Spiro Boursine, the founder of the highly-influential dance music festival Earthcore, has died this weekend after being involved in an incident at a Melbourne bar.
As The Age reported yesterday morning, police were called to the Antique Bar in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick at 2am on Saturday morning where a 45-year-old man was “abusing patrons and acting violently”.
The man in question has since been identified as Spiro Boursine, known for his role as the founder of the long-running Earthcore festival.
According to a police statement following the incident, Mr. Boursine was held down by patrons of the bar when police arrived, who soon arrested him before he lost consciousness. While both police and paramedics made attempted to revive him, Mr. Boursine sadly passed away at the scene.
While Vic Police note that the Homicide Squad will be investigating this death in custody, The Age points out that Mr. Boursine was known to have experienced heart issues in the past.
“Spiro created a subculture in Australia that turned in to one of the biggest alternative community followings that I think Australia’s got within the dance scene,” said former Earthcore general manager Gary ‘Binaural’ Neal of Boursine’s legacy. “I mean, it created dance, it created fashion … it became a lifestyle for many, many people.”
“Without Spiro, we wouldn’t have that.”
Kicking off back in 1993, Earthcore has been one of the most prominent entries in the Melbourne dance music scene. Helping to popularise the idea of a ‘bush doof’, Spiro Boursine helped to gradually expand the festival, eventually making it a must-see event for young music fans.
Over the years, the festival has seen a wide array of varied performances, serving as a platform to foster the growth of new and upcoming artists from different genres, and notably hosting the final performance of Melbourne icons TISM back in 2004.
Check out highlights of Earthcore 2017:
