Movement Festival

The show must go on

FEATURE The show must go on

Facing COVID-19, supply chain issues, and two years off, Movement Festival returns to Detroit with a sixth stage to Detroit with a sixth stage and new underground layout and new underground layout

By Ashley Zlatopolsky

This year’s Movement

Festival was the most difficult to produce since Paxahau began organizing operations for Detroit’s Memorial Day electronic music festival in 2006. That very first Movement fest saw its own share of challenges, but Paxahau director of operations Sam Fotias says the 2022 iteration was just as tough, if not tougher, to produce.

After two years of no festival due to COVID-19, Movement is finally back — but it wasn’t easy. The Paxahau team planned, re-planned, canceled plans, and made brand new plans, often on a whim, nearly every day since the pandemic first swept the United States in March of 2020.

“It’s been a crash course in learning about contingencies,” Fotias admits. “Even the contingencies to our contingencies don’t exist anymore.”

Two years of living in the COVID-19 pandemic changed the entertainment industry, disrupting supply lines, causing skyrocketing prices, and making it difficult to get things that in previous years would have never been an issue, like trucks to transport equipment. Plus, ever-evolving health restrictions, recommendations, and safety protocols make planning a festival that sees upwards of 100,000 attendees or more a delicate process.

When news of COVID-19 first began to surface in late 2019, many, including Detroit-based event producers Paxahau, were doubtful the deadly virus could ever reach Michigan. “We just kept chugging along,” Fotias remembers, who says planning the festival is a year-round ordeal. “We had this thought that it’s not going to come here, that it’ll be like H1N1 or SARS.”

Yet as COVID-19 spread — and claimed more and more lives — the entertainment industry began to take notice. It started with South by Southwest and Ultra Music Festival being canceled, then tours worldwide started to pull shows from venues. “That was the first red flag,” Fotias explains. “Everybody was talking about it internally here at the office.”

Unsure what could happen next, Paxahau continued with planning the 2020 festival. A few weeks before the event, however, it was obvious that Movement couldn’t take place. It would be the first time the festival, which originated as the Detroit Electronic Music Festival and went through several iterations before transforming into Movement, wouldn’t fill Hart Plaza with crowds and techno music since 2000, a whole 20 years.

Instead, the festival was postponed to fall of 2020. “It’ll be over by then, it’ll roll through,” Fotias recalls thinking of the pandemic, remembering the idea of “flattening the curve.”

Movement was just one of many events to take a hit during the COVID-19 shutdowns. “It happened at such a crucial time for the entertainment industry,” Fotias continues. “Spring and summer is a huge time not only for festivals, but for stadium tours, outdoor tours, and even smaller venues. A lot of people don’t realize that large contractors, the contractors we work with for the festival, gear up for the summer stuff. They invest millions of dollars in lighting, sound and video to meet contractual demands.”

And 2020 was supposed to be one of the most lucrative entertainment summers in history, Fotias explains. Instead, it became the exact opposite. “We were calling companies that we’ve been working with for over a decade, having conversations about pushing the festival, while they were on the hook for tens of millions of dollars of investments that they had made in anticipation of fulfilling these contracts that were just being wiped out,” he says.

As hopes for a fall festival were also wiped out, with the pandemic continuing much longer than anyone anticipated, Fotias recalls the situation at the time as “grim.” “It was pretty intense,” he says. “There was no playbook for this. No matter how prepared you were, there was nothing that could prepare you for something like COVID-19.”

Instead, Paxahau set their eyes on planning the 2021 festival. In fall of 2020, they had what Fotias explains was a “sad reunion” at Hart Plaza with the staff, who were otherwise working from home and practicing social distancing. “We just throttled up and put our thinking caps on,” he says. “We saw that the industry was turning towards streaming.”

Inspired by what they saw, Paxahau created a virtual live broadcast of the annual Detroit Jazz Festival in September 2020, which they also produce. They formed a partnership with live streaming service Twitch and set up a studio in their Paxahau warehouse, where DJs could perform live for music fans to watch at home. “That helped us keep working,” Fotias says. “It helped us put money into the local entertainment industry by hiring audio and light [companies].”

Yet as 2021 rolled around, it became obvious that another full-fledged Movement festival just wasn’t possible

A scene from 2019, the last time Detroit’s long-running techno festival was held in Hart Plaza due to the pandemic. STEPHEN BONDIO/MOVEMENT

given the ongoing public health crisis, and Paxahau decided to pivot once again. “The vaccines were not on track to meet the goals that the governor had set forth to lift restrictions,” Fotias recalls. “That’s when we decided that we’ll do a ‘Micro Movement.’”

