Long before Berlin’s nightlife narrative was dominated by Berghain, Bar 25 or Watergate, there was Tresor, a bunker in the city center with a killer sound system pumping out the most uncompromising electronic music known to man or woman. The club opened during the aftermath of the Wall coming down, as a previously divided city reunified and east met west in a post-communist, ecstasy-fueled embrace. Unlike the explosion of acid house a few years earlier in London or Manchester however, tie dye T-shirt and kicker-clad crowds did not get under a groove to the sound of Chicago trax and Woodentops B-sides. Instead, Tresor, situated at the societal intersection of Eastern Bloc bleakness and the giddy excitement of a new world disorder, and, informed by the industrial and post-punk heritage of Berlin, resonated to the sound of new music from Detroit, a relentless, futuristic and inspirational style called techno. It was 20 years ago that the club and label became a European staging post for US techno and in that period, Tresor was responsible for promoting music by Jeff Mills, Blake Baxter, Juan Atkins, Robert Hood and Drexciya to German audiences. In this interview with LWE, founder Dimitri Hegemann reflects on his experiences in Berlin, Tresor’s background and history, how the Detroit-Berlin alliance was forged and his plans for the club and label’s future.

Tell me about you own background: where are you from and how did you end up coming to Berlin?

I’m originally from Westphalia in West Germany and I first came to Berlin in 1978. Like many other people in a similar situation, like many country boys, I wanted to live in a flat, be in a band, something that was not possible in my small hometown. I was 20 or 21 at the time when I first went came to Berlin. They called me “Dorftrottel” or “village trash.” At the time, West Berlin collected all these “Dorftrottel” from all over Germany. I was very much influenced by hippy consciousness and the Woodstock generation. Berlin at the time was like an island, it was this crazy time. I felt that it only became a big city after the Wall came down.

Do you look back fondly pre-reunification Berlin, when the city was still divided into East and West?

Yeah, sometimes I miss the Wall in a strange way, now that Berlin is a city of four million people. Before the Wall came down there was an alternative, people were opening bars, clubs and galleries and I learned so much. When the Wall did come down, all of these subcultures took their chance, saw their opportunities and took over all of these spaces. Now we have all of these creative industries and that attracts visitors. Last year in Berlin there were 20 million hotel stays and 65% of the people coming was due to the alternative culture.

Other cities don’t have this kind of cultural strength for a few reasons: The first is that Berlin is so full of space and it’s still cheap. You can still survive here on maybe 400 euro a month. Also, Berlin is alive, it’s full of crazy, intelligent people, you can do things here, set things up because there are so many creative people here. Companies come here to find clever people and recruit them.

When I first started buying Tresor records in the 90′s, I noticed that the releases used to have the word “Interfisch” on them. Perhaps you can explain that as it always fascinated me.

Yes, before Tresor, Interfisch was the first label in 1986 and Fischburo was the first club. We used the word “fisch” (fish in English) because what we were doing was all about moving in different directions, doing different things. So we had this small club and once we had the club, we decided to do some recordings. I had been involved in running festivals in the 1980s and we had bands over like Test Department and Psychick TV to perform. John Peel had picked up on the festival — it was called Atonal — and it became very popular. It was an industrial festival, but it also had great visual presentation. As it became popular, we started to do archives of the music. By the end of the 1980s, we had made contact with Clock DVA, the band from Sheffield because we wanted them to come and play the festival. So they played Atonal and then released some music on Interfisch.

So in essence Interfisch was a precursor for Tresor. How did the label change from releasing industrial to techno?

One day out of the blue I got a call from Jim Nash who ran the Wax Trax label. He wanted to sign Clock DVA for the US, so I went over to Chicago to see him. I was staying with Jim and saw all of these demos he had refused for Wax Trax. The first white label that I picked from the pile just had this 313 number on it, so I called it up and spoke to a guy in a band called Final Cut who had sent the record to Wax Trax. His name was Jeff Mills. So Jeff came over and played the last Atonal festival. It was amazing to hear this new music.

The original Tresor

This must have been when there was great change taking place generally in Germany and across eastern Europe…

Yeah, it was at a time when the Wall had come down and everything was changing. A year later, in 1991, I found an old vault right in the middle of Berlin, so we called the club Tresor, the German word for vault. At the same time, Jeff had developed an organization with Mike Banks in Detroit called Underground Resistance. We were very oriented towards them musically, but what we gave them was how to use a space and put in a kicking sound system. We had found this incredible space, the Wall was coming down, people wanted to party, there was this amazing music coming from Detroit, it was just a unique time with so many things coming together at once.”

And as you mentioned earlier, West Berlin had been a magnet for people across Germany who had been trying to escape from conventional society.

That’s right. The other thing is that if you were a German citizen registered in west Berlin, you didn’t have to do military service as it was under the control of the Allies, so you had all of these people who had opted out of military service looking for something to do.

Tresor was arguably the first label in Europe to make such a close connection to Detroit techno, and one of your earliest compilations is called Berlin & Detroit: A Techno Alliance. Why do you feel that this was the case?

It’s true that we became so successful with Tresor and with Detroit artists because we took a chance, we didn’t care about anything else at the time. We moved our asses and went to Detroit, met the artists and DJs, none of this came our way by us just sitting around at home in Berlin waiting for it to happen. The other big thing about Tresor was that we acted like a family for visiting DJs. We picked them up from the airport, we brought them out for dinner and they stayed with us. We felt it was very important that we gave them a warm welcome — maybe it was this old hippie idea coming alive again.

