Thanks for your interest in taking part in Matt Anniss’s ongoing PhD project, Storm From The East: Rural and Coastal Rave Culture in East Anglia, 1989-2019. On this page, you will find answers to some frequently asked questions, as well as information regarding data storage and protection, and the ethical safeguards underpinning the research. If the detailed information below does not answer your questions, you can find Matt’s email address on this website’s contact page.
Naturally, Matt is keen for as many people as possible to contribute to this research project – after all, a higher volume of responses means more information provided by those who created and took part in the culture, and subsequently a more detailed and accurate history of rave culture in East Anglia. However, before you decide whether you want to take part, it is important to understand what the research is about, what it would involve for you, and how he will use the information and data you provide. Once you have read the information below, you can access the research survey by clicking on the provided link.
What would be the benefits of taking part in this research?
Taking part in this research will help create an extensive and detailed history of rave culture within East Anglia over a 30-year period and help increase our understanding of dance music culture outside of larger English towns and cities. As it stands, the experiences and activities of ravers and dance music enthusiasts in rural and predominantly rural regions, such as East Anglia, are omitted from published histories and wider discussions about dance music culture in the UK.
With the help of research participants such as yourself, the story of rave culture in East Anglia will no longer be a ‘hidden history’, and the unique contributions of people from East Anglia to wider UK dance music history will finally be known outside the region.
What is the study about?
This PhD project from dance music historian Matt Anniss (author of Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass Music) focuses on three things: the hidden history of free parties and pay raves (referred to as ‘rave culture’) in East Anglia; the communities and networks of people behind them; and the experiences and meanings of those experiences to those who took part – people like yourself.
The project aims to document, as accurately as possible, the scale and nature of free parties and pay-raves in the region over a 30-year period (1989-2019); the crews, soundsystems and promoters behind the events; how the scale, frequency and nature of rave events in the region changed over time; and what this rural and peripheral rave culture (so-called because the events under investigation took place in the countryside and on the coast) meant to those who made and experienced the culture.
It will not only look at rave events and the role they played in the wider dance music culture of the region, but also how they contributed to the construction of collective identities, the relationship between rave participants and the regional landscape, and how rave culture fits in to East Anglia’s history of resistance and countercultural activity.
Who will conduct the research?
The research is being undertaken by Matt Anniss, a PhD candidate at Southampton Solent University attached to the Art & Music School. Matt is an experienced dance music historian and researcher who has previously written published books and journalistic articles on other under-reported aspects of British dance music culture – including the wider club scene in East Anglia since the mid 1980s. Examples of his work and previous non-academic research projects can be found via his website, www.jointhefuture.net, including several pieces related to this PhD project. Examples include this 2024 piece based on a 2023 academic conference presentation, and this article published to launch the ‘participatory research’ (that’s this bit of the project) in April 2025.
Do I have to take part?
Taking part in this research is entirely voluntary, but your contribution – and those of others who also took part in the rave scene in East Anglia – is valued and vital to the success of the study. Anyone who agrees to take part and fill in the questionnaire must check a tick-box below to indicate that they consent to the data provided being used in the research. You will also have an opportunity at the end of the survey to indicate whether you would be prepared to take part in the next stage of fieldwork – remote, online interviews where you will get a chance to talk more about your experiences of rave culture in East Anglia and what they mean to you. This is entirely voluntary, though those interviewed will be provided with a chance to talk at length about their own rave journey in the region and how it shaped them as a person.
Would my taking part in the research be kept confidential?
All the information collected about you during the research will be kept strictly confidential, stored securely, and any information that leaves Southampton Solent University will have your name and location removed so that you cannot be identified. It will not be possible to identify you from any published material arising from the study, as all participants will be ‘anonymised’ and only referred to in publications via a pseudonym. This anonymised identifier will be yours throughout the research project – whether or not you get involved in the next stage of research – and will be the only way you are referred to throughout. At no point will you be asked for identifiable details (EG home address, where you work and so on), and if – for example during the interview stage, should you opt in – you do provide your real name, it will not be included in the finished thesis. Permission to use the information provided will be given when you click the check box on the opening page of the survey.
What would happen to the data collected?
The collected data will be analysed and used in a published PhD thesis, and potentially in books and journals. Aspects of the research may also be used in presentations at academic conferences. As stated above, you will not be identified – other than by an anonymised pseudonym – in any report or publication. If you have any concerns about how the data you have provided may be used, at any point in the process, please get in touch to discuss them.
Has the study been subject to ethical review?
The study has met the criteria laid out by the Southampton Solent University Ethics Policy and Procedures. Copies of this document are available on request.
Who should I contact if I wish to make a complaint?
Any complaint about the way you have been dealt with during the study or any possible harm you may have suffered will be addressed. Please send your complaint to the person below who is a senior University official entirely independent of the study:
Head of Student Achievement, Academic Services, Southampton Solent University, East Park Terrace, Southampton, SO14 0YN.
I’ve read all that and I’d love to take part in this research project!
JOIN THE FUTURE 