During what would have been the 2021 Movement weekend, nearly 50 Detroit-based electronic music and hip-hop artists played smaller shows at select venues throughout the city. The shows were outdoors and had limited capacity. “We knew people wanted to get together,” Fotias says, “and I think people had a great time.”

With major health restrictions lifted in Michigan in June 2021, Paxahau began to ramp up their live events. Though Jazz Fest once again saw a virtual model in order to err on the side of caution, club shows were on the rise — and so was planning for a 2022 Movement.

Thanks to grants that helped support the entertainment industry, which took massive revenue losses during the pandemic, creating the caliber of Movement that fans were used to was a realistic possibility. “We started to send [contract] offers out for 2022 and get things lined up,” Fotias says. Yet the sudden rise of the Delta and later Omicron variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 once again threatened to put a wrench in the festival’s plans.

“Everybody started dropping out and getting sick,” Fotias recalls. “It impacted us to the point where we held off on going full steam until after the new year. But that’s when the pain really started.”

Out of touch with many contractors, most of whom hadn’t worked in two years, Fotias likens it to “walking through a hellscape.” “Contractors didn’t exist anymore,” he says. “There were labor shortages across all sectors, inventory shortages, supply chain issues from microchips, to plastics, to metals. Lighting, audio, video, control consoles — everything had a shortage of inventory. There was no labor to move things around.”

Trucking, a crucial service necessary for loading and unloading festival gear and equipment, had gone up almost 300% in price, Fotias says. “Just the stadium structures use 17-20 semi-trucks,” he says. “That has been the most incredible challenge, just navigating all of these things every day.”

Movement festival planning, Fotias continues, comes with a new set of surprises each day. “The same high-low and heavy equipment provider that I’ve been working with for 12 years can’t provide the 36 machines I need,” he says as an example. “There is a national shortage of forklifts, scissor lifts, and heavy equipment, because manufacturers can’t get raw materials to build new machines. It’s been a true uphill battle.”

Still, the show must go on. Despite the challenges, Movement 2022 is moving forward as planned, with the Paxahau team ready to pivot on a moment’s notice. They keep a close eye on COVID-19 numbers as they continue to plan up until the last minute, when the festival’s gates open to thousands of fans. “We see the uptick that’s going on,” Fotias says of COVID-19 cases, “and it’s just something we’ll have to integrate within our public safety plan.”

As their first year back in action after two years off, Movement isn’t holding back the punches. They’re ready to return with a bang. This year’s festival will see the addition of a sixth stage, the Detroit Stage presented by JARS, the festival’s first cannabis sponsor. “It was absolutely imperative for us to have a stage for local talent,” Fotias says. “So much amazing talent has bubbled up over the last few years, and we wanted to provide a place for them to showcase their talent for the thousands of people who come [to Movement] from all over the world.”

The Underground Stage, typically home to heavier techno, is also getting a new look. With its limited number of exits, Fotias explains that moving the stage to a better location was necessary for public safety. Fortunately, it’s not moving far. “A lot of people don’t know it exists, but there’s actually a subterranean [food] court area in the plaza that hasn’t been open for years,” he says. With double the square footage of the original underground stage, the subterranean court will be the Underground Stage’s new home moving forward, Fotias says.

“I think it’s even more reminiscent of old Detroit warehouse parties,” Fotias explains. “It’s the most representative of where our [techno] culture comes from.”

After a long two-year hiatus, many, including Paxahau, look forward to Movement’s awaited return. “The anticipation is that it will be positive,” Fotias says. “It’s going to be a good year.”

Movement is from Saturday, May 28-Monday, 30 at Detroit’s Hart Plaza. More information is available at movementfestival.com.

to b2b or not to b2b

This year’s Movement features more back-to-back DJ sets than ever

This is clearly the Move-

ment festival’s year of the back-to-back.

The back-to-back DJ set — hereafter, b2b — has been around as long as DJing itself. But only in the past decade has that specific term come into widespread use. It’s not the only term floating about — a number of promoters are now using “x,” instead. But the concept hasn’t budged, and “b2b” itself has yet to wear out its welcome.

This year, Hart Plaza’s stages will host six b2b sets. In chronological order: on Saturday, Rick Wilhite b2b Andrés (Stargate Stage, 3:30 p.m.); Eris Drew b2b Octo Octa (Pyramid Stage, 5 p.m.); and Audion b2b Ryan Elliott (Underground Stage, 6 p.m.). On Sunday, Carl Craig b2b James Murphy (Waterfront Stage, 10:30 p.m.). And on Monday, Vincent Patricola b2b Jesse Cory (Detroit Stage, 3 p.m.) and Goldie b2b LTJ Bukem (Waterfront Stage, 7:30 p.m.).