But there were parallels between Berlin and Detroit: I flew to Detroit and found a city very similar to Berlin — all the spaces were empty. There was so much space in Detroit. Blake Baxter told me that he thought all the guys from Detroit were hardcore, but when they entered Tresor for the first time, they didn’t feel so tough anymore!

Just a few Tresor classics

Apart from showcasing Detroit techno, the Tresor label and club were also very active in promoting the new wave of UK techno producers that emerged in the 90s — artists like Surgeon, Ruskin, Landstrumm and Cristian Vogel. How did this come about?

I called Cristian Vogel. He was involved in a label in Frankfurt, Force Inc, and was interested in playing the club. Don’t forget the label was a big promotional tool for the club and we got more and more people to play. Surgeon had a residency at Tresor and he brought in new people like James Ruskin and Neil Landstrumm. They were so young at the time, so fresh. I spoke to Jeff Mills about this recently and I said that after 20 years, this music [techno] has become more sophisticated, not necessarily better, but definitely better thanks to technology. So at that time it was Cristian Vogel, Neil Landstrumm, Ruskin, Regis and Surgeon and they were this whole new wave of UK artists who were playing at the club. But if I am honest, I was more personally involved and interested in the Detroit sound; my favourite was Juan Atkins.

Why was that?

Because in Berlin we were very much influenced by the harder end of dance music, the industrial beats, and not so much Chicago house with vocals. Tresor’s first record was X-101. As we were setting up the label, Daniel Miller from Mute called me and asked me to wait as he felt we should work together. We ended up putting out the X-101 record with Mute in Japan and it made the Tresor brand very popular there.

So what happened to the original Tresor club, and why did it shut down?

The club had a temporary usage licence and initially the club only had a contract to open for three months, but we ended up staying for almost 15 years. I feel that the city should have kept the space for the club as it was very symbolic for Berlin.

Do you feel that the new Tresor club captures the spirit and attitude of the old venue?

To take the spirit of a club to another space is very difficult to do and the new Tresor does not have the same vibe. Also, having a techno club in Berlin now is nothing new and loads of clubs have opened since the first Tresor closed. But I still think the new club is the best space in Berlin. It will take a few years, but we will find the right partner and it will encourage young people to do similar things. The building the club is now in is also amazing and I would do an art gallery there on a par with the Tate Modern called the Tresor Modern of course! The space I propose to use for the art can be seen at berlintrafo.de — maybe there is someone reading the article who is interested in sponsoring the gallery space?

The label also seemed to scale back its release activity around the later part of the last decade. What happened?

The label’s big problem was when writable CDs came on the market. Gradually people didn’t want to buy vinyl anymore and the market has changed. We still push vinyl and even have vinyl-only nights at the club, but there are now too many DJs in Berlin trying to do the same thing and the competition has become much harder. But it is not just in the techno sphere that things have changed: I was recently in the Blue Note jazz club in London and it has become more sanitized, I mean no one even smokes there anymore! In the early days of Tresor, when you were in the club, all you could see were the shadows and the strobe and feel this hard, kicking music.

Didn’t the label also have a lot of problems with its distributor?

“We lost so much money when our distributors went bust, and it happened a few times. First it happened with EFA and then with Neuton, and you have to remember at the time we were putting out maybe an album a month and two EPs. So when EFA went bust we went to Neuton and then they closed, the club closed because the city wanted to put up apartments and replace the club and we fell into a hole. There is now a movie about Tresor called “Sub-Berlin.” It’s a really good movie. I had collected images and material about the club and this guy has put it all together and the result is really good. I mean it’s just a story about a club and a label, but it’s a story worth telling.

The new Tresor, photographed by Anna Krzyzanowska

You must have seen and experienced quite a lot of eye-opening scenes over the years. Was there anything in particular that stood out?

I was sometimes disappointed by the way certain people behaved and I didn’t know how bad show business can be. I was shocked by these money-oriented attitudes. Money was never a serious subject for me, it was never the main issue and it wasn’t what Tresor was about. But we found that if you build people up, they go away and that’s OK because they usually come back. We have had hard times, but we decided to follow our mission.

The good thing is that you overcame your problems and Tresor is now back…

Yes, they couldn’t stop our spirit. We opened the new club in 2007, but it was more difficult to restart the label. We had to find artists with the same spirit and we now have a good, connected team running the label. We work with SRD in the UK, our distributors, and we now have artists like Sleeparchive, Pacou and Juan Atkins releasing material. Our goal is to put out an EP a month and we are happy if we sell 800 copies. I see that vinyl is increasingly becoming a collector’s item so we want to invest more in the product, in the artwork. We are under no stress with the label and see it as marketing for the club.

Is the new mix, which exclusively features old Tresor releases, part of this attempt to sell the club and the idea behind it?

Yeah, we try to create this mix of the club and the label, but we always remember where we came from. That’s why I am keen to cultivate a relationship with artists, give them good contracts and throw big parties at the club. You have seen the space at the power station (new building) — Tresor could even do a big festival in that space a few times a year. If we can survive in this way, then I am very happy. Many of the big names go away and do their own business, but a lot of them come back. Much of what happened to Tresor was a sad experience, and in the music business, if you are out, you are out, but now we are back.

Looking back on the last 20 years, what do you think was the defining moment for Tresor?

If the Wall had not come down, there would not have been a techno revolution. Techno is all about spaces and the coming down of the Wall was the frame that built the techno revolution. It was a case of the right place at the right time. Nowadays, techno is socially acceptable, clubbing is an acceptable activity — 20 years go, it would have been, “What are you doing?”

