die ablenkung

Not new, but nice piece about the dubstep/techno crossover from Ned Bauman here.

Tags: dubstep, techno.

There’s an interesting discussion over at mnml ssgs about techno, Detroit Techno and associated myth-making. 

My two cents: my first exposure to techno was around 1994 in a flat I shared with two nerdy, suburban white guys. Jeff Mills was revered, but also Christian Vogel, Aphex Twin and others - it was all techno to us, as PC-ssg said. My geeky flatmates had just got their hands on some electronic equipment - a drum machine and a couple of synthesizers and an old Amiga computer - and they were fascinated by the idea that music could be ‘ego-less;’ that art could be ego-less, place-less and time-less. We thought techno could somehow bypass the biases that attached themselves to such prosaic associations as personality, location and history. Very idealistic and utopian. But, while nurturing a passion for the sounds, we soon recognized that like sci-fi, the narrative and aesthetic of music is never independent of the people who make or it. That said, when the same observation is extended into Detroit-as-only-true-techno platitudes it becomes tiringly essentialist. But I’m hardly qualified to talk about such things, so instead of diving into an argument I’m ill-informed about, I thought I’d post some choice extracts from a Jeff Mills talk/Q&A I heard a couple of days ago at Sonar that are tangentally related to the topic.

Mills outlined his development as a producer by first talking about his early days as a radio DJ. He said emphatically that he never set out to make music as such, and was quite happy being a DJ, but the competitiveness of the radio/club milleau of the time brought it about. To get the edge, it was crucial to have tracks that no-one else did, so Mills started to make bridging tracks for his sets, and then whole songs in order to out-do the competition. His early efforts were copies of what was ‘hot’ at the time.

Mills talked about his first fully formed productions being made based on a mistaken image of Europe as advanced and futuristic that he’d picked up from people who’d been there, like Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins. He’d heard about and imagined raves with laser shows and ‘future music’ and aimed at that (false) ideal. See him talking about his first trip with UR here.

Mills first visited Europe in ‘91-’92, packing his bag with as many records as possible thinking he would be ‘behind’ and would have to ‘catch up’. When he arrived he found that actually Europe was five to seven years BEHIND America. Europeans had yet to start using the techniques that had developed in the States: using three of four turntables, integrating drum machines in a DJ set, EQ effects, and creating a flow with the audience. After his trip, Mills immediately started aiming his productions more directly at the body.

Some quotes from the talk:

- What’s your relationship with Detroit and how is that heard in your music? 

“I don’t use any place in my music very often  - I try to stay away from using people and places.”

“If I do have any image of Detroit in mind, it’s the Detroit of my childhood when people had jobs and the future looked bright. The pre-1967 Detroit.”

- Your music has a recognisable sound, where does it come from?  

”I make it hard for myself in the studio, I have no computers and no multi-track recorder, I make everything the hard way, mistakes and all, to capture the moment and to stay fresh.“ 

”I alwalys start with an idea, then plug in all the equipment, so if there’s a sound that’s like ‘me’ it probably comes from the limits of my equipment in the studio.“

Mills was very articluate and had a lot of interesting things to say, and he was absolutely sincere about everything, but went way off the scale when he started talking about the ‘real purpose’ of his music. 

”It was only after the early ‘90s that I understood what electronic music is REALLY about - communication. To evoke a response in others that will make them think about their future and the future of the world“

”Space is the final frontier not only for science, but for music. There will be tours in outer space.“

”We are in the Age of Aquarius. As a person who makes electronic music, future music, I want to help prepare people for the new reality that will come in the year 2065.“

”There are frequencies in techno that create a special kind of communication that helps prepare people for the future.“

When asked about the development of electronic music, Mills had this to say:

”Dancing is a noose that prevents a lot of things from happening in electronic music. It forces it into structures. We need to stop dancing, it gets in the way. We need to find other reasons to get together for electronic music for it to develop.“

I didn’t see the new Mills/Banks project X-102, but you can get a taste of it here, here and here.

ADDENDUM: Parts of the talk have been posted on YouTube by BassaholicsAnonymous. See Mills talk about his image of Europe here.

Tags: Detroit techno, Jeff Mills, Myth, Sonar 2008.