07/22/2025
A new PhD project based at the University of Liverpool is taking a close look at how underground dance music scenes are still alive and adapting—especially in cities where nightlife collides with gentrification. The researcher is focusing on Liverpool’s current wave of independent parties and non-mainstream club nights, many of which operate outside the commercial core. The study tracks how these scenes form, how they resist assimilation, and what keeps them distinct from the EDM-branded mainstream.
One of the key insights is the role of older participants. The research challenges the idea that dance culture belongs only to the young. Instead, it highlights how longtime promoters, DJs, and dancers are still shaping underground scenes well into their 40s and beyond. This isn’t nostalgia—it’s about how identity, community, and music evolve together over time. The study also explores how different generations navigate subcultural status, influence, and what it means to still be seen as “underground.”
The research combines interviews, fieldwork, and grounded theory to build a detailed map of how underground nightlife operates under pressure. Liverpool serves as a focused case study, but the findings will resonate across any city where nightlife is being squeezed by redevelopment and cultural branding. The full study is titled “The Persistence of the Underground in Dance Music Scenes” and is currently underway as part of a doctoral program at the University of Liverpool.
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