Mike Huckaby Reflects On Tresor

Although Detroit DJ Mike Huckaby has never released a record on Tresor, he experienced its seismic impact on techno music. As a buyer for Record Time, Huckaby saw first-hand that the label gave a European platform to producers in his hometown. As a touring DJ from the mid-90s onwards, it was clear to him that Tresor had helped introduce Detroit techno to European clubs and record stores. In this revealing interview, Huckaby explains the role the label played in the development of techno; how the club pushes its visiting DJs to the limits and why, despite the growth of electronic music’s online community, the location-specific Detroit-Berlin alliance is still so important.

First of all, how did the idea for the mix CD come about?

It was a project that I brainstormed with Tofa from Tresor when I was down in the club one night. I just happened to be there and he just happened to mention to me that the 20th birthday was coming up. I said it would be a shame if they did not produce a compilation or a mix, so right on the spot I said I’d be interested in doing the mix and doing it as a Berlin-Detroit connection thing. There are some vinyl collaborations and Pacou is doing some records as far as I know.

You were already DJing and working in the record store when Tresor started. What was your involvement with it?

I played in Tresor over the years. I played there for the 1997 Love Parade, or it could have been earlier, but I just don’t recall. I’ve seen the development of Tresor from the other side, from the city of Detroit. I saw it first had as a DJ and from working in the shop (Record Time), buying and ordering Tresor releases for Detroit DJs. From day one, the links were there. I was touring a lot in Europe and Germany in particular during the mid-90′s, so I was picking up on a lot of music that was coming out on labels from Europe.

Was it somewhat unusual for a European techno label to be big in Detroit, given that artists from your hometown were becoming well-known all over the world?

I mean, Detroit always had steady European influences from Kraftwerk and Italo Disco and even Italian house, so we were no strangers to music from Italy and Germany.

Tresor photographed by Rick Kay

How come you never released a record before on Tresor?

That’s what we’re discussing now as a result of the compilation, it’s something that should have happened a long time ago. I don’t understand it myself. Maybe because I wasn’t releasing hard techno, it’s also a factor; maybe my music didn’t have an appeal for people who were fans of the label.

How did the tracklisting for the mix come together? Were you given free reign over the licensing? Also, do you think that the mix marks something of a departure for you as a DJ?

I could only use the tracks that were available to be licensed, so the final mix is a result of that. It presented a lot of limitations, but the tracks on the mix are a lot of what I had played and bought for the shop. I always played a lot of techno from long ago, it’s good to be versatile as a DJ. I can’t dictate what the crowd tells me to play and I think that I do versatility better than anyone else. Most crowds these days want to be taken on a journey, but that’s the point I want to make. Sometimes you don’t see a huge difference between the house floor and the techno floor at Tresor, and that’s the same with many clubs in Germany. Tresor books deep house DJs, but they like to have people who can accommodate both floors. Sometimes it’s a bit too much of a spillover, but Tresor has always been known to be a hard techno club, so when they invite house DJs to play there, they expect them to accommodate and switch. Some fail miserably and can’t handle the crowd; you can only go your own way in as much as the crowd gives you the capacity to do so. It seems the definition of the DJ has changed and I have seen DJs get eliminated, overwhelmed by the reaction of a crowd.

Do you think that the club still caters for a crowd looking for a harder sound?

Tresor is for the younger market, but they have a definite market. They also have the history, but there is still a demand for that type of music. Tresor have been known for that type of music and they are especially known for it especially over the past few years as the main types of music have been deep house or mnml. Tresor survived without compromise, which says a lot about them.

Did the records you chose bring back a lot of happy memories?

Yeah definitely, a lot of these records have a lot of memories, including memories for me. I mean, you talk to anybody in Detroit who was around in the mid-90′s and all of these records are easily recognizable to people from that time. Tresor is like an institution — even the youngest raver knows about Jeff Mills.

Do you think that Tresor was instrumental in getting Detroit techno known to the wider world? How much do you buy into this idea of the Detroit-Berlin connection?

It is debatable as to whether Detroit techno would not have become known outside of the Midwest if it wasn’t for Tresor, but I do know that it made Detroit known everywhere eastwards of Berlin. When you talk about the Detroit-Berlin connection, there is Hard Wax and Tresor on the Berlin end. At the other end of that connection at the time was the position I was in at Record Time and artists like Underground Resistance and Mike Banks, Alan Oldham and Blake Baxter. They were the people in Detroit who first had the connection with Tresor. Alan [Oldham] was steadily releasing records, a lot of records on Generator, he was doing a load of gigs in Germany and he was doing the artwork for Djax, so he was permeated in that scene. Blake was also releasing a lot of classic techno records at the time, so he was heavily involved too.

Do you think that the relationship still exists?

Yeah, the connection continues. A lot of labels in Berlin get Detroit artist to release or remix for them and Detroit DJs play over in Berlin a lot. It goes through phases and up and downs, but Detroit music is still very much in demand in Germany.

But surely the availability of music in digital formats negates the need for location-specific relationships — does it really matter what city you are from?

The fact that a guy in Tokyo can find a track in minutes says more about iTunes reshaping the music industry, it has more to do with it having an impact on record stores, that a corporation can stamp all over the industry. I mean, vinyl is still the only format that people are buying legitimately.

Does this tally with your own experiences at Record Time?

“My tenure at the record store came to a terrible end. After 14 years I was told all of a sudden that my job was gone. I thought it was the end of the world, but that wasn’t the case. Vinyl sales may have gone down, but it’s growing in importance. If there are 40,000 releases every week, the only way for an artist to get known is by a vinyl release — otherwise, by the end of the week the listener is overwhelmed by all the digital releases.

So you think there are too many digital releases out there?