That’s not counting the three-way DJ roundelay of Jorissen b3b Loren b3b Mathias (Saturday, Pyramid Stage, 2 p.m.); nor does it include Nancy Whang and Pat Mahoney, a readymade duo (Sunday, Waterfront Stage, 6 p.m.), nor Soul Clap w/Amp Fiddler, a live collaboration, not a b2b DJ set (Sunday, Waterfront Stage, 7:30 p.m.).

And that also doesn’t count the number of after-parties and side events featuring b2bs — many, if not most of them.

The b2b denotes not only that two DJs are playing together, but that they usually don’t. That’s becoming less and less the case with some DJs who are frequently paired up. At Movement, this includes Drew and Octa, who frequently play back-to-back — they’re a couple, but not a duo, if you follow — while Rick Wilhite and Andrés have played the Sampled Detroit party together during Movement weekend each of the last few years, as they noted during our interview. And, of course, the dons of ’90s drum and bass, Londoners Goldie and LTJ Bukem, have played b2b together a few times as well.

To get some insight on the art, soul, and mechanics of the b2b, Metro Times interviewed five of the DJs playing in that framework at Movement 2022: Andrés, Wilhite, Goldie, Bukem, and Craig. (The latter also plays solo on Saturday at Stargate Stage, 9:30 p.m.) All were done separately, apart from Andrés and Wilhite, who spoke together at the former’s house. All are veterans with stories galore from the DJ trenches. All agreed that the b2b format gave them plenty of leeway. Happily, so did our questions.

By Michaelangelo Matos

How did you and your Movement b2b partner first meet?

GOLDIE: Rage [the London club

where drum and bass germinated]. You have to understand, Rage was the equivalent of going to the Roxy or Studio 54 for some people.

LTJ BUKEM: I remember spending quite a bit of time with Goldie in his Camden flat when he wrote “Terminator,” and immediately thought, “Here’s someone that sees things differently to everyone else. Always creatively thinking outside the box, pushing ideas to their limit.”

GOLDIE: I have the most admiration for Danny. When I met him, I was like, “Shit, he’s mixed-race like me.” We’re very similar. We’re very lone-wolfish. We don’t mix with a lot of people. We do our own thing. And we were born a day apart. He’s the 18th and I’m the 19th. I think I’m a year older, maybe. Both Virgos.

CARL CRAIG: I came by to [James Murphy’s] DFA office in Manhattan some years after I had first heard the one where he talked about Juan Atkins [“Losing My Edge,” 2002]. Once I started to hear a lot more of the DFA stuff, as well as the CD Soundsystem stuff, I was as charmed as anybody else.

ANDRÉS: Buy-Rite Music.

RICK WILHITE: Seven Mile Road.

ANDRÉS: I worked there while I was in high school. And that’s where I met everybody. Kenny [Dixon Jr.] vouched for me to get a job in there. I was just wide-eyed. I was a super B-boy hiphop guy, as far as my foundation — I never knew that, later on, I would be making dance music. There was stuff that I would learn from these guys, like, “What’s the difference between techno and house? And what’s good?” I learned all that from my job.

Do you remember the first time you played a b2b DJ set? What were the circumstances — a professional gig or something more casual?

CARL CRAIG: My first back-to-back I can’t really remember, to tell you the truth. But the reason why I know it was professional is because we weren’t doing back-to-backs when I was starting out professionally, which was in 1991.

LTJ BUKEM: Back-to-backs were quite rare in the ’90s as opposed to now being a mainstay in the drum and bass world. I first played a b2b with Peshay in the mid-’90s. We were booked to do it.

Have you and your Movement partner played back-to-back together before?

RICK WILHITE: Most definitely, yeah.

ANDRÉS: I think it started at the Sampled Detroit party, right?

RICK WILHITE: We did it [in] Amsterdam. We did it at the Mahogani party.

ANDRÉS: I don’t think it really dawned on us that it was a special thing until the Sampled Detroit party. I guess

Are two DJs better than one? Matthew Dear (Audion) and Ryan Elliott.

WILL CALCUTT

they kept booking us; we play every year. Then Movement asked us, and I think it’s because of that.

GOLDIE: We did some back-to-backs in Liverpool going back awhile, preCOVID. It’s always a pleasure, because you know he’s gonna pull some stuff out. With Danny, I feel genre-less.

LTJ BUKEM: With drum and bass, you have to realize, it’s a music formed from all styles of music. So put together two guys like Goldie and myself with the history we have, the set will go places it wouldn’t go in a solo set from either of us.

