Psytrance is a form of electronic music characterized by hypnotic arrangements of synthetic rhythms and complex layered melodies created by high-tempo riffs. It first broke out into the mainstream in 1995 as the UK music press began to report on the trend of Goa trance.

Since then the genre has grown immensely and now offers much variety in terms of mood, tempo, and style. Some examples include full-on, dark, progressive, Suomi, Psy breaks, and Psybient.

The first hippies that arrived in Goa, India in the mid-’60s were drawn there for many reasons, including the beautiful beaches, the low cost of living, the friendly locals, the Indian religious and spiritual practices, and the readily available Indian hashish, which until the mid-’70s was legal.

During the 70’s the first Goa DJs were generally playing psychedelic rock bands such the Grateful Dead, the Pink Floyd and The Doors. In ‘79 the beginnings of electro music could occasionally be heard in Goa in the form of tracks by Kraftwerk

but it wasn’t until ’83 that DJs Laurent and Fred Disko, closely followed by Goa Gil, began switching the Goa style over to electro-industrial/EBM which was now flooding out of Europe in the shape of Frontline Assembly, Front 242, and various other band