If there’s anywhere you’ll find Bradley Gunn Raver it’s at the biggest rave about. His extremely enthusiastic and care-free attitude towards raving has caught the attention of many online. The infectious sober dancing has helped him become an advocate of sober-raving across the globe. He posts raving videos of himself at a different festival each week to bring positivity to platforms that can be filled with negativity. Bradley talked with us about how his passion has helped him coping with his Aspergers, and is planning to take him to new heights in the coming years…
Q1. Hi Bradley! Thank you so much for taking the time to speak to me! For anyone that hasn’t heard of your story and what you do, can you tell them a little about yourself?
My name is Bradley Gunn Raver, I’m 22 years old, I live in Bristol. In the week I write software for my job, and on the weekend I travel around dancing at events spreading happiness and good vibes. 
Q2. Why do you choose to rave?
Raving is what I like to do, going to events allows me to be in an environment that I can enjoy myself in without having the social pressures that are applied to many other parts of life. I enjoy the music and that also allows me to express myself.
Q3. Did you have a passion for raving from a young age? And how did you get to where you are today?
No, I’ve only been into raving for just under 5 years now. It was one of those things that you just get into by being in the right places at the right times. It was first just a simple thing to do on the weekend and enjoy, then it became an obsession.
Q4. Why so often?
Why not? I would much rather be at a rave than anywhere else on the weekend. If your passionate about something then that is the only justification you need. Do what you love doing.
Q5. Where/what has been your favourite rave?
My favourite event in the UK is Junction 2 in London. My other favourites include: Awakenings in Amsterdam, Ultra in Miami and BPM in Portugal.
Q6. Why do you decide to put your rave videos across social media?
Because I can, and I enjoy doing so. I see it as spreading positivity, as social media can be a place that is filled with negativity.
Q7. Do you think raves are something you’ll be doing for a long time?
That is a hard question to answer… of course, right now I can see myself attending them for the foreseeable future, but you never know what’s going to happen… so I always have the mentality that you have always got to be ready to jump ship at any given moment. However as it stands right now, yes this is the future.
Q8. What do you do with yourself when you’re not attending raves?
Not a lot, Monday to Friday I’m a software developer, which is good fun, I enjoy my job. Then outside of that in the weekday evenings I spend a lot of time doing administrative work for my brand (emails with press and promoters, managing the calendar and also making sure I don’t find myself with an empty weekend). I try to keep my calendar filled up for the next 2-3 months.
Q9. How do you manage to attend so many raves in so many places?
It’s all about managing costs and finances, I have worked hard on reducing the cost per event plus networking and making good business relationships. I didn’t just jump into attending all the big festivals, this has been a gradual thing from attending small local nights and then expanding over time.
Q10. What is your biggest dream in life?
I try not to set too many goals or expectations. I’m just living life day by day and seeing where it takes me. I feel that if I set myself goals, it is likely that I won’t reach them, leaving me disappointed. However if I don’t set the goals and things do happen, I end up really surprised and happy.
Q11. What would your advice be to anyone struggling with a mental health condition?
What I would say is that if you haven’t been to a rave before, you should have a try at going to one, I find raves to be a really nice place and also a welcoming environment to be in. Also, the music really allows me to forget about the everyday constraints of life.
Q12. What would you say is your message behind your motto ‘love life and rave’?
As you just said, to love life and rave. Go out, enjoy your life, enjoy being you, and have a great time doing so whilst raving, as well as outside of raving too. There’s a track that I have made alongside good friend and Techno producer Phutek of this motto. This hasn’t been released yet, but keep an eye out for it.
Q13. What are your plans for the rest of 2018?
It’s quite a year for sure. I’ll be at a lot of festivals throughout the summer. The Autumn/Winter is still yet to be constructed.
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Interview By Lucy Rix
