A Dance Floor Raised Me: How Nightclubs, New Wave, and Memory Shaped My Sound Map

Some places never really leave you. They live in your body, in your muscle memory, in the way your feet know exactly what to do when a certain song comes on. For me, those places have always been nightclubs.

My relationship with music started early. I loved it before I even understood it. I danced to disco with my mom while we cleaned the house, sang along to Olivia Newton-John at the top of my lungs, and roller skated in my garage to Cyndi Lauper. Duran Duran was the first band that truly grabbed hold of me and shaped my taste. Music wasn’t just something playing in the background. It was already becoming part of who I was.

When I was ten, we moved to a new neighborhood, and that was when everything shifted. I met my first DJ, my friend’s older brother, seven years ahead of me and already fully immersed in music. He went on to DJ throughout Orlando, starting at Electric Avenue and continuing with residencies across the city, and he is still spinning today. He made me my first mixtape, which I still have. That tape changed everything. The first track was “World Destruction” by Time Zone, fronted by John Lydon of the Sex Pistols. That moment opened a door I never closed.

I spent most of my life growing up in Orlando, but my family was always rooted in Pittsburgh. So when I came here to visit, and later to finish college, the city felt familiar. I already knew the clubs. I already knew the music. It didn’t feel like starting over. It felt like continuing a story that was already in motion. Now, I have been living back in Pittsburgh for nearly eight years, and the connection between these two cities feels clearer than ever.

This past weekend, I attended a reunion for a college-era nightclub called The Upstage. It was an alternative music dance club and live music venue known for its dark new wave, goth, and industrial sound. Themed nights, legendary DJs, and a crowd made up of skaters, punks, goths, and music lovers of every kind filled the space. Held annually on the Friday after Christmas, this reunion has been happening for nine years and draws hundreds of people who return not just for the music, but for the shared history. Many of us have always danced, and many of us still do.

One song in particular hit me with a wave of memories. “I’m Alive” by Love and Rockets. I can still picture the first time I heard it, sitting in the car with my friend Kelly when I was thirteen. I was completely obsessed. Years later, I would trace that sound back to Bauhaus and discover Peter Murphy, who is still my favorite singer. Moments like that remind me how deeply music imprints itself on us, sometimes long before we understand its roots.

Being in a space like The Upstage again made me realize how lucky our generation was. Nightclubs were never just places to go out. They were where we found ourselves.

Before social media and before phones in our pockets, nightclubs were how we discovered music, fashion, identity, and community. DJs were tastemakers. Dance floors were safe spaces. You didn’t just hear new music, you felt it. You dressed for it. You found your people through it. Whether it was new wave, goth, industrial, punk, or alternative, these spaces shaped us in real and lasting ways.

That music echoed through nightclubs around the world, from Berlin’s industrial scene to Chicago’s Wax Trax sound to London’s punk and new wave movement. As soon as I was old enough, I found my way to Visage in Orlando. That club raised me. Every Friday night for years, I sat outside the doors before opening so I could dance before the room filled. I remember one night loading thirteen people into my station wagon and heading out together.

I turned twenty-one in that club. I hid a boyfriend from the police there. It’s where my best friend told me she was pregnant with her first son. We saw shows from Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, Thrill Kill Kult, The Violent Femmes, and so many others. Many of us still share ticket stubs and stories online, proof that those nights mattered.

Pittsburgh had its own equally powerful rooms. Metropol. Heaven. The Electric Banana. Lava Lounge. These were the spaces where so many of us danced, connected, and grew up. One of the DJs at the Upstage reunion is a friend I have known since we worked together at Metropol in 1998–99. We stayed close even after I moved back to Orlando post-college, and he has remained part of my life ever since, including being our wedding DJ. That kind of continuity is rare, and it speaks to how deeply rooted this community really is.

DJs like Doug and DJ Lou have been the heartbeat of this scene for decades. Many of us have followed them for nearly thirty years, showing up for special appearances and reunions, rallying around the people who shaped our musical lives. Over time, that loyalty became something more. A chosen family. We call ourselves the Dance Fam. We dance together, attend concerts together, support one another, and remain connected because of music.

I can remember most of my life based on the music I was listening to at the time. Certain songs immediately bring back specific rooms, specific people, and specific versions of myself. For those of us who still dance and still listen to the music we grew up with, we understand something important. We cannot relive our youth, but we can continue to live fully through our love of music.

That is why gatherings like The Upstage reunion matter so much. They are not about looking backward. They are about honoring where we came from and celebrating who we still are. The DJs, the dance floors, and the people remain deeply connected, even as the years pass. What started as nights out became lifelong friendships and a chosen family.

DJs like Doug and DJ Lou have been the heartbeat of this scene for decades. Many of us have followed them for nearly thirty years, showing up for special appearances and reunions, rallying around the people who shaped our musical lives. Over time, that loyalty became something more. A community we call our Dance Fam. We dance together, attend concerts together, support one another, and remain connected because of music.

Music saves lives. It has saved mine more than once.

That connection between music and memory is exactly why I focus on music-inspired travel. I want to know where these artists came from, where they grew up, and the places that shaped their sound before the world knew their names. Walking those streets, standing in those venues, and experiencing those cities adds an entirely new layer to the music we already carry with us.

If you have ever felt a song pull you back to a specific dance floor, a specific city, or a specific moment in your life, you already understand the power of a Sound Map. When you are ready, we can build yours, from the US to Europe, one song at a time.

To learn a little more about these historic nightclubs, chick here to learn about Metropol in Pittsburgh, The Upstage , or Visage concert history in Orlando. There were way to many clubs to mention them all, so these are just a small few.

If you loved this post, check out where I am headed for my 52nd birthday in 2026.

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“Nightclubs were not just places to go out. They were where we found ourselves.”

“What started as nights out became a chosen family. We call ourselves the Dance Fam.”