Compared to the house music of Chicago, techno is often thought to be characterized by somewhat harsher, more mechanical elements. How did you differentiate first-wave Detroit techno from house?
Derrick May: Well, it wasn’t harsh or sterile. That’s a tremendous mistake. The first electronic music coming from Detroit was extremely melancholy, extremely emotional. We’ve never been involved in that sterile, anal, astringent, minimal kind of thing.
Our thing has always been algorithms, emotion, passionate melodies – that’s the music that comes from Detroit, and around the world, people did try to emulate that, and when they couldn’t, that’s when you had all these variations of techno. That’s when you had the German techno sound, the Belgian techno sound, the Dutch techno sound – which is called “Gabber.” All these things manifested and evolved and became representations of their communities, and that kept us at the point of incubation.
Even though we had this explosion, we had never become pop stars. We had never gotten to the point where we were overexposed. There was this thing where we were able to remain underground and make this music, and still have the credibility for 25-30 years, man, and that is remarkable. That’s like some dirty rock band that refuses the stature that they deserve to stay underground. That’s what kind of happened for us. But it didn’t just happen for myself, Juan and Kevin. It happened for the entire Detroit genre, which is incredible.
Juan Atkins: House music was more predicated on Philly soul disco, you know what I mean? Whereas Detroit techno, although a lot of the stuff was four on the floor, we took a more futuristic approach not really based on any formula, or any genre that came before.
The rejection of dance music by the establishment is a story as old as dance music itself, but Detroit has welcomed techno with open arms. Why do you think that is – and for that matter, has it always been that way?
Juan Atkins: Because it started here, and we’ve always maintained a quality and standard of good music – not just electronic music, but good music period. I think it took a long time for people to come around here as well, in the United States as a whole. Coming from Detroit and us playing local parties in the early ages, people have been cultivating this.
Kevin Saunderson: I think Detroit started finding out about us even when we were first doing the music. It was only a handful of people who really supported it, and it took a while for that to develop, but they started seeing what was going on and realized that we were right here in our own backyard. That’s why stuff like [Movement] started happening and we started receiving all these awards and stuff like that. Each year it brings the city an influx of $15 million because people travel here from around the world. When you see that kind of power you’ve gotta take some notice.
Derrick May: I think it was an accident. We went through three different mayoral administrations, and there was a political process, but this was always a no-brainer. It keeps the community moving forward, it makes money, it brings white people to the city, it shows the city in a positive light. It was a no-brainer. If you want to think logistically, that’s what it was.
It recently came to light that in 2015 techno was the #1 selling genre on Beatport. Do you celebrate its recent popularity, or do you feel that its essence has been diluted to some degree?
Juan Atkins: I don’t think the essence has been lost. Of course, new people come along and they add their spin to it, but I think all in all the integrity still remains with Detroit.
Kevin Saunderson: I think it’s great. It’s like, you start a music style and it’s for everybody in the world but only a handful of people are listening to it, and all of a sudden 30 years later the whole world is embracing techno. Of course, there are different genres and all of that, but it’s held its own. That’s a great tribute to our creation, and it shows that what we’ve started and our vision has definitely been the right direction. It’s organic and real; we made music that comes from the heart and it’s as simple as that. I think that the new music that’s out there, a lot of it works, too. It just depends. Everybody’s influences are different.
Derrick May: It all depends on what’s defined as techno. I would not like any EDM to fall into that category. There’s a definite difference between what we did and what’s happening around the world, and what is considered EDM.
The last time you three performed together was at the 2010 edition of Awakenings Festival in the Netherlands. Do you see yourselves joining up again anytime in the near future?
Kevin Saunderson: You know, I think Derrick and me, we’ve done back-to-backs over the years, so we just kind of click like that. People seem to like it like that. We all have different management and agents, so there’s been a few times that we’ve all three played together, but not many.
In your opinion, what statement does techno make?
Kevin Saunderson: The future. Unity. Togetherness. Bringing people together, no matter the race, color – it doesn’t make a difference, it’s for everybody. It’s a music truly for everybody.
Derrick May: I think what it represents – originally, what I believed it represented was the dreamstate, the creative process of the black mind. The electronic music of the young, black mind. When I was 27 years old, man I was young, and passionate, and fighting the fight. I believed that there was this anger, this resentment in the establishment that was fighting against me, because nobody wanted me to make it, or nobody thought I deserved it, so I believed that the music we made in the beginning was all about the creative process of the young, black mind.
That’s what I thought. I still believe that, but I believe that the music that comes from Detroit has been lost in translation with what electronic music is now, and what techno is, but I think that’s why we’re still here, still doing it, still talking about it – because somebody cares enough to wanna know. Somebody wants to know. I find it compelling that this music represents this city, and all the people that have been ambassadors for it – and that goes way beyond just the black mind now. It goes deep into the realm of futurism, which is a whole ‘nother mission. We’ll see what happens. I don’t really know.
That concludes our interview, but we’d like to thank Derrick, Kevin and Juan very much for their time!