To be honest, the future of digital music is fucked. No one is buying music from these download sites like Beatport. I can’t say for sure, but these sites probably aren’t making any money. The future for major labels is also fucked as they do simply not realise that the resources for distribution, merchandising and stocking the product, all these things have been diminished. Digital is a fucked format; it’s not the solution, and I can say that for definite about digital.

If digital has no future, then what’s the alternative?

Some experts believe that the future of music will see it return to a scenario where people want to hold the music in their hands. Anyway, the earth will not be a silent planet, music will never cease to exist. My job is to remain creative and I know that I will live through all of this shit. I’ll never forget that Cliff Taylor from Buy Rite told me that if you can stay away from the anxiety-driven aspects of the music industry, you’ll be fine. The anxiety aspects are all to do with the digital side of music.

Back to Tresor, what is your upcoming release like? Have you changed your sound to fit the label?

It’ll be a fine balance between both; the tempo will be a bit faster than the house sound I am known for, at least that’s what I’m striving for with the release. It’ll be one EP for the time being.

Have you only agreed to one EP because of your methodical approach to music-making?

My rate of production has become significantly faster these days, but I still want to focus on the strength of the release and would prefer to put out a release when it’s ready. I mean you have guys who have 20 EPs out and no one knows about them. Everything is ass backwards these days. [laughs] You have 20 EPs and no one knows about you? How can you consider yourself an artist? It has always been a qualitative approach for me. How can you justify a quantitative approach if no one has heard of you? It’s like a lottery approach to music-making: “If I put out 20 records, maybe one of them will be a hit…”

Outside Tresor in 2004

What are your memories of Tresor during the 90′s?

During the Love Parades of the mid-90′s, Tresor was the club to go to. If you were touring in Germany, it was the club to play at, especially if you were from Detroit. At that time, hard techno were not dirty words, in fact it was revered, it was a force to be reckoned with. E-Werk was even harder and faster, that club started where Tresor left off. It was a great, great time.

Do you look back on this time as a golden period for Detroit techno?

Yeah, you went to record stores and you got the feeling that Detroit was really influencing electronic music in a major way. It was the force that was driving the club, and it made me feel proud that records from Detroit were driving the club. When Tresor releases came into the store in Detroit it was like mania, you could just put them into people’s hands, they didn’t even listen to them, they just bought them. People in the store would buy The Extremist (by Jeff Mills) or a Rob Hood record without listening to it, or they’d quickly hear just one track on a doublepack like Waveform Transmissions (also by Mills) and they’d want it.

How do you think that Tresor in its current incarnation compares to the club in its original form?

Tresor nowadays faces a lot of challenges in terms of surviving as a club and as a label. It has huge challenges because of the differences in musical tastes nowadays. A lot of Germans have become more pacified in their musical tastes and also in the energy they use to express their personalities. When Tresor started, the Wall had just come down and the people going to clubs were expressing that crazy time. It is in this time of upheaval that Tresor has its roots and foundations.

But surely the fact that it stuck to what it knows is positive?

The good thing is that you still have a crowd who support that kind of music. It may be a smaller crowd now than it used to be, but the fact that it’s appealing to younger people is a good thing. Tresor needs to stay true to its roots and step up. Nowadays you have a club like Berghain which is as interested in booking DJs like Patrice Scott and myself as much as Tresor is.

You spoke just now about Berghain; irrespective of the club, do you view Berlin gigs as pivotal to what you do?

Germany is the place where the fittest survive and Berlin is the capital of electronic music. No one who is making an impact in electronic music will not pass through there at some point. Germany and Berlin as a city are the most influential places to play, and are where you can develop your stamina as a DJ and develop strong skills. You are often playing longer sets there or performing in the morning or very late at night, sets that are unheard of in the US. I have found a lot of new skills — endurance and being able to program music into your sets at extremely unusual times of the day. ”

Are these skills needed at Tresor or do others apply?

At Tresor, you learn the ability to entertain a crowd. You also need a lot of variety to play at Tresor. You have to step your game up, you will have people coming up to you telling you to speed it up, to play harder and faster.

LWE’s landmark 50th podcast was lovingly crafted by Detroit maven, Mike Huckaby. Make sure to add it to your collection before it’s archived this Friday, June 10th.

In the twenty-five years or so since his fateful encounter with Alexander Robotnick’s “Problèmes d’Amour,” Mike Huckaby has become one of the most respected figures in house and techno music – in his Detroit hometown and beyond. His love for the music is clear, and he engages that love from every conceivable angle. A legendary DJ, Huckaby stands at some remove from partisan stylistic divisions, winning over crowds with his encyclopedic knowledge of dance music history (the benefit, perhaps, of a lengthy tenure at the Record Time music shop) and an unusually sensitive ear for exceptional, ageless tracks. As a producer, he combines a taste for vintage sounds with a keen interest in emerging technologies, and has devoted untold hours to understanding and mastering a myriad of music-making tools.

That passion and commitment comes in handy when he’s teaching courses on Reaktor and Ableton Live at Detroit’s Youthville community center. It’s also resulted in some classic records, and his productions for his Deep Transportation and S Y N T H labels are basically the gold standards in twilit deep house and brooding techno. Even if we could ignore all those considerable undertakings and accomplishments, Huckaby would still be an LWE favorite for his refreshingly level-headed and thoughtful perspectives on the electronic music industry. We tried to coax a few of those out of him in the Q&A that follows, and we’re honored and thrilled to present, as LWE’s 50th podcast, an exclusive 78-minute mix from one of the crucial artists of our time.

