Larry Heard on Instagram at raves: "It’s the opposite of what clubs started out as"

Chicago house innovator Larry Heard has blasted services like Instagram and Snapchat for turning club culture into a weird kind of "leering" exhibitionism during a recent interview with The Guardian.

During the 80s, clubs were important safe space for minorities, mainly gay African American men, to express themselves without fear of retribution or discrimination.

Nowadays, its the complete opposite, it's now a place where social media currency is created and Heard reckons this new paradigm is at odds with the original roots of club culture.

"Everyone is peering and leering at you, taking pictures and video," the Memphis-based producer told The Guardian ahead of his appearance at Sunfall festival at London's Brockwell Part on 12th August.

"It's awkward, it's uncomfortable. It's the opposite of what clubs started out as: a haven away from everything, as opposed to somewhere to expose.

"I'm not doing an exhibition — I'm trying to release myself."

Thankfully, a lot of has changed during the last 30 years — gay men and woman in certain countries no longer need nightclubs to feel completely free as they once did, which is a good thing.

The knock-on effect, though, according to Heard is that clubbing and club culture in many ways isn't really about the music but instead how many likes your upload to Instagram will get. 

You can read Heard's enlightening interview with The Guardian in full here.