Richie Hawtin: New Horizons
Чтиво · 14.03.2012
By 44100Hz
I'm fairly optimistic, but it so happened that last year I grew slightly worried about the rising popularity of dance electronic music in the USA. Probably the reason for that was that our techno sound didn't end up in the spotlight. Or maybe it was because many of the leaders of this "new wave" are half my age, and they're inspired more by R'n'B and rock music than by Kraftwerk. Or perhaps it was simply my defensive reaction in support of the music I'd been making for more than 25 years of my life. Getting ahead of myself, I'll say: after spending some time writing this piece, after several meetings and conversations with my friends and colleagues, in the end I regard this phenomenon with optimism.
So, where shall we begin? Let's take Skrillex as an example straight away. Love him or not, Skrillex, aka Sonny Moore, is precisely the person who became many people's first experience of electronic music. Sonny is that "guy with a laptop" who unleashes as much energy at his concerts (which, by the way, are nothing like the old-school parties you might now be picturing) as any conscientious rock band at the peak of its popularity: rapid melodies, bass lines that get into the very marrow of your bones, that stop, and start again, and seem to stutter - this whole marvellous mix makes me go on an entire journey and yet not get my feet tangled, not fall during my brave attempts to dance to this music (there they are, the origins of the characteristic movement of every partygoer - the nodding of the head, and the moving through the crowd as a sign of approval and support for the artist).
I remember dancing constantly in my youth. For hours on end, in dim rooms, with my eyes closed. I was raised on this, I grew up on this. But to this day I haven't fully grasped all my thoughts on the matter. One way or another, it's hard to deny that both dance and music carry the strongest energy, which undoubtedly captivates everyone involved in the process.
Two years ago I hadn't even heard of Skrillex, and so the first thing I asked him was the following: "How long have you been doing this?"
"I've been touring since I was 16, - Sonny answered, - so that's already 8 years. Not everyone knows this. People think I became famous overnight, but that's not the case at all. There was a time when I slept on the floor and didn't earn a penny. And I never thought I'd reach such heights. No one cared what Skrillex was doing. Dubstep wasn't so popular when I first started composing it; it was still very much underground music."
Maybe what I play isn't quite electronic music anymore, but that's not really important, right? At the very least, for newcomers it's a point of entry into the constantly expanding world of electronic music.
I turned to the techno pioneer Derrick May with the question of what he thinks about the growing popularity of electronic music in the USA, and got this answer: "I can only imagine all the fascination and excitement of the audience; young people encountering new, interesting music for the first time in their lives, without even having known before that such music could exist."
That's right, I've experienced something similar. I remember how in 1987, listening to Derrick May's first record, I thought it sounded like music from the future! Damn, I want to be one of those kids discovering electronic music for the first time at a Skrillex concert. Sonny was born in 1988, and a year later a Derrick May recording drew me into the world of electronic music so much that I spent half a year locked away trying to learn to DJ on a Technics SL-1200 turntable! How did Sonny manage to get so cool so fast?
Sonny's first tours were with the rock band From First To Last, which switched to electronic music only a few years ago. That early schooling taught him a few things: how to grab a crowd's attention and entertain people. How to please audiences who, like him, were born and raised in a decade of hip-hop, R'n'B and grunge dominating US radio stations, and when pop music began taking ideas from early techno and house. Madonna bought the rights to samples of claps and hi-hats, while at the same time on hip-hop records musicians use samples from Cybotron, Juan Atkins and other house tracks. "New York house influenced me more, - Sonny recalls. - I've known Robin S. since childhood, I grew up on that music."
What a marvellous mix of inspiration, sounds and ideas! No wonder the tracks that represent the current electronic scene in the States are a little schizophrenic. Is this your particular way of pushing electronic music to the masses of North America - a merging of the best rhythms from hip-hop, rock, techno and house music?
"Hip-hop has long used samples and sounds from techno (think of Missy Elliott/Timberlake), - notes manager Seth Hodder, a former employee of the NovaMute label, - and today's pop queens, for example Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Katy Perry, as well as the Black Eyed Peas and David Guetta - they all put out electronic pop music influenced by house, techno, trance and good old English synth-pop."
Electronic music can now be viewed from various angles, and each position is interesting in its own way and deserves close attention. I spoke with David Guetta - the very man who pushed dance electronic music to the top of the US charts, and who has now become responsible for every direction of the mainstream scene. "I think the popularity of dance electronic music is a joy for all of us, and it doesn't matter whether we write pop music or something underground. Obviously, the loud success of our scene makes us all stronger. Why should we be afraid of such positive changes? There will always be two scenes existing side by side, and they need each other so that electronic music as a phenomenon becomes brighter and stronger."