LWE Podcast 50: Mike Huckaby (78:22)

Tracklist:

01. Liaisons Dangereuses, “Avant-Après Mars” [Roadrunner Records]
02. Udek, “Unknown” [white]
03. Lil Louis, “Frequency” [Dance Mania]
04. Virgo, “Free Yourself” [Trax Records]
05. Fingers Inc., “Distant Planet” (Club Mix) [Jack Trax]
06. Chuggles, “I Remember Dance” [Prescription]
07. House To House ft. Kym Mazelle, “Taste My Love” [Clone Classic Cuts]
08. Norma Jean Bell, “Do You Want To Party?” (Kenny Dixon Jr. Mix) [Pandemonium]
09. City People, “It’s All In the Groove” [Rainy City Music]
10. Moodymann, “The Third Track” [KDJ]
11. Jungle Wonz, “The Jungle” (Jungle Mix) [Trax Records]
12. Glenn Underground, “Black Mental Resurrection” (Mental Piano Dub)
[Life Line]
13. Blaze, “Klubtrance” [Slip 'n' Slide]
14. Soofle, “How Do You Plead?” [Fragile Records]
15. Mr. Fingers, “Slam Dance” [Alleviated Music]
16. DeepChord, “Electromagnetic Dowsing” (Mike Huckaby S Y N T H Remix)
[S Y N T H]

Please tell us a little bit about your podcast for LWE. When/where it was made, and if there was any theme?

Mike Huckaby: These are just a few house classics from the vaults of Mike Huckaby. The mix was recorded in Detroit. I don’t do digital DJing, I only play vinyl. The theme was to simply play classic Mike Huckaby tracks, tracks that I will never get tired of playing. I can’t do DJ mixes with records that are relevant for 2-4 weeks. It just doesn’t make any sense to me.

Your name routinely appears in the origin stories of today’s most exciting producers, from Detroit and beyond. So I’m wondering, who or what was it that sparked your interest in making house and techno music?

Well, as I’ve said before, Ken Collier was a major influence for nearly every Detroit DJ. Making music was a natural evolution for many Detroit DJs, and this was definitely the case for me. In the beginning, I would listen to every DJ. I would listen to the ones that I liked, as well as to the ones that I didn’t like. And then one day, a bright idea went off in my head that realized everyone was a bit different that anyone else — that every DJ had his or her own style and were developing that. So I took a shot at it as a DJ, and later on as a producer. I was always a self-motivated person.

I’ll never forget back in the day when Detroit techno hit hard for the first time in the U.K. Derrick May was going to England like crazy. He came back from a recent trip, and I asked him, ‘So, how was England?’ He replied shortly, and in a rather jet-lagged tone of voice, ‘Good as usual, what else would you expect?’ He wasn’t being an asshole about it, but right there I knew that it would be in my best interest to pick up my shit and just go over there to see it for myself. And that’s just what I did. Anthony Shakir and I would share information and techniques heavily with each other. I will never forget the one day in class he said to me, “I want to make a record.” I thought he was out of his mind because that type of thing was not available to individual recording artists yet. You had to be Quincey Jones or some shit, or an artist with a rather large recording budget.

I was lucky enough to be in the loop. And if you were in the loop by any stretch of the imagination, you saw what was going on, and what gear was being used to make this type of music at Transmat, KMS, or Metroplex studios. If you were in the loop, you thought nothing of it, but it would prove to be a very privileged experience when you spoke to those who weren’t in the loop. It was priceless to see the MIDI setups that triggered “Nude Photo,” “Strings of Life,” and so many other Transmat songs, all at the tap of a button. These songs existed right in front of you, right on the floor. So that along with a personal style to develop as a DJ were the influences that started it all for me. Basically, I just had to get out of the one-EP-every-ten-years club. I couldn’t do that shit anymore. (Ask Rick Wade about Mike Huckaby working on his hi-hat patterns for six months). So if a lot of producers and DJs are feeling me, it’s because of my work ethic, my progression over the years, and the amount of dedication I have put into the art of making better music.

Did you have any musical mentors, or people who helped you figure out the process of making music?

Just because you were privileged enough to see the gear that was being used in a classic Detroit techno studio setup doesn’t mean anyone shared information with you as to how to used the gear. Furthermore, the techniques used for creating sounds was also a mystery. There were no Ableton or Reaktor classes, workshops, or Youtube tutorials back then, you had to figure it out all for yourself. That was one of the requirements for being privileged enough to be in the loop. Everyone was influenced by Juan [Atkins], Kevin [Saunderson], and Derrick, there was just no way around it early on. So you would listen to their records a lot, and try to emulate things. That would often lead to originality within the process. Later on, I hooked up with Chris Simmonds from Cross Section records. He held my hand and walked me through everything. He even showed me how to loop a sample correctly.

What kind of equipment did you first begin working with?

All the classic Roland gear, period. I still have many of my original pieces of equipment to this day. We would often use very inexpensive synthesizers or gear that appeared in pawn shops. Otherwise, it was just too expensive to buy new gear. Studio setups were being put together slowly over time.

Since then, you’ve advanced to the point that you’re an instructor on programs like Ableton Live and Reaktor. What do you use to make your own music today?

I get asked this question all the time. People get it twisted in thinking that I only use Ableton Live or Reaktor because I teach these programs. That doesn’t mean those are the only tools I use to create music with. I use a strong combination of analog and digital software. Yes, I use Reaktor and Ableton a lot, but it’s the reciprocal relationship that exists between hardware and software that’s really important. Each influences each other. I often learn something on hardware that I didn’t know about a synthesizer in a software program, and vice versa. That’s very important. I have no problem telling you what I use to make my music. I use the Waldorf Wave, Reaktor, and Ableton Live a lot. I can tell you all day that I use Reaktor, because you will never use it. You think it’s too hard. That’s great because you leave me with so many possibilities all to myself. I have trained so many individuals with private Reaktor lessons. After discussing the possibility of a followup session, everyone always tells me, ‘Hey man, don’t call me, I’ll call you.’ I tend to stay away from anything that too many people use or do. I would have been out of this business by now if I hadn’t done any of this.