CARL CRAIG: When you play back-toback, it can be either a partnership or a battle. The DJ battle goes back to Kool Herc and Africa Bambaataa, when they were throwing parties in the street, when they would plug into the light poles in order to get juice in order to run their sound systems. So, that logic is always there.

With house music and techno and the newer breed of DJs, when you see somebody like Luciano and Ricardo Villalobos playing together, it’s not a battle. It’s a friendship, but it’s almost like band members, like dueling guitar players. You’re trying to outdo the other person, but it’s still a partnership with what’s happening. That’s how I look at whenever I do a back-to-back, with Luciano or with Stacey Pullen: it’s a friendship, it’s a discussion.

ANDRÉS: I always tell people about watching us play: You never know what the next record is gonna be.

RICK WILHITE: Right. ANDRÉS: We’re both competitive in nature. We want to have one up on each other. It makes for an interesting combination. As long as we can mix it and make it work.

Have you noticed the secret to the back-to-back situation?

RICK WILHITE: Everybody is like, it’s like a new thing right now. But everybody can’t do that shit, man. It’s a method to that shit. Because we just happen to have that je ne sais quoi between each other; like, whatever you come with, I got something for that shit.

ANDRÉS: And we’re so different from each other at the same time, but that’s what makes it interesting. I used to tease Rick and be like, “Hey, you got every record, man, but you don’t share.” [Wilhite laughs.] It’s always an educational thing for me, because I’m still learning, really. I’m very informational, very well groomed, but I’m still learning stuff. So, you’ve got to communicate.

The thing about our sets is, you’re getting a lot of culture, a lot of information, by way of music. It’s definitely a school-is-in thing. There’s never any script. Because Rick knows my cultural background, so he knows where he can go, and he knows where I can go, and then he wants to let me know that “I know about this dope-ass Latin record.” [Rick laughs.] It becomes a whole thing of that — as well as wanting to please the crowd, we’re letting each other know. We’re pretty much showing off our records to each other, but it’s in the form of a set. How would you describe each other’s style?

RICK WILHITE: You can call mine ‘Malcolm X: unknown.’ [All laugh.]

ANDRÉS: I always learn something from what he plays. I’ve got to stress that you technically never know what the next record is going to be, and that’s fun. I always feel like I come home learning about ten, fifteen, twenty [records]. I probably can’t remember half the shit, but I learned something, and that says a lot. And you just don’t know, so I’ve got to prepare. I’ve got to make sure I have a little bit of everything to counter — or to set it off. He said Malcolm X, I say freedom — that’s close enough. [laughs]

Sometimes I’ll be trying to keep it [his turn on the decks]: “I want to show what I got.” And he’ll go changing it — and I’m like, “Shit, now you want to go into hip-hop, or go into a Latin record. Now I’ve got to try to bring it back, because I wanted to play this before he went there.”

RICK WILHITE: You can’t just put me up there with just anybody.

Who’s playing first?

CARL CRAIG: [instantly] What’s on second? It’s just whoever feels they have something to say first.

GOLDIE: Whoever feels it, man. You want it, Danny? You’re more than welcome, dude. Do whatever you want. I’m always about it. Listen, Danny wants to take the floor, he’s more than welcome. I’m like, “Take the floor, baby. I’ve got plenty of music.”

Four decades of techno of techno

Detroit techno pioneer Juan Atkins reflects on 40 years of music reflects on 40 years of music

The year was 1979, and Juan Atkins knew he was onto something special.

Credited as one of the founders of Detroit techno, the genre pioneer was making music on a synthesizer bought for him by his grandmother. “I was going to high school and there were no other musicians around me,” he recalls. “So I had to make my own band.”

On a mini monophonic synthesizer, which had just been released for public consumption, Atkins, now 59, learned how to connect drum sounds. He tinkered with white noise and pink noise until he developed a fully-formed song. It was the beginning of what would soon become known as Detroit techno, a sound that swept the world and grew its own subculture in the ’80s and ’90s, later influencing mainstream dance music.

Now, Atkins is set to headline the Stargate Stage at Movement Electronic Music Festival on Sunday, May 29, where he’ll perform a special set to commemorate 40 years of Detroit techno. Throughout his 90-minute set, Atkins will traverse the history of Detroit techno, starting with his very first year of college when his hard work making music began to pay off.

“I was taking mostly music theory and music courses,” he recalls of his time at Washtenaw County Community College, which he attended after graduating from Belleville High School. In a class of 12 students, Atkins played his creations to his peers, and his classmates couldn’t get enough of the futuristic sound they were hearing.

Yet Atkins had no idea how big the sound would actually become. “I never saw it coming,” he says of Detroit techno’s growth. “But I knew I wanted to put out records.”

