The Godfather of Techno
The Detroit Soul of Electro
"well... why do so many people say that you're the Godfather of Techno?". His answer was sharp and clean: "Maybe because I am". [Brussels 1994]
And indeed, this man shook the hand of the Machine in 1981, and since then never stopped spreading his Electro knowledge to the youth. He engraved in Detroit the way to Techno by gathering the early energies of Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, but also by keeping his passion for the futuristic musics.
You probably know him as Model 500, Channel One, Infiniti... or in one of his many collaborations with Richard Davies as Cybotron.
In 1983, they both released 'Clear', a deep electro that sounds exactly like many new minimal Techno in 2004... even better: in 1984 they performed a track singing 'Techno City'.
A bit later, Juan recorded solo 'No U.F.O.' which went to be an anthem for a whole generation of Techno fans and deejays. Its weird lyrics, "they say 'no ufo'... maybe you see them fly!", its hypnotic loop, its inner melancholic fury, the result was a lot of magic.
A hero is the junction of an outstanding personnality and an outstanding situation.
[deejaybooking.com webmaster]
"Juan Atkins truly is a legend in his own time. Appearing behind aliases such as Cybotron, Model 500 and Infiniti, he has released many classics of sublime Detroit techno, including the 1982 electro track "Clear." Recorded by Atkins and Rick Davis as Cybotron, this track is often considered the first proto-techno track. Experimenting with fusing the extra-terrestrial funk of Parliament Funkadelic with the futuristic rhythms and hard math of Kraftwerk and the progressive dance theorems proposed by Giorgio Moroder, the Model 500 12"s laid the blueprint for Detroit Techno."
[from www.om-records.com]
"At the dawn of the 1980s, Juan Atkins began recording what stands as perhaps the most influential body of work in the field of techno. Exploring his vision of a futuristic music which welded the more cosmic side of Parliament funk with rigid computer synth-pop embodied by Kraftwerk and the techno-futurist possibilities described by sociologist Alvin Toffler (author of The Third Wave and Future Shock), Atkins blurred his name behind aliases such as Cybotron, Model 500 and Infiniti — all, except for Cybotron, comprised solely of himself — to release many classics of sublime Detroit techno. And though it's often difficult (and misleading) to pick the precise genesis for any style of music, the easiest choice for techno is an Atkins release, the 1982 electro track "Clear," recorded by Atkins and Rick Davis as Cybotron. He soon left the progressively album-oriented Cybotron to begin working alone, and released his most seminal material from 1985 to 1989 as Model 500 And while fellow Detroit legends Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May were known for their erratic output during the following decade, Atkins recorded much more during the 1990s than he had during the '80s, soaking up new rhythmic elements from contemporary dance music but keeping his unerring, instantly recognizable sense of melody intact throughout. As the electronic scene began looking back to the past to find musical innovators, Atkins was a name much-discussed and -anthologized, hailed as the godfather of techno." [...]
[John Bush in www.globaldarkness.com]
Interview in Wired Mag -> click here.
PRESS LINK
NAMES: Juan Atkins =
- Audio Tech
- Channel One
- Infiniti
- Model 500
- Model 600
- Triple XXX
and as member of:
- 3MB Feat. Juan Atkins
- Audiotech
- Cybotron
- Flintstones
- Frequency
- Kreem
- Model 500 & The Martian
- One On One
- Reel By Real
- Visions
- X-Ray