My number one motto is this: Always do what your peers cannot do and will not do. And from my experience, that’s been learning Reaktor, music theory, and how to play the piano, all of which I have spent a lot of time doing. You have to reinvent yourself in electronic music quite often. And the only way to do that is to learn new skills, or to branch off into other areas within this business that are of interest to you.

You’ve said that Detroit’s DJs and producers draw on “the ability to work with little or nothing.” Given the expertise you’ve amassed, how would you say that this ethos applies to you?

My project, My Life With The Wave proves that point easily. That project was all done with just one synthesizer, the Waldof Wave. Often I will limit myself to use one synthesizer just to see if I could create an entire track using one piece of gear. Earlier on, you had to do this if you were from Detroit due to financial reasons. Strangely enough, I still adhere to this work ethic, but now out of a personal choice. I’m a strong believer after all of the training I have had from some Reaktor black belts and synthesizer gurus that one synthesizer is enough, in terms of the different frequency ranges, to complete an entire track.

A lot of artists would be scared to release a sample CD because it could make it easier to copy their sound, if not their styling. Was there any hesitation to make the My Life With the Wave samples available, and if so what helped you overcome it? What do you get out of hearing the tracks people have made with your samples, such as Dimi Angélis & Jeroen Search’s Our Life With the Wave?

Exactly! Scared is the word. I have skills, man, skills that took me a long time to acquire. A lot of my closest friends told me I was crazy for thinking about releasing a sample CD. I was a bit hesitant about it at times, too. I didn’t know if it was going to flop or become a disaster. But it has become highly successful and my programming skills have increase tremendously as a result of it. My sample CD is considered a cult classic in the deep house world of music production now. You gotta take risks, man. A lot of professional companies have contacted me to do presets for instruments, programs and sound libraries too. It all became a win win situation.

I can’t stand the presets that come with synthesizers. They’re often whack, not suited for deep house or techno, or they are too trance related. So I was driven enough to do something about that, and I was successful at doing so. If my initial thought is clearly defined that I should pursue something, I usually try to stick with it. It has often turned out to be true. Motto number 2: “At first they talk shit about you, then they ask you how you did it.” I think another reason I have developed a strong following or have gained the respect of so many is due to the amount of information I am willing share. I’m not worried about that either, I just have a sense of compassion to help others not to be stuck regarding the music making process like I was in the past. If anything, what you better be scared about is the samples that I left off of the sample CD. I created a few that were just too good to release, so I kept them for myself. Sometimes I will give Rick Wade a few, just to see what he thinks about them.

I see you’re also offering the sample CD on reel-to-reel, which is unprecedented in my memory. Is tape reel a medium you use often outside this project? With all the tools at your disposal, what about the reel-to-reel still speaks to you?

Yeah man, tape is WARM! I cannot believe the warmth that is coming from this machine. It really warms up your sounds, individual parts, and even entire tracks. I plan on using it heavily. The direction not often pursued is the direction I have to go in. That’s where you find a lot of inspiration and answers you’re looking for.

Are you able to put as much of your music to wax as you’d like?

Not really. And this is what I have to work on in terms of being consistent. This is one of the factors that pertains to working with little or nothing: cash flow! Whenever I would talk shop with Kenny Dixon Jr., he would often tell me that. “Consistency baby, that’s the key.” Kenny always has a white label with him everywhere he goes in the D. If you ever run into him in the D, you can always rest assured he will go in the trunk and have something for you.

These days we hear most of your new work as remixes of other artists. Is there a particular appeal for you to the remix? Or is it just that you get a lot of requests?

After I started S Y N T H, and did the Electromagnetic Dowsing remixes for DeepChord, remix offers came in like crazy — they came after me. Vladislav Delay, Pole, Loco Dice, Pacou, Losoul, Juan Atkins, and a ton of other tracks. I’ve probably remixed the entire country of Germany right now. I’d look at the DEMF line up and say, ‘Damn, I damn near did a remix for the entire festival.’ That was the beginning of the end in terms of being in the one-EP-every-ten-years club. I placed a high bet on myself early on in studying Reaktor that this was going to lead up to all of this, and it did. But keep in mind, the remixes you hear that I have done are simply remixes and not necessarily my own tracks. Often they wind up being my own tracks, but there is also a fine line with providing a remix which takes in consideration the original artist profile, sound, and direction that you think would be best suitable for them. I kind of think of the person I’m remixing as my client. How do I deliver for him? If I deliver well for him, I’m automatically included.

You’ve often remarked that you don’t see a real division between techno and house. Your own productions have ranged from fathomless techno to jazzy house, and you’ve created two rather distinct record labels for your music. Do you see these as different strains in your work?

Man, the British press is to blame for so many different labels and divisions regarding music. Detroit DJs didn’t see the difference between house and techno as blatantly as it is described today. If you liked a record you played it, and you would or could often follow up with playing a techno record after a house record. There were so many journalists from England dying to go to Derrick May’s studio just to see what color his tea pots were. This is where all of this shit came from. “Slam Dance” by Mr. Fingers proves this point. The other three tracks on this EP are entirely deep house, but this track is a bit more aggressive than the others. And from day one, Detroiters always referred to techno as something that is just a bit more aggressive than house music.

