Article: DEMF2006

Transitory Times for DEMF / Movement 2006

By Amanda Connon-Unda

for Klublife Magazine

The grounds of Hart Plaza at the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) were steaming hot. This year DEMF was organized by Paxahau, who in the last year expanded their international connections and incorporated a record label, booking agency, and web-archive into their repetoir. The team is notable for bringing a European minimal techno aspect to their many popular events in Detroit.

With Paxahau's distinct taste, the line-up this year had a mark of eclecticism, while some say a lack of the legendary Detroit producers presence. In conjunction with newer techno festivals across America (Decibel, Mutek, M3, ResFest, Coachella), the DEMF appears to be making a transition. While many see the festival becoming more receptive to innovative sounds, critics of this year's festival wondered if it was evolving away from its roots. To what extent has DEMF maintained continuity with its rich soulful musical history? How does DEMF measure up amongst the growing number of North American festivals?

This year despite what seemed like smaller numbers of people (possibly due to the heat or the slight price increase of $40 per day), according to DEMF there were 45,323 attendees for all 3 days combined. This biggest challenges for Paxahau this year were their limited time to organize and overcoming the negative stigmas from past festivals with vendors being owed money. According to Jason Huvaere from Paxahau, "This year was about rebuilding and stabilizing". "With Movement 2007 in sight we are working very closely with the City of Detroit..." "Our goal is to begin booking artists, promoting the festival and securing sponsorships now," said Huvaere. "Now that the event is on solid ground we are shifting to growing…" Paxahau intends to incorporate visual arts next year.

DEMF is focused on the Detroit community and a sense of place and history. According to Someone Else (Found Sound Records, Philadelphia), who played the waterfront stage, "I am not used to seeing so many people congregate for underground music. Detroit is one of the few places where that would fly. The values here are eclectic. There are some people getting wasted and there are techno junkies who want to hear their favourite techno" "It feels like a techno carnival - it's just missing balloons and clowns." Someone Else aptly contrasted the Mutek festival, where "...the people are a little more trendy and they have very specific expectations. But at DEMF I feel the people are more appreciative of almost anything."

This year's line-up was eclectic with genres spanning from ghettotech, drum n bass, and deep house, to techno. Acts including Richie Hawtin, Nitzer Ebb, Dandy Jack and the Junction SM, as well as many artists from Kompakt, Perlon, and the Minus labels were spotlighted.

Beatport, a digital download store, also hosted a stage that featured John Aquaviva, Josh Wink, and others. Beatport did cross-promotions with Paxahau, and at other festivals. According to Marketing Director Tom Hoch, "So many of the big guys are here, and everyone knows everybody. It's way better than I though it was going to be!... It's easy to get around."

According to DJ/label owner Nigel Richards (611 Records), "This is probably the best community vibe, before Miami - that one is more 'schmoozy and get laid'… Other festivals like Ultra are all big money, and this is nearly free." Nigel said, "They [Paxahau] did a better job on the line up. Often there are a lot of guys in Detroit who are kind of stagnant. They did stuff 12 years ago and they are up there train-wrecking the hits."

But others saw the lack of pioneering Detroit artists as a detriment. Ron Trent stated that something was lost, "…The programming seems a little odd. It's lost a lot of flavour. Kevin Saunderson and those guys before had the right idea, where they had techno but also soulful artists: Masters At Work, or Little Louis, along with Derrick May, Rich Medina, and myself. This is Detroit - A soulful city. The festival could be a lot better. The community vibe is not in full effect. What made this special in previous years were the families..."

Malik of the band Painted Pictures who played every year at the festival except this year, said, "I think Paxahau is very good at techno - but techno by itself is not just hard-hitting... Detroit encompasses a lot of different dance musics and that needs to be the focus of the festival.... Carl Craig and Kevin Saunderson, or at least one of them should have had their own stage."

According to the ghettotech DJ, Godfather, "Detroit is going through a little change. There are no more after parties so the scene and the crowd are getting smaller. This is the only time - unless there is a little underground party - when we can listen to electronic music."

For Adam X (Sonic Groove Records, NYC), this year was exciting because he got to perform on the main stage. He said, "We don't have much of a chance to be outside at festivals like in Europe. We have PS1 in New York in the summer, and it's the same kind of atmosphere."

Dj Magda who played the festival previously, returned with the Minus label's North American tour bus and commented, "We have had a lot of special times in Europe and the label is doing really well, and we wanted to do that in America... We want to support what is going on". "It's special for me to come home. Paxahau is good at providing people with what is happening in all genres, and not focusing on one thing."

For Canadian Jeremy Caulfield (Dumb-Unit), the essence of the festival vibe was found in the Agave after-party where Butane, Mathew Dear, and Troy Peirce played. He said, "It was outdoors, and the sun was coming up." Also at the Beatport stage where Jeremy played he had many of his friends from various countries and myspace. "it was really nice. Having people say 'ok I'll be there' and then they're there dancing."

Pioneering Detroit Dj Derrick May says that "…People still identify [DEMF]… by comparing it to what it was. It was the beginning of a movement…a big dream and it came together and now it's a full blown festival…catching up to some comparable events in the world. Detroit is not the sexiest city, and this helps to bring people here." Regarding the transitions of DEMF, May concludes, "It progresses …You can't have techno and funk and not have something else. You have purists who are not happy about that and that's understandable. But it has to go through some mis-matchings, some fun things, and some confusing things. Change is healthy."

9:11 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment