An interview with Ginseng for the April 2007 newsletter, in which Linz was interviewed almost as much as Ginseng.

Linz: For...

... starters, where does your screen name come from?

Ginseng: Ginseng honest to god was a name I stole from the good old ages of playing Counterstrike at PC Bangs, a trend that was huge in NYC. I picked up the name long before I was on GS.C. Ginseng provides energy, and also causes brain hemmoraghing of overused. Careful on your dosage =)

Linz: What got you into the glowsticking/rave scene?

Ginseng: I saw a video of Gio and Dave freehanding at a party called Fun Haus and was amazed. I'd never seen anything like it. The video was hosted on a strange site and was not related to Glowsticking.com, I think it was Herbalton dance. There were other glowstickers featured, a guy calling himself Pepperoni among others. I was really young (I'm 19 now!), had no clue what it was about. I got my mom to buy me glowsticks at a novelty store in my neighborhood and played with them for a bit. I attended my first rave party when I was 15 or 16 after learning a little bit about the scene.

Linz: That's awesome. So who would you say your influences are? Dave and Gio or are there others as well?

Ginseng: I have a lot of influences in my dance. The biggest ones are Gio, Rai, Cleric (even though he strings), Spazzman, and Paul (pretzel).

Linz: So, what's your best tip for beginners?

Ginseng: Dance is a manner of expression. Most beginners have an issue with confidence. Think first about what you are expressing. Should you be dancing with confidence? Is this part of what you want to express?

Linz: That's a really good tip. On to things unrelated to glowsticking: I know you're in school, what are you studying?

Ginseng: I am a chemistry major and hope to someday spend my 9-5 sitting in a lab discovering something really really off the hook.

=)

Linz: haha. good luck. Other than dance, what sorts of things are you interested in? Anything that most of us wouldn't know about?

Ginseng: Besides dancing, I do a lot of stuff. I am a student firstly before anything else. I play the Shakuhachi, which is a bamboo flute. That thing is dope. I draw, I write, I am for the decriminalization of marijuana, and love fighting.

Linz: I've never heard of a Shakuhachi before, but with that complicated of a name, i assume it must be a thing of greatness

Ginseng: Yeah Yo samurai used it as a weapon!

Linz: So it's a musical instrument and a weapon? epic

Ginseng: Well mine doesn't have a sword in it

Linz: ah, well...bummer. What's your favourite movie?

Ginseng: The Devil's Advocate is my favorite movie. There are many, many sheep out there.

Linz: Anything else you want the gs.c community to know about you?

Ginseng: Glowsticking.com is a great place to be. On this site I met a lot of people with a great range of experience, and many of them have tried their hardest to share their lessons in life with me. Even when I thought the worst of someone, they would surprise me and show me that the positive community and culture that we're always talking about is really there.

I made a lot of mistakes in life and without the support of this community I probably wouldn't have had the strength to pull myself together and keep going. I try to give as much I can to the progression of the art because it gave so much to me.

Don't do too much acid, its a BAD IDEA!

Linz: What are your thoughts on The Sandbox? I know there are people who are anti-post whores?

Ginseng: I stay away from the sandbox at all costs, I don't want to lose any toes! Besides Dear Cleric, which completely backfired on me.

Linz: haha, Cleric hates that topic

Ginseng: Alright miss egyptology right now i need to ask you what you think the future of glowsticking is within the next decade

Linz: reverse interview, time paradox! but seriously

Ginseng: i really am curious though

Linz: I haven't really thought about it before, to be honest

Ginseng: Ginseng => Crazy Mind reading person. I could tell from what you are asking me

Well think about it. letme know

Linz: I guess it's really up to all of us on gs.c to direct the future of glowsticking. becuase there are tons of kids who just go to raves and wave sticks around and are like "haha I'm glowsticking!" but they don't really care about it as an artform, and aren't going to stick with it. I definitely think we're moving in the right direction by being strong on the no-battling stance, so i suppose ten years from now, those who do glowstick will probably be even more committed to it as an art, and hopefully in the rave scene it will be seen more as an art and not just something to do when tripped out.

