- In this interview, recorded live at IMS Ibiza, the techno forefather reflects on his legacy, the state of techno today and the city of Detroit.
- Most people in nightlife are familiar with the name Juan Atkins. One of the originators of techno, he grew up in Belleville, a middle-class suburb of Detroit, and would become one of the Belleville Three. This first wave of Detroit techno artists was inspired by the late-night emissions of radio DJ The Electrifying Mojo—who famously mixed different synth music, like krautrock and Kraftwerk—and the writings of futurists like Alvin Toffler, who imagined a different, utopian vision of urban life and technology.
In this keynote interview recorded live at International Music Summit in Ibiza, Atkins reflects on his roots and the musical movement that's grown from his first experiments with techno in the '80s. Returning to his adolescence, he unpacks the origins of his electro collaboration Cybotron, his solo project Model 500 (coming to Houghton this year) and his label, Metroplex, which became a blueprint for a hoard of techno outlets that emerged in its wake. Now 61, Atkins also reflects on the broader impact music has had on his life—he's given lectures on the intersection of physics, music and spirituality—as well as the remaining stones left unturned as he enters the (very much still active) sunset of his career. Listen to the episode in full.