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Full of wonderful people and some truly great pieces of history, if you’ve ever driven through Detroit during the day, you still can’t help but notice what a bleak and depressing place it is. Since the economic collapse of the domestic automobile industry in the late 70s, Detroit has seen better days. It’s the poster child for depressed, post-industrial America. The recovery has been a long time coming, and it isn’t there yet.
But at night, it’s a different story. The seemingly endless miles of winding highway, the lights of industry that resemble nothing so much as space stations—at night, the place might as well be Mars. Driving through the city, listening to the Electrifyin’ Mojo on the radio, three teenagers from Belleville High School suddenly got it. If you drive the I-94 at night today, playing their music, you will, too. The music is of the place and the place is of the music; they are totally and irrevocably linked.
The sound of classic Detroit Techno is eerily detached and mechanical (influenced by the city’s industrial roots, as well as by synthesizer-based music like Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, the B-52s, Prince, and New Order), but it is also smooth and soulful, making the music uplifting and dark all at once. The characteristic sound of the Roland TR-909 drum machine and the synthesized string sounds created lush landscapes of sound; the underlying funky edge, derived from a love of Parliament/Funkadelic and others, gave the music an otherworldly feel. The moody, melancholy edge of classic Detroit Techno also reflects the city’s depressed financial state and expresses a longing for escape—the outer space, to the future, to anywhere. The mix sounds like nothing else on Earth, and it isn’t meant to. Detroit Techno has always had a strong sci-fi influence, and if you’ve been there, you can certainly understand why. The futurist writings of Alvin Toffler were a major influence.
Today, producers all around the world are working with the template of the Detroit sound, especially in Berlin, one of the first European cities to really dig the Detroit sound. But back in Michigan, a new wave of producers are still ticking along, still restless, and still innovating. That’s the great thing about the future—it is always in front of you.