Ginseng: would you be able to say, "I believe that in 10 years those who do glowstick ... etc" will be more committed, and that in the rave scene it will be more respected? Also, Do you believe glowsticking is going to expand beyond the rave scene? How popular do you think it will be in 10 years? And also I would like to ask you if You want it to be popular

Linz: I expect that people who are glowsticking 10 years from now will be more committed because they'll have worked hard to keep with the art and keep their ideologies in it. I hope it would become more respected in the rave scene, but I think that's something that will definitely take some time, especially with people like...isn't it paul van dyke who hates glowsticks? and then you have promoters throwing glowsticking competitions as well. As to popularity, I can't really see it ever achieving popularity, just because it's a bit of an odd hobby in the first place and it is something that we're trying to have appreciated for it's own sake, and not to get props or whatever, which I think would keep a lot of kids picking it up in school, which I think is where most hobbies spread. Personally, I don't want it to be popular, but I'm the sort of person who already has unpopular hobbies (such as unicycling), so i might as well keep them all out of the mainstream.

Ginseng: Are ravers where you are big dj followers? I think the local actual RAVE goers of nyc aren't big on dj following. If glowsticking spreads with a positive culture and non competitive mentality wouldn't it be a good thing? it would be the exapnsion of a positive attitude community.

Linz: Well if that happens, that's great and I'm not against it. I just like to feel more interesting by having unpopular hobbies =p

Ginseng: So aren't you doing it for attention?

Linz: oh jeez that's not it at all

Ginseng: Hahaha

Linz: I hardly ever glowstick outside of my apartment, it's just when I run off the list of "what do you do in your spare time" it goes something like "unicyclying, juggling, glowsticking..." if you say something normal at the end, it would sound weird

Ginseng: Ok so i'll take it taht you were sort of joking

Linz: a safe guess

Ginseng: So do you support the expansion of the artform along with gsc culture?

Linz: definitely. I think as long as the two are in tandem, it's a good thing.

Ginseng: Okay =o) Want to hear a glowsticking dream?

Linz: yeah, hit me with it

Ginseng: Me and a few other people on the site believe that in a few years glowsticking will be much more popular than it is. It is an attention grabbing art form, it draws interest, especially as skill levels have been steadily increasing. The baseline today is what some among the best were doing a few years ago, this is in both freehand and stringing, and these are both directly resultant of glowsticking.com While there were people involved and committed to glowsticking, such as koki in nyc, and the peeps down in cali and hawaii who were unaffiliated with the website, the site has helped to bring a dance community together in a way that i don't think has been done really in the past. The dance appeals currently to people interested in electronic dance music, but only because it hasn't been performed much to other music. When these gaps get bridged, and a few people do some talking then a lot will get done and fast. People like Madraverrai and Vision are throwing parties now, and rai does it in the name of sticking, rather than thinking of the dance, as something that holds the ideals of PLUR. Tt can be used to spread the positive culture, instead of just maintain it.There are examples within the dance that can be used to educate people interested in it. people who aren't interested in glowsticking can still attend parties thrown in "the name" of glowsticking (which really just means good vibes. Some people who are into sticking now and love it will be RICH and have financial resources to help with. There are seriously a lot of people with a lot of potential interested in this dance, and it is for good reason.

Linz: that's a great vision for glowsticking; i like it

Ginseng: I wouldn't have faith in its if i didn't know people like rai and vision. I have not met people like them anywhere else, and i have met a lot of people. Even if you don't believe it can happen within a few years, i hope you're pushing for it too

Linz: well, like I said I hadn't thought about it before. I don't see myself finishing college in a few years either, but I'm still pushing for that.

So do you think those of us who are in our teens/twenties now are going to still be glowsticking when we're in our 40s and maybe even teaching our kids the art and the culture as well?

Ginseng: Yeah I will show my kids man!!!

Linz: awesome. Have you seen any major changes/growth in the NY scene since you started sticking?

Ginseng: I think in NY exponential growth has ended and it is now growing steadily. This is in reference to the glowsticking scene, not rave scene.

Linz: right. Do you think other areas can have as much success as NY? Didn't you guys have something like 80 people at your meet up last week?

Ginseng: The NYC meetup is not an NY success- it is a success for everyone who believes in the gs.c dance culture. New York is just a high population density area which is accessible to a large number of people who'd be interested in attending a glowsticking meetup. I applaud everyone that travels from afar to the annual spring meet!

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