/11, the rave scene shifted so dramatically … It was only in 2011 and 2012 that things really started picking up again,” Steve remarked. “A lot was different. Back in 1998, you’d find everything out from a flier at a party, and it’d have an info line on it. Now it’s all online. There’s a new crowd too, a bit older. When we started, our scene was a lot of cis white folks.”
“I’d be the only girl on the dance floor at techno parties,” Jasmine added.
“Right. That era was very much a bunch of white dudes standing around with their hands in their pockets. Back then, yes, we all really cared about the music and creating events around it, but the culture has definitely changed for the better,” said Steve.
Even prior to 2020’s mass reckoning, Steve and Jasmine have long committed to booking young, diverse talent — most recently, Jasmine’s first solely-devised event, Siren, prioritized a solely femme/women/trans lineup of artists, counting Kanjunga Records’ Angelica and Minneapolis mainstay Niki Kitz among those billed.
The Great Beyond also has a history of pulling talent from underrepresented groups. Just take a look at their past lineups, with Marijuana Deathsquads, Aurora Halal and Juana recurring players.
“It’s super important to us to be there for marginalized communities,” Steve said. “We want to honor the roots of where the music comes from, you know, the Black and queer culture that surrounds this music. At the same time, we don’t want to take credit … We’re always learning.”
Despite Intellephunk’s pull, including booking major European headliners or legends from the old scene, the crew still keeps their eyes open.
“We’re always looking for new talent, and a lot of the time we go to house shows and DIY parties to find it,” Jasmine said. “We just went to DJ Yasmeenah’s party the other week! We try to get [to these events] early sometimes and see the opener, because maybe that’s the next new up-and-comer. We just want people who have a spark.”
“When it comes to techno, people call Minnesota flyover country, and we want to change that,” Steve said. “With Communion, we want to keep things fresh, plus give newer artists a platform. People who have been climbing the ladder for a few years. We’re not gonna put out a schedule for the summer. Every Monday we’ll release a new lineup, and that’s how you’ll find out what’s going on.”
The ambiguity is part of the magic, and with Intellephunk, you never know what’s coming next.
As we closed out our interview, I asked the two what their plans for the evening were. “We’re having meatloaf for dinner,” Jasmine responded, then laughed. “Pretty boring after all this talk about parties, huh?”
Intellephunk’s next events include Meta Ta Physika this month in Detroit and July’s Great Beyond Festival in rural Minnesota, as well as Minneapolis staple Communion at The Pourhouse, a weekly summer event showcasing local techno.