Across three editions of Next Wave Acid Punx, Luca Venezia, better known as Curses, has traced an alternative lineage through electronic music. Beginning with the collision of post-punk and industrial sounds with club culture, the series has explored the threads connecting underground scenes across decades, revealing how ideas, attitudes and aesthetics continue to resurface in new forms.
With Next Wave Acid Punx TROIS, the trilogy arrives back at its point of origin. Returning to the records and experiences that first pulled him into New York’s early rave scene, Venezia revisits a brief but transformative period when genre boundaries felt largely irrelevant. Techno, acid house, EBM, breakbeats and trance coexisted on the same dancefloors, while punks, skaters, goths and ravers found common ground through a shared desire for escape, discovery and self-expression.
That sense of openness runs throughout TROIS. Moving between overlooked classics, cult favourites and contemporary productions, the compilation captures a moment when electronic music was still actively inventing itself, while drawing connections to artists carrying that spirit forward today. Reflecting on the project as a whole, Venezia discusses curiosity, counterculture, DIY ethos and the formative experiences that continue to shape both his music and the way he approaches club culture…
Throughout the trilogy, you’ve mapped a lineage that stretches from post-punk and industrial music through rave culture and into the sounds shaping dance floors today. With Next Wave Acid Punx TROIS returning to the records and experiences that first pulled you into electronic music, what did revisiting that period reveal about the artist you’ve become?
Taking my headspace back to my youth as a raver really reminded me how fresh and naïve you are in your teenage years. You’re taking everything in like a sponge because everything is so brand new. You haven’t decided what your favorite subgenre of electronic music is yet. You’re in this moment of innocent discovery. Reigniting that curious nature translates into the way I’m DJing now. I’m not sticking solely to any specific niche genre like Italo or new beat or post-punk. I’m expanding my track selections back to the first vibes I experienced at raves: progressive, proto-techno, and acid house. Coming back full circle to that early moment of discovery.
One of the most striking things about the early rave era is how little regard it seemed to have for genre boundaries. Do you think we’re experiencing a similar moment of openness today, or does it just look different now?
There you go! Ha, seems I didn’t look at the second question before answering the first one. But that’s exactly how I feel. There was this openness within a close-knit community in those early days of going to raves. You felt like you were part of a secret movement. No judgement. The skaters, the punks, the goths, the graffiti and breakdance kids were all hanging together at these raves. As cliché as it sounds, even if we weren’t hanging out at school or outside of it, we could all share that feeling of escape together.
You often speak about discovering rave through a punk lens. Looking back, what connected those two worlds for you beyond the obvious sense of rebellion?
Growing up in New York City, you’re exposed to so many different countercultures: hip-hop, punk, ravers, goths. It’s only natural to soak it all in and be inspired by your surroundings.
I’ve always been drawn to counterculture, partly because both my parents are artists. My father especially, an abstract artist, always told me: don’t limit yourself to what’s popular, don’t make money the motive, do what fulfils you personally, and that passion will be contagious to others. Coming from a band background and pairing that with his advice, I’ve always had this punk DIY approach to electronic music. So yes, it’s a rebellion against commercial music, but more than that, it’s about doing everything yourself and never compromising your vision.
Many of the records featured here emerged from moments of cultural and musical friction. Why do you think the most exciting scenes often come from people breaking rules rather than following them?
People are drawn to chaos, and to figuring out how to fix it. Struggle and hardship lead to reflection, which leads to expression, which leads to creating music and art. Right now especially, there’s so much friction and tension in the world, and I feel like these songs really resonate because of that. New and old alike.
There’s a thread running through the compilation that balances intensity with optimism, even in its darker moments. What is it about that push and pull between euphoria and tension that continues to inspire you?
I’ve always approached writing music in a cinematic way. Derek Jarman, Kurosawa, Lynch; They all had a huge impact on me when I first saw their films. There’s tension and release, mystery and resolve, romance in the unknown. I’ve always translated that into the music I write. It keeps things playful and human, which adds a real touch to a genre that is heavily machine-driven.
The compilation places influential records from the late ’80s and early ’90s alongside contemporary producers. When listening to newer artists, what tells you that they’re carrying the same spirit forward rather than simply referencing the past?
With all due respect to the older tracks, the newer ones are definitely produced a bit better! But we did remaster some of the old ones, which was great. Having them louder means you can play them alongside the new material seamlessly. Technology has changed a lot, we can’t deny that. A lot of the newer music on the compilation is more of an interpretation of how the older music has inspired the artist. Take Andi and Kendal’s track: you can hear Italo influences, proto-techno influences, but then also these newer, tougher drums that both of them are known for. That more EBM-leaning sound.
Whether it’s Detroit, New York, Frankfurt or Valencia, many of the scenes featured here were built by communities creating something for themselves. How has that DIY mentality informed the way you’ve approached your own career?
When I was starting out, I’d burn a bunch of CDs of my music, go to a copy shop to print the covers, then put my releases into record stores illegally with an email address on the back. It was funny, people would go to buy it and the shops would be totally confused. I just wanted to get my music out there, so I did it myself. That DIY mentality has stuck with me ever since. If you believe in what you do, you make it work with what’s at hand. That’s punk. And putting that energy out into the world can become a constant force over time.
New York sits at the heart of this chapter, but you’ve spent much of your adult life in Berlin. How does memory shape the way you look back on those formative experiences now?
Even though I left New York City 11 years ago, I still wear it on my sleeve. It still has this huge, lasting impact on me. The culture, the fast-paced life, all of it still ingrained. Those early years playing in punk bands, skateboarding at The Cube, going to raves. Those were formative years that made me who I am now. Any born-and-raised New Yorker will agree: once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker.
Including your own track, ‘Crown of Ruin’, alongside records that influenced you feels like an interesting gesture. Did it feel strange placing yourself within that conversation, or has that lineage always felt like part of your story?
There’s always a nod to the past. A romantic nostalgia that carries through into the music I make. It’s become second nature, carrying all those influences forward into what I create in the present. Crown of Ruin is like my nod to all of the pioneers on TROIS: Valencia, Detroit, Frankfurt, Belgium
Across all three editions of Next Wave Acid Punx, there’s a recurring celebration of curiosity, freedom and musical cross-pollination. Beyond introducing people to great records, what do you hope they carry away from the series?
The entire Next Wave Acid Punx compilation ethos is to celebrate the music that helped inspire and mould me into the artist I am today, and hopefully inspire new and upcoming artists as well. I like to think of the whole project as a kind of totem: old and new niche electronic music coming together to spark something special in certain people in a really unique way.
