POPOF’s Past Life as a Member of ’90s Crew Heretik System
Nearly two decades is a long time to participate in the fast-moving world of electronic music. Any regular person is bound to transform into someone else at least two or three times in as long of a period.
The same could be said of POPOF. Specializing in a driving style of techno and tech house, the Parisian producer is one of the fastest-rising talents in the dance music ecosystem. A lifetime ago, he cliqued up with a somewhat different crowd, however.
POPOF was once a member of the activist rave crew Heretik System. The Parisian collective organized free parties at locations like the Hôtel Molitor swimming pool, the Paris Bercy refrigerated station, and various exhibition parks. There was a method to the madness, though. Heretik System organized their gatherings for various causes.
“There were two sides to us: the partying and the music on one side, and a more serious, politically-oriented aspect on the other, as we had an ideology and expressed it strongly,” POPOF told Electronic Groove. “There were no formally-written laws in France at the time forbidding electronic music parties and we totally took advantage of this legal ‘grey zone.’ We’d invade any given place, party hard and wait for the consequences, if there were any.”
He continued: “And so for many years we witnessed super highs — memorable events in railway stations or the gigantic Molitor public pool invasion — and also many lows, such as being arrested by the police or friends passing away… This said, it was a truly magical era and I’ll never regret anything about it.”
On the odd occasion, POPOF gets a chance to revisit his Heretik System days. One such outing will take place on September 30th, as POPOF will accompany Heretik mainstays Nout, Beuns, and Tom Buld’r in Strasbourg, France. Some of the subversive spirit that was alive and well in the collective’s early years will surely be reignited when they share the stage.