In an experiment that he says turned out “10 times bigger” than he thought it would, Atkins launched a collaboration with a fellow local musician named Richard Davis. Presenting Davis with his demo, the two combined their skills — Davis, who had already released a record with soundscapes, married his musical style with Atkins’ rhythms.

The outcome was Cybotron, an electro music group that would put Detroit techno on the map. In 1981, the group’s first record was released. On the A side was “Alleys of Your Mind,” while the B side contained “Cosmic Raindance.” The Electrifying Mojo, a Detroit radio personality and DJ who broke dozens of artists to the Detroit community and beyond, got his hands on a copy of the record and played it late at night to Detroiters tuning in.

Then the calls wouldn’t stop. “It went viral,” Atkins recalls. “It just blew up in Detroit.”

Over the next several years, Cybotron was picked up by New York radio stations. Eventually, the music made its way to the United Kingdom, but it wasn’t until fellow Detroit techno pioneers and friends Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May, and Eddie Fowlkes began to also release music that the sound

By Ashley Zlatopolsky

Juan Atkins is known as one of the originators of Detroit techno.

MARIE STAGGAT

solidified itself as a true movement.

“1987 and 1988 were the most important years,” Atkins says. Atkins, May, Saunderson, and Fowlkes were simultaneously releasing hits, landing everyone a deal with Virgin Records. The compilation was dubbed Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit.

Worldwide tours began immediately. “It was like a culture shock,” Atkins recalls of bringing Detroit techno overseas. He played one of his very first shows in London to a crowd of 5,000,

Continued on pg 22

The Wizard returns

Jeff Mills talks about his early beginnings, new music and mind control beginnings, new music and mind control

Jeff Mills, aka The Wizard,

is a techno music DJ and producer from Detroit. During the 1980s his nightly radio feature as The Wizard helped further and cement Detroit’s legacy in techno music. Mills has gone on to release more than 100 different projects and receive recognition and acclaim from all over the world. Metro Times talked to Mills via phone about all things Detroit, techno, and his latest album.

Let’s start from the beginning. What got you into techno music versus other forms of music?

There came to a point where the messages in hip-hop weren’t telling me or showing me anything more than I didn’t already know. This was around 1988, 1989, and I loved music. So I really wanted to continue to be involved and keep being a DJ. I got into producing with a certain type of focus on reaching further. I found some of that in techno music, where machines were being used differently, where new ideas from mixing other genres were being used, and more uptempo dance music. The mixture of people were from everywhere, so you had all types of ideas — afrobeat sounds mixed with house music, you had the early sounds of drum & bass that was coming from the U.K., you had rave music at that time. So I just moved away from hip-hop and just had to explore.

You were there at the ground level of techno music. Who were your musical DJ in uences? Who inspired you as you were ascending through the early stages of your career?

In Detroit it was Ken Collier and Dale Willis who were big influences at the time. Stacey Hale, I remember being a teenager and going to listen to her when I was in high school. Outside of Detroit, the DJs from New York — Larry Levan, producer Shep Pettibone, David Morales, Tony Humphries,

By Kahn Santori Davison

Jeff Mills in 2014.

AARON JONES

Frankie Knuckles. These are the DJs that were connected to Ken Collier and Dale Willis in some way.

Let’s take it back to 1986. You were known as “The Wizard” and you were the featured DJ on WJLB during the late nights hat was my first introduction to techno and house music. There are a lot of kids like me who were hovered over their boomboxes and radios with blank tapes ready to record the Wi ard What do you miss about that time period?

That was serious business. I was in competition because I was on at the same time as the Electrifying Mojo, so there was that aspect of competing and trying to get ratings. But behind the scenes it was pretty serious. I really didn’t see that much daylight because I was always looking for new music in some record store or traveling to some city like Chicago, Toronto, or on the phone trying to find something from New York. I had a studio in my apartment at the time. I was spending 8 hours a day just working on music, and preparing music for that night … trying to know what was working and what was not took a lot of time, too. So I was

going around to all the record stores to see what people were asking for. It was a 2 -hour thing. I was aware that kids were listening and I knew that every second and every moment could be worth something. It was also the station’s point of view to keep the Wizard quiet and never reveal my identity.

Techno music was so accessible back then. It was played in the clubs, on the radio, and many of the DJs worked at record stores. It feels like there’s a disconnect now. What happened?