Magda (the Minus label) views this trend with similar optimism: "The current interest in dance electronic music has a lot in common with commercial pop music. Turn on the radio and you'll hear that most songs are created, one way or another, under the influence of electronic music. And people who never showed any interest in electronic music before are discovering a wonderful new world, starting to dig deeper and discovering other styles and directions."
Our musical tastes change and develop over time, every time we hear new and interesting artists. For every Robin S there's an Aphex Twin. For every Skrillex there's an Underground Resistance. The doors to the world of electronic music are always open, and it's up to you how you go in and in which direction you continue your musical journey.
"Tastes come and go, - confirmed Josh Wink. - We all see it, and in just the same way electronic music is constantly changing, and that, of course, is great. More and more people are witnessing the birth of something new - and that doesn't at all mean things are heading for the worse."
It's worth noting that for some people I'm no longer who I once was. I'm no longer the underground techno artist I was long ago, at the start of my career. And in my view, natural changes have taken place in me, since my whole path is the gradual development of my work, all my ideas and aspirations. More and more other talented artists are coming into electronic music; they're creative and in a constant search for the new. No wonder the electronic scene is growing and becoming more and more popular.
After more than 15 years working in the field of electronic music, Liz Miller became the manager of Warner Music Group's relaunched label Big Beat Records . This label became home to artists such as Skrillex, Chuckie and Martin Solveig. Liz shares her thoughts: "The active penetration of electronic music into the mainstream brings with it even more talented artists. Different views on music and an individual approach to creating it foster the birth of new names and styles, which in turn find their fans - and there it is, the "new" generation is ready, while the development of electronic music continues without pause."
Twenty years ago I couldn't even imagine performing as Plastikman at huge festivals with a team of 10 people: lighting and sound engineers, stage managers, technical specialists and the other participants in the show - you'll agree, a picture more befitting some rock band's tour across cities and countries. Performing electronic music in a "show" format took us beyond the nightclubs where we once felt comfortable, out onto the stages of the world's music festivals. You could say that with the emergence of new views and ideas among artists, electronic music as a phenomenon is becoming more popular, more accessible and is winning hearts faster.
"This is exactly the time when you're seeing incredible live performances on stage, - Skrillex continues. - And before you is no longer just a guy playing records one after another."
Today we have new opportunities for interacting with the audience: scenography, a light show, LED walls and much more that helps fully draw viewers into what's happening. All these effects were the main elements in developing the Contakt and Plastikman shows. Over 20 years we've come a long way from club DJs to showmen: you only have to look at the variety of performances offered by today's figures of the electronic scene. But are there still ways an artist can achieve success without the enormous producer's work that precedes a show? Does the underground have paths for further development?
Skrillex, of course, is upbeat. "There's definitely a future. Think of Burial: no one even knows what he looks like, he's never done a show, but people love him anyway. He doesn't want to be a rock star. Or take Aphex Twin - he doesn't put out many releases and doesn't promote them, but every appearance of his in public is an explosion. If people have found a common language with the music, their conversation will always sound louder than anything else."
It's obvious that the underground scene is as strong as ever. Nevertheless, what's happening in America today resembles a big competition of musicians and styles, and that's a good sign! The promo group Insomniac, whose efforts put on the dance festival Electric Daisy Carnival in America every year, also collaborates with my team. Together we're creating something new, an unusual experience for the American audience. Loco Dice, a contemporary hero whose roots go deep into the underground, is also very positive:
"It's so great to watch electronic music develop and flourish in America, - says the German DJ and producer. - Dance music has finally become the main topic of discussion in the mass media, the festivals are getting bigger and bigger, and the club scene is in excellent shape. I feel that everywhere there's an active exchange of ideas between musicians, on a larger scale, quite unlike how it was last year. And this state of affairs can't help but be a delight!"
Finally, I want to cite a comment from the promoter of the influential Movement Festival in Detroit. This festival takes place as a tribute to the past, reflects the state of the scene today and, in a sense, shapes the future of electronic music in the USA. "With the wild popularity and spread of dance music, our audience is starting to understand its roots and sense the possible directions of its development more and more clearly, - notes Jason Huvaere. - And this leads to an excellent result: every year the number of both attendees and artists at the festival grows at a rapid pace."
Our scene is in a state of a "year zero" for both artists and fans of electronic music. Passing its history down from generation to generation, turning to the past consciously or unconsciously, we draw inspiration. Our possibilities are endless, and this reminds me every time of what excites me most in electronic music. It's that same sense of freedom that stimulates the flow of creative ideas about what electronic music should be in general and how it can develop further. In my opinion, you and I have many reasons to look to the future with optimism. New horizons are real!