As your recent piece for WhatPeoplePlay suggests, seasoned record store clerks such as yourself are teachers for generations to dance music fans. Fewer decide to teach outside record stores’ walls. Have you always had the desire to share your knowledge to others? Do you believe a worthy dance music education can be had through less social means than frequenting record stores?

It all pertains to the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. Again, I don’t have a problem with sharing certain things. Skill replaces luck and even fear. Have you ever notice that the person who is the most afraid to share information and techniques is often the very person that can’t describe the method or process in the first place? That’s why it can’t be shared, because the individual doesn’t know much about it in the first place — they simply can’t expand on the information. As far as record stores go, the Internet will never replace human interaction. That’s what’s missing in the digital age of purchasing music. Purchasing music from a human being who is skillful enough to evaluate the music is everything. I was just in Black Market records in the U.K. yesterday, and people thought I worked there because I overheard someone asking for Liz Torrez, “I Can’t Get Enough.” The track was playing in the background, and the person didn’t know what it was or how to find it. You can find out about music you don’t know about through the Internet or computer, but can you ask the computer a question about a song that comes to mind? No.

Although we should never overlook or forget the wealth of knowledge that’s often the soul of our favorite record shops, the 21st century is so much about access to all niches and cultures, often consumed from an information fire hose and nowhere near a local expert. In your opinion, who make the best gatekeepers for our times? What role does the Internet play in that for you?

The Internet does serve a great purpose indeed, But it simply cannot replace the history and story told about music, and the memories people have about music. It can only facilitate the process. So the best gatekeepers regarding the music are the “fallen heroes” of dance shops and the heavy hitters who are working in record stores today.

You’ve also been running music production courses at YouthVille. How long has that been going on?

Since 2006. I took a tour through the facility and asked when could I start immediately. Native Instruments and Ableton lent me their support, and I thank them gratefully for that. My entire role at Youthville has been to be the person who brings in more resources to Detroit, resources that could change a kid’s life. I try to give them hope that someone could tap you on the shoulder and ask you to participate in something that could change your life. This is extremely important because it’s the very one thing the students, and even the general population within Detroit, often thinks will never happen. So I am providing the structure and possibility for that to take place.

What courses are you teaching these days?

Ableton Live, and Reaktor. Man, where was Ableton 10-15 years ago when Rick Wade was literally speeding up a sample he was recording into the sampler with his hand to keep the sample on beat with the rest of the track? That’s one reason I feel Ableton is the best choice for production right now.

Do the courses go into things like music theory, songwriting, or the business end of making records?

Yes, often speakers and lectures may happen where these things are discussed. This is important because it teaches the students the importance of protecting their music early on.

Have you been able to keep up with what your past students are up to? Have many of them continued to make music?

Well, when the students reach the age of 19 they are no longer a member of Youthville. But we have some very talented kids and I see some of them on a regular basis.

You’ve talked about how helping kids realize their goals with Ableton can show them how to use perseverance as a tool for success in other areas of their life (school, etc.). Do you have a feel for how successful that’s been?

I think this is realized from the first day each student is enrolled in one of my classes. I emphasize this from day one. From there it’s up to the student what he or she will do with it. I try to clarify things that are difficult for them, and hold their hand through the music making process each step of the way. Otherwise, it may be just too difficult for them.

Have you heard of any programs like Youthville launching in other cities?

No, I’m not aware of any other program like Youthville in any other city. Youthville is one of a kind. It’s the most significant thing that has occurred in Detroit since the DEMF.

Through Youthville, you probably have a better idea than any one of what Detroit’s next generation will sound like. What developments and trends do you foresee in the coming years?

There are some really talented kids at Youthville and all they need is someone to lead the way — to light the torch and help them extend themselves. I like to be on the “losing team” or on the team that “Dateline America” describes as underachievers or economically disadvantaged. We can’t rely on the press to create opportunities for us, or to tell us how hard life in Detroit is.

Mad shouts out to :

Rick Wade, Theo, Kenny, Rick Wilhite, Patrice Scott, Omar-S, Keith Worthy, Malik Pittman, Kyle Hall, Scott Ferguson, Scott Grooves, Ron Trent, Glenn Underground, Tama Sumo, Pacou, Craig Gonzalez, Patrick Russell, Ray Bone, Downbeat, 3rd Ear, Kai Alce, the Bunker Crew, DJ Qu, Anthony Parasole, and You.

On the reissue front, last year saw a new CD package of Basic Channel highlights, the Gas boxed set, and a repress of Model 500′s seminal Deep Space. Can 2009 match that? Six months in, looks like it just might. My picks for the five crucial reissues of the year so far is restricted to tangible products. This means I’m excluding some of the big mp3 arrivals of the year, several of which are news in their own right. In January, Omar S brightened my holiday malaise by making a healthy chunk of his FXHE label available through Beatport. Then, as spring turned to summer, Jeff Mills announced a gradual program to market some of his many career highlights in digital form, with value-added outtakes to boot. This year’s also opened up crucial back catalog material from Bine, Cache, Non Standard, Platzhirsch, and R&S to fill your iPod as well. As for discs silver and black, here’s what’s had me excited.

01. Robert Hood, Minimal Nation [M-Plant] (buy)
At long last, the spine that separated minimal techno lifers from tourists can be had for the price of a Best Buy gift card. Folks, this is simply one of the best techno long-players you’re going to hear. And if it weren’t enough that we can now revel in the “neutral potency” of the likes “Museum” on the bus, Hood has tacked on a couple of bonus cuts contemporary to the album, plus an entire mix CD. And if you need even more lean, robotic funk, there’s a new pressing of “Who Taught You Math” on, of all places, Freak n’ Chic. As Hood himself said, “In order to maximize the feeling of the music, sometimes we have to ridiculously spoil the listener with an embarrassment of newly remastered riches.”