This industry changed. We lost a certain type of community. ike to do a show like the Wizard, you had to know the city. You had to know the east side, you had to know the west side, you really had to get around to know what people might want to hear and I did just that. So years leading up to the Wizard show, I was a street DJ. This was during and after my internship with Dale. I was in the street doing house parties, wedding receptions, sorority parties. I was all over the place. So I had a lot of knowledge about the lisner. I remember on WDR , something like there were a half-million listeners at any given time. So you have to imagine, “Who are these people What kind of music is going to make them stay on the radio station more ” y the time I got to the radio I knew how to mix it all up. I could play industrial Meat Beat Manifesto because that was part of the makeup of the city.

You’re a very well-traveled artist. There’s probably not a continent you haven’t spinned on How has Detroit in uenced you o er the years and does it in uence you now?

Yeah, I definitely have some miles. I can tell you that Detroit, beyond its artists, beyond its DJs like myself, it has such a reputation. It’s such a legend of a city when it comes to music. I think it’s really beyond our control. I think that the impression that Europeans and Asians, atin Americans, what they think about Detroit is something much more than we thought that we could create or bring to other places. There is no other city like it in the world Motown, rock ’n’ roll, and all those artists. And it’s all done with this certain perspective that you don’t compromise when it comes to music. The way we approach music is serious. And that’s been handed down from generation to generation. I don’t think we have reached the full potential of how influential the city really is and has become. Just in regards to Detroit techno, it’s immeasurable how many people from Detroit taught people in Europe about dance music So I can’t answer the question because it’s very hard to note, there are so many aspects and factors are still developing as I’m speaking to you now.

Last year you released The Clairvoyant while we were in the midst of the pandemic, whereas this year Mind Power Mind Control comes out on the brink of the return of a real summer. What was your mindstate creating Mind Power Mind Control? Was it just a natural progression rom coming out o this orced confinement to being able to come back outside?

Well, The Clairvoyant was definitely me sitting on my sofa and making a response to what was going on with the world. Mind Power Mind Control deals with the subject we’re going to have to deal with a few decades from now toward the end of the computer age and into the next age. About 100 years ago the industrial age started at the top of the century. It lasted for about 50 years, all the way down to around 1950, when they started to fool around with computers. The computer age started at that point and it will be the same thing. Mind Power Mind Control deals with that part of the century when something else is about to come and I have no idea what’s that going to be. ut I think that we’re in the prelude of what’s going to come . Mind Power Mind Control is my first proposal of what we should concentrate on to keep a rational mind as we go forward.

When you create what comes first the sound, or do you create the message you plan to con ey first?

The idea comes first and then it’s much easier to make the music because I know at least what the music should feel like. If it’s something with a very abstract subject, I know I should play the keys a certain way, or desonate type of chord structures and then I do a lot of research. With The Clairvoyant, I did research for months and months and months about 100 ago.

ell us about film or ind ower ind Control.

In the film there are different scenarios and examples of how the mind is being used. There’s a lot of contemporary dance in the film. I’m using dancers in many different ways and the film displays how the mind is making these dancers do certain things through a special type of language they are using to say things that maybe aren’t even possible to say verbally.

What would the 2 22 Je ills tell the 2 Je ills? i e has anything changed with your creative processes?

Well, my thinking is almost the same in 2022 as it was in 1982. I still deal with music in basically the same way. My studio set-up is not too different as it was in 1982. I don’t still make music as the Wizard, but my mindset has not changed. I always want to use music as an instrument.

What can fans expert in the future Is there another direction or shift you think you’ll go musically

I’m constantly working on things electronic music needs. One of them is to express what a solo is, what a musician should do in the case of electronic music — not just letting the machine play the tracks, but what should the person do other than just press the button. So I’m exploring many different [ways] of putting the human aspect back into electronic music.

What can fans expect from your Movement set?

I think that the set should be if the Wizard were on the radio right now in Detroit. What would I play right now With all the things and styles, if i had a radio show, what should I play That sounds like it would be quite interesting to try that not necessarily what they want to hear, but what do they need

JUAN ATKINS

Continued from pg 18

where he was the only lack person in where he was the only lack person in addition to a maintenance man. “That addition to a maintenance man. “That was something that I’d said I’d never was something that I’d said I’d never see in the U.S.A. The U. . was more see in the U.S.A. The U. . was more progressive and open-minded towards progressive and open-minded towards music, specifically music made by Black kids.”

Ironically, Detroit techno initially took a stronger footing overseas than in Detroit. In Detroit, Atkins says it took the music about 10-1 years to branch out of the underground community, where it had found a home in the city’s rave culture. With the launch of Detroit Electronic Music Festival, or DEMF, in 2000 (later to become Movement Music Festival , Atkins finally had a platform to play the same type of set he would play in Europe for a U.S. audience, now in a more public setting.

“It was one of the things that was really notable in the progression of Detroit techno,” he says of the early 2000s. “Then the internet happened. It broke down racial barriers and it allowed people to interact with each other, to find out where music is coming from.”

