| Words: Amanda Connon-Unda |
| Published in Klublife Magazine, Summer 2004. |
| Jeff Mills knows where techno is headed, because he paves the way. He has been a pioneer since the late 1980?s during his days as a radio DJ, ?The Wizard?, and as a founder of the label Underground Resistance. Says Jeff Mills about the atmosphere in his hometown of Detroit, ?It?s the city of Motown and you?re surrounded by music, so it?s not something you really choose. It?s already in and around them as they grow up in the city?becoming a DJ was a really natural progression.? Ever since then Mills has consistently wanted technology and the art form to evolve. A futurist and visionary; his ideas are big, in the recent past with his label Axis Records (circa 1990) which continues today, and in the music on his third label Tomorrow he has a medium that conveys subtle messages if one only listens closely enough. |
| In an interview during Mills? brief stop in Toronto to play at Boa Redux nightclub during his world tour for his newest Exhibitionist DVD, Mills spared some information on his ever-evolving engagement with techno. |
| It became apparent Mills draws on theories of human interaction and psychology to understand who we are and where we are going. Says Mills ?Those types of ideas I find interesting to use as objectives, and then create an equation?That equation is actually the labels and the releases. I?ve never really succeeded in capturing something through music that really explains that objective, but it?s in the process of trying? Mills captures his interest in humanity perhaps most clearly in his latest project, Exhibitionist, where he wasconcerned to lay bare the process behind DJing in a postmodern move of self-reflexivity and educational imperative. |
| Says Mills, ?I can never remember such a piece of work ever existing where a techno DJ was captured on film in a very graphic way so we could see exactly how he?s mixing and piecing records together to create a very streamlined soundtrack. I thought this would expand the ideas that are conveyed through DJ mixing to people who are not aware of what a DJ really does - and what is the difference, between say a hip hop DJ, or a techno DJ... Just simply focusing on the creative motion of a DJ would allow more people to become interested in the art form. I thought starting with what a DJ does is the best way. But I have other ideas of how to focus on other things, so you have a very round perspective of many different angles about electronic music and techno.? |
| One of those angles Mills explores with Exhibitionist is the visual; but this is not new for him. Three years ago he started a personal campaign to create projects where the visual aspect was emphasized. The Metropolis film soundtrack he scored in 2000 was followed by a few art installations in this vein. |
| Says Mills, ?Techno has a reputation of being a very ?unseen? genre. The artist preferred to put more attention and emphasis on other things. After a decade of not seeing but hearing ? I decided it was time we all show the ideas behind the efforts made to create the soundtrack? It?s interesting to show the relationship between what the people are hearing, and the objective ? I?m putting more emphasis on the information that goes with each release, showing more visually; using colors and patterns, and enhancing the projection of electronic music.? |
| On the Exhibitionist he separated the mixes per genre. One mix is Purpose Maker, the next one is Axis, the Tomorrow mix is more experimental and The Exhibitionist is what he was carrying in his record box at the time. |
| While Mills has reinterpreted the negative stereotype of ?techno as an unseen genre? he also notes, ?It?s natural... You will always have critics, you will always have people that do not understand, you will always have people that think they understand but actually do not, and then you will have people that completely understand but are voiceless and don?t need to make a comment about the relationship. That is part of the world of making music or creating something from nothing. And?it?s just a matter of degree of how much you can work with it surrounding and affecting you? Ever since the first person created an image on the cave wall, someone said, ?No that?s not quite right??? |
| Mills is not only aware of critics of techno, he has also noted the economic dynamics and states that compared to other genres in dance, techno is the lowest grossing with little money involved ??Most of the people are in it because they love music. The reward is really not monetary. Some DJs are lucky, some DJs get paid a lot of money, but my view is that at some point they probably did the right thing at the right time, to be put in that situation where they could ask for that amount. I think it?s most times justified. If I have to take a few steps back out of the industry and look at it; it?s really not that profitable. In terms of achievement and discovery and creating new ideas, it can be