02. Studio 1, Studio Eins [Kompakt] (buy)
Should you be in the mood for a more austere strain of minimal techno (or maybe just a more Teutonic one), this would be the chef’s recommendation. The latest entry in what I hope is an ongoing Wolfgang Voigt reissue campaign, this is every bit as raw and pummeling as Minimal Nation is funky. The tight, aggressive gyrations and morphing effects leave a dizzying impression, but these synthetic dub tracks are, like Hood’s, assembled from a handful of elements. Lucky for us this archival restoration is such a rumbling thrill to listen to today. For more information on why you need this disc, do check out Todd Hutlock’s review.

03. Rick Wade, Harmonie Park Vol. 1
[Funky Chocolate] (buy)
Rick Wade’s routinely jaw-dropping releases have a nasty habit of disappearing from the market. Funky Chocolate’s certainly done their part to help remedying this. The numbered title of their latest Wade package muddles things a bit, as this isn’t a straight copy of the first record on Wade’s Harmonie Park imprint. It does, however, contain the entire B-side of that 1994 deep house masterpiece, two Wade’s very best tracks. Impossibly infectious, the chords are thick and buttery, while the vocal micro-hooks deliver the kind of earworms that heads still haven’t shaken 15 years later. HP01′s “Nothing To Fear” and its DBX remix are tragically omitted, but the disco-gilded “I Feel Good,” from the second Harmonie Park plate, makes for one hell of a consolation prize. If this isn’t in your crate, your crate’s light.

04. Chez Damier, Time Visions 1 [Mojuba G.O.D.] (buy)
Similarly, Berlin house fiends Mojuba have just kicked off an all-Chez-all-the-time sub-label. The gently grooving A-side of the first release is brand new, but on the B you’ll find an invaluable pair of sought-after greats from the Prescription vaults. Trippy masterpiece “Sometimes I Feel Like” previously appeared on the unforgettable Hip To Be Disillusioned record back in 1994. The track here is technically an unreleased version, but I haven’t found reason for disappointment. The fluttering keys and urgent strings of “Teach Me, Keep Me” also first stirred hearts in ’94, when it appeared on The Gift, released under the Noni moniker. Fifteen years on, these tracks don’t seem to have lost any of their classy, energizing magic.

05. Jim O’Rourke, I’m Happy, and I’m Singing, and a 1, 2, 3, 4 [Editions Mego] (buy)
Certainly one of the most emotive, affecting moments in laptop naval-gaze, this rare electronic outing from Jim O’Rourke was ambitious and far-reaching, but managed a lightness of touch and warmth I believe surpasses that of any of the busy, multi-talented musician’s work. Ruminative but not cerebral, the album’s shifts from dread to whimsy to melancholy to glee move with the fluidity of a daydream. Out-of-print for longer than it was ever in-print, this album finally gets the deluxe edition treatment, tacking on an album’s worth of top-notch extra material. I’m unsure why Mego always insists on replacing the original covers but, as long as I waited for this reissue, I don’t dare complain.

[echospace [detroit]]

It made perfect sense for echospace [detroit] to issue new remixes of Model 500′s immortal “Starlight” back in the summer of 2007. After all, Juan Atkins’ and Mortiz von Oswald’s 1995 original is a clear touchstone for the echospace sound, fusing the dubbed-out analog washes of Berlin’s Basic Channel camp with the rhythmic knowhow and deep, deep soul of Detroit to achieve cosmic nirvana. The only problem was, of course, finding (and affording) a copy of the limited edition, uber-collectible, colored-vinyl double pack. Never let it be said that the good people at echospace don’t have a heart, then, as this welcome CD compilation gathers most of that double’s contents (only the echospace mix here is different, presented in an unreleased mix) along with four new mixes.

The mixes themselves pay homage to the spacewalk feel of the original without aping it outright, and the interpretations are stronger for it. Deepchord’s version bobs along to a sub-oceanic bass bounce while those famous floating chords try their best to cut through the analog haze, while Soultek’s version plays up the rhythms with a slithering electro-creep and a gently melodic new theme. Echospace’s Unreleased Mix brings the boogie with a nifty bass groove and a propulsive rhythm track pinning the chords to the black sky, while Sean Deason’s PSYKOFUK mix is the hardest hitting, utilizing sounds and percussion that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a vintage Plus 8 side. Convextion’s mix is, conversely, the hardest to figure and the least recognizable, a dark, loping gallop that stands in contrast to the deepness of the rest of the collection. Solid work, but it’s more effective standing alone on its own side in the double pack.

Perhaps the three best versions, however, are three of the new mixes. Mike Huckaby turns in a deep house monster, weaving the chords tightly into a hypnotic dream bed before unleashing a pummeling bass attack and a drop-out that steals the breath from the room. Two of Steve Hitchell’s aliases turn in inspired work as well, as the Phase90 Reshape turns the tape inside-out and holds it deep down in ice-cold water, chattering teeth providing the rhythmic drive; the Intrusion Dub flows effortlessly into deep, hissing, and spacious ambient bliss. Those really feeling it should seek out the 18 minute take on a companion 12-inch (alongside Huckaby’s floor-ready stormer), nearly 10 minutes longer than the version here.

The mixes are gently rolled into each other to create a seamless mix, but more than that, it’s those magical, shimmering chords that tie the work together, becoming the common link between the 10 versions. Whether they are played straight through, album-style, or plucked out one by one, each mix brings something new out of a deceptively simple original, paying worthy homage to the twin legacies of Metroplex and Basic Channel.