To be fair you do see a lot of Mad Mike rants on the net, complaining about how the "white boys" took the underground techno sound from the black originators. They always seem to play the race card, and it really irritates me. It just makes them seem jealous and pathetic. Somebody posted a quote from Drexciya about Hawtin on here (I looked for it to paste it here, but can't find it...) and he too was moaning about white versus black. It is so annoying! Isn't techno supposed to be about unity, and bringing people together? A music with no divides of class, creed or religion. I don't even know what half of the artists look like, or what colour they are, and it really doesn't concern me. It is the music I love, whoever made it.
I get very tired of the Detroit guys moaning about white boys. Get over it! If you think you're so much better, then quit whining about yesteryear and prove it here and now. Release some amazing records, and show us all that you are so much better! The fact that they tend to live so much in the past, and talk about where techno came from rather than where it is today is quite revealing...
Contakt (Minus where are you going?)
from an interview with Orlando Voorn, a dutch member of UR... (it was in dutch, I used a lame translation tool... am too lazy to translate it myself).
I recently read an interview of one of Drexciya members which stated that Ritchie Hawtin really could not produce techno. He was rich, white, came from Canada and has had no trouble to do it. Mad Mike also seems not much of white Europeans to have. Personally, I find it regrettable that such opinions are respected producers after.
Now you live in the U.S., you have an explanation for such statements? Is the society is still just the opposite more and more black and white. Or is it a stiff way of responding to the fact that others take over the music and continue to go? And techno was still always free "European addressed"?
You must understand that there are a lot of media words and these statements often receive extra attention. It is and remains a fact that in the U.S. there is still a quite clearly gap between white and black. But knowing Mike for years, this idea is not entirely true. It has a lot to do with people from Europa. It is true that if you approached him wrong, he can put you effortlessly into the ground and does so without any hesitation.
If you are in Detroit and trying to infiltrate because you want to know what synth or drum you should have, well then I'll be doing the wrong way. Their motivation is this: If you're talented it would be no need to decide what ass piece of gear you use or not.
Detroiters have a terrible hate people in general ... it's white, yellow, purple or black if they do not have real qualities but simple way to do everything (sheet release <djing, etc) because they have a rich father and then still think they can be the trainspotter. That you can only understand if you here and the lifestyle that Detroiters life experience. People like Mike and many others were hard times here.
I recently read an interview of one of Drexciya members which stated that Ritchie Hawtin really could not produce techno. He was rich, white, came from Canada and has had no trouble to do it. Mad Mike also seems not much of white Europeans to have. Personally, I find it regrettable that such opinions are respected producers after.
Now you live in the U.S., you have an explanation for such statements? Is the society is still just the opposite more and more black and white. Or is it a stiff way of responding to the fact that others take over the music and continue to go? And techno was still always free "European addressed"?
You must understand that there are a lot of media words and these statements often receive extra attention. It is and remains a fact that in the U.S. there is still a quite clearly gap between white and black. But knowing Mike for years, this idea is not entirely true. It has a lot to do with people from Europa. It is true that if you approached him wrong, he can put you effortlessly into the ground and does so without any hesitation.
If you are in Detroit and trying to infiltrate because you want to know what synth or drum you should have, well then I'll be doing the wrong way. Their motivation is this: If you're talented it would be no need to decide what ass piece of gear you use or not.
Detroiters have a terrible hate people in general ... it's white, yellow, purple or black if they do not have real qualities but simple way to do everything (sheet release <djing, etc) because they have a rich father and then still think they can be the trainspotter. That you can only understand if you here and the lifestyle that Detroiters life experience. People like Mike and many others were hard times here.
Drexciya Interview from Melody Maker, 1995
http://daveg.outer-rim.org/entries/2004 ... aker-1995/
“Ever since the blues and early jazz, black music has been stolen and exploited. It pisses me off that we let it happen. It’s a political thing; everybody talks about it under their breath, but they don’t come out and say anything about it.
As far as I’m concerned, Richie Hawtin, Moby, and all the rest of ‘em can do what they want, but don’t step into my house if you don’t respect it. Don’t even call what you do ‘techno’! I don’t want to hear anybody saying Richie started any damned thing, ‘cos he ain’t started sh!t. All he did was step in with his money and his Caucasian persuasion and put himself on the market, and now he’s got all these kids riding his jock. We never had rich backgrounds; we were working jobs for $4.25 an hour. Our mamas never gave us money to buy keyboards and put records out. We work for our stuff. That’s why there’s a big difference in the music.
“Why do Richie and his Plus 8 family come down here and throw parties in downtown Detroit? He brings in all these kids from the suburbs and from Canada, and that shows a lack of respect. I’ve been to every one of those parties and I’ve never heard an Underground Resistance record, a Cybotron record, a Model 500 record or an Eddie Fowlkes record. It’s a total lack of respect, and it’s got to stop.”
“Ever since the blues and early jazz, black music has been stolen and exploited. It pisses me off that we let it happen. It’s a political thing; everybody talks about it under their breath, but they don’t come out and say anything about it.
As far as I’m concerned, Richie Hawtin, Moby, and all the rest of ‘em can do what they want, but don’t step into my house if you don’t respect it. Don’t even call what you do ‘techno’! I don’t want to hear anybody saying Richie started any damned thing, ‘cos he ain’t started sh!t. All he did was step in with his money and his Caucasian persuasion and put himself on the market, and now he’s got all these kids riding his jock. We never had rich backgrounds; we were working jobs for $4.25 an hour. Our mamas never gave us money to buy keyboards and put records out. We work for our stuff. That’s why there’s a big difference in the music.
“Why do Richie and his Plus 8 family come down here and throw parties in downtown Detroit? He brings in all these kids from the suburbs and from Canada, and that shows a lack of respect. I’ve been to every one of those parties and I’ve never heard an Underground Resistance record, a Cybotron record, a Model 500 record or an Eddie Fowlkes record. It’s a total lack of respect, and it’s got to stop.”
Re: Drexciya Interview from Melody Maker, 1995
There are plenty of white people like me, who are not from detroit, who had to work hard to get equipment and are mamas didn't give us sh!t. Whats wrong with been different anyway? He talks about opening your mind.... bullshit!We never had rich backgrounds; we were working jobs for $4.25 an hour. Our mamas never gave us money to buy keyboards and put records out. We work for our stuff. That’s why there’s a big difference in the music.
Techno is about the future not the past! Why don't these guys stop moaning and show all the white boys how it's done. They want people to give them respect but reading sh!t like that makes me lose it.