Now, anybody could discover Detroit techno. On the flipside, more people also had the ability to make their own music. “The music had a metamorphosis,” Atkins says of the genre. “It was progressing, but at the same time, we found ourselves discerning what was good electronic music and what was bad. By 2010, it wasn’t a novelty anymore.”

As the 2010s rolled in, Atkins says access to music-making technology saturated the market — a blessing and a curse at the same time. “You’ve got 10 times more people making music and it allows more creativity,” he recalls. “But then it becomes very hard work because you have all of this stuff to sift through and of it is bullshit.”

Despite the challenges, Detroit techno continued to grow, perpetuated by its founders and also influenced by newer generations of artists joining its ranks. The biggest hurdle, Atkins says, was an unexpected one that shut down the whole world COVID-19.

Clubs were closed, artists ceased Clubs were closed, artists ceased to tour and music fans were stuck at to tour and music fans were stuck at home. For Atkins, however, it was a home. For Atkins, however, it was a surprising opportunity to slow down surprising opportunity to slow down and get back to the basics. “You can’t go and get back to the basics. “You can’t go anywhere, you can’t go to restaurants,” anywhere, you can’t go to restaurants,” he says, having grown accustomed to he says, having grown accustomed to four decades of traveling on weekends four decades of traveling on weekends to gigs. “It allows you to think.” to gigs. “It allows you to think.”

The pandemic gave Atkins a chance to spend two years in the studio, a scenario that had become nearly unheard of due to the growing demands of his busy schedule. “I didn’t really have time to develop sound designs,” he says of pre-pandemic years.

Now, Atkins plans to present his new material to the world during his headlining set at Movement, and says has no plans of slowing down. Instead, he continues to look to a world that isn’t here just yet, the same way he did more than four decades ago.

“It’s 0 years of Detroit techno,” Atkins laughs. “ 0 includes the future.”

Motor City

Six Six Here are a half-dozen local DJs to check out at Movement out at Movement

By Broccoli

Movement Electronic

Music Festival is back, and you can feel it in the air. “Techno Christmas” is feel it in the air. “Techno Christmas” is officially happening, and after multiple false starts and years of pandemicfalse starts and years of pandemicinduced limitations, it’s almost hard to believe that we will once again be to believe that we will once again be gathering this year in Hart Plaza over Memorial Day Weekend to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend to celebrate the city that birthed techno.

Dance music was born on the fringes, Dance music was born on the fringes, in dark underground clubs and grungy in dark underground clubs and grungy DIY spaces, and yet Movement Festival DIY spaces, and yet Movement Festival still serves as perhaps the most globally still serves as perhaps the most globally significant music event in Detroit. It’s significant music event in Detroit. It’s an incredible platform for local artists, an incredible platform for local artists, and for the lucky few that are able to and for the lucky few that are able to share a stage with some of the biggest share a stage with some of the biggest names in dance music, it is a momen names in dance music, it is a momentous occasion on both a personal and professional level. We spoke with a few of the artists that will be playing this of the artists that will be playing this year about what it means to them: year about what it means to them:

Originated in Ann Arbor and established in Detroit in 2016, Jerk X Jollof is committed to developing and nourishing a connection between Afro-Caribbean talent, culture, and influence within and beyond the United States. “We’re grateful to Paxahau for giving us a slot at -the festival in 2022,” says member Brendan Asante. “It’s always a great feeling to dance outside with other people during the day to afrobeats, soca, and dancehall — being able to spin these vibes at Movement will definitely give a unique sonic twist to Hart Plaza that day.” lished in Detroit in 2016, Jerk X Jollof is ing a connection between Afro-Caribbeand beyond the United States. “We’re hall — being able to spin these vibes at Movement will definitely give a unique sonic twist to Hart Plaza that day.” Houseparty was created in 2012 by ing fellow local DJs, producers, and performers. “Movement has always been a heavy event but this one feels special,” says Nabeele Najjar, aka Masquenada. “The impact that [Movement] has had on music culture runs deep, so it feels great to be a part of the return of an event that we believe impacts millions of people.” laaqgold adds “My personal narrative is often crafted through sound, so I just hope to tell a story that all who listen can resonate with.”

Houseparty was created in 2012 by brothers Jhouse and Masquenada, who wanted to create an environment where -Detroiters could hang out and pay homage to great music while also showcasing fellow local DJs, producers, and performers. “Movement has always been a heavy event but this one feels special,” says Nabeele Najjar, aka Masquenada. “The impact that [Movement] has had on music culture runs deep, so it feels great to be a part of the return of an event that we believe impacts millions of people.” laaqgold adds “My personal narrative is often crafted through sound, so I just hope to tell a story that all who listen can resonate with.”

DJ Beige performs at Detroit’s Movement on Sunday.

LILY SHAFROTH

DJ Psycho. “After a couple of long years on hiatus, the return to Hart Plaza for the Festival is more meaningful than ever,” she says. “ eing one of the Detroitbased artists on the lineup I hope to showcase the energy and spirit of the city, which is ingrained in my music.” e Thu is one of the most productive and promising live techno acts in Detroit. With a string of solid releases on labels at home and abroad such as Detroit Underground, PITS, and Symbiostic, plus a brand new video premiering in preparation for Movement, the duo has proven themselves worthy of the momentum and praise that they have received. “ rowing up in SE Michigan, our Memorial Days have been synonymous with going to the festival downtown,” says member Steven Stavropoulos. “[Tim arrett and I] wrote a fully original set for the festival, and this one in particular is special because it’s a true representation of everything ke thu has done musically and stylistically over the years.”

DJ Psycho. “After a couple of long years the Festival is more meaningful than based artists on the lineup I hope to city, which is ingrained in my music.” e Thu is one of the most productive and promising live techno acts in Detroit.

Rebecca oldberg, aka 1 Acid ueen, Rebecca oldberg, aka 1 Acid ueen, has established herself as one of the has established herself as one of the most consistent and versatile artists in most consistent and versatile artists in the local dance music scene, whether it’s the local dance music scene, whether it’s banging a dark techno set at an under-banging a dark techno set at an underground party, or doing a Janet Jackson ground party, or doing a Janet Jackson vs. Madonna night with the legendary vs. Madonna night with the legendary at home and abroad such as Detroit plus a brand new video premiering in has proven themselves worthy of the

ceived. “ rowing up in SE Michigan, our Memorial Days have been synonymous with going to the festival downtown,” says member Steven Stavropoulos. “[Tim arrett and I] wrote a fully original set for the festival, and this one in particular is special because it’s a true representation of everything ke thu has done musically and stylistically over the years.”

eige has become a household name eige has become a household name for fans of Detroit dance music. Having for fans of Detroit dance music. Having established their series “Chaotic Neu-established their series “Chaotic Neutral” on NYC’s The ot Radio, releasing tral” on NYC’s The ot Radio, releasing their recent mixtape Amen Vol. 1, and their recent mixtape Amen Vol. 1, and playing at venues such as Market Hotel, playing at venues such as Market Hotel, Jupiter Disco, and ood Room, eige has Jupiter Disco, and ood Room, eige has steadily expanded their reputation across steadily expanded their reputation across the U.S. and beyond. “Movement has the U.S. and beyond. “Movement has been a mecca of dance music culture for been a mecca of dance music culture for me even before I moved to Detroit from me even before I moved to Detroit from the ay Area seven years ago,” eige says. the ay Area seven years ago,” eige says. “I attended my first Movement only a “I attended my first Movement only a month after I took my first DJ workshop, month after I took my first DJ workshop, and it did not even cross my mind in a and it did not even cross my mind in a million years that I would one day be million years that I would one day be playing there. It’s pretty surreal, so I’m playing there. It’s pretty surreal, so I’m just going to try to do it justice. I rarely just going to try to do it justice. I rarely plan my sets, but whatever I do, I want to plan my sets, but whatever I do, I want to play something that only I could play, in a play something that only I could play, in a way that only I could play it.” way that only I could play it.”

Deon Jamar is the people’s DJ. His Healin’ Deon Jamar is the people’s DJ. His Healin’ Session series is one of the most re-Session series is one of the most respected and intentional parties in Detroit spected and intentional parties in Detroit right now, and his dedication to immers-right now, and his dedication to immersing himself in his craft is evident in every ing himself in his craft is evident in every mix that he plays. Under the mentorship mix that he plays. Under the mentorship of Theo Parrish, he continues to come of Theo Parrish, he continues to come into his own as an artist. “For me, playing into his own as an artist. “For me, playing movement fest is bittersweet because I’ve movement fest is bittersweet because I’ve never attended the festival,” he says. “I never attended the festival,” he says. “I usually frequent the after parties, particu-usually frequent the after parties, particularly Music allery. It does feel good to be larly Music allery. It does feel good to be recognized as someone deserving of that recognized as someone deserving of that platform. My goal is to help bring joy and platform. My goal is to help bring joy and release to any and everybody who needs release to any and everybody who needs it I hope whoever is in earshot of the it I hope whoever is in earshot of the music I play feels better than before they music I play feels better than before they got there.” got there.”