It’s 1930, and you’re at a party; suddenly, a band plays. The beat is fast and energized. The trumpets play a happy riff, and the piano raises people from their seats. Before you know it, you’re up and dancing with them, for you just can’t control yourself. Your heart is pounding to the beat. What you’re experiencing, here in a party in 1930, is the magic of swing music. Swing music, or a mixture of jazz and “two-beat ‘feels,’” continued to evolve into different genres as the 1940s came to an end. However, nearly a century later, it’s coming back to life! By adding modern electronic twists, Austrian producer Parov Stelar has shocked the music industry with a brilliant new genre, commonly referred to as “Electro Swing.” Stelar has managed to link two significantly different genres, sparking a new appreciation for 1930s music and culture amongst teens and young adults.

The 2000s were largely dominated by the early stages of dance music; now, the varieties of dance and electronic music are endless. This, though, poses an interesting question: Has the appreciation for old music mostly vanished?

It’s common for young people to be opposed to the music of past generations. Who can really blame them? Most teenagers don’t want to be seen in the car with their 80s-band loving Dad, the sounds of Tom Petty’s “Here Comes My Girl” blasting. However, it often takes a creative mind like Stelar to uniquely combine the sounds of the past with the sounds of the present. Before my discovery of one of Stelar’s most popular songs, “Booty Swing,” I never seemed to delve more than three decades into the history of music. After exploring his music, however, I found myself growing more and more infatuated by the jazz and swing of the 30s.

Perhaps it’s just the annoying hipster in me speaking, but I think an appreciation of older music is important not only for oneself, but also for the greater good of modern music! What Stelar creates may be strange to some, yes, but look at the entire music industry! Change does not come without originality and taking risks.

Other popular songs by Stelar include “Catgroove,” “Chambermaid Swing,” “All Night,” and many others. Most of his music videos feature a swing dancer, or old footage from actual 1930s swing dances; swing dancing was a new dance craze that arose in the 30s from the upbeat, jazzy feel of swing era music. Some of his most popular music videos surpass twenty million views on YouTube, and many of his songs have been featured in commercials! If Stelar continues making music in the Electro Swing genre, his popularity could potentially grow more in the years to come. With more popularity, who knows how much he’ll truly revolutionize the music industry?

It’s 2016, and you’re at a party; suddenly, a beat starts playing. You know it sounds familiar, but there’s something just a bit strange, almost jazzy! You’ve never danced to jazz, but you just can’t seem to control yourself as your legs raise you from your seat and move you to the dance floor. Someone takes your hands, and your legs start moving you forwards and backwards and spinning you every which way. What you’re experiencing is Electro-Swing, and it’s all thanks to Parov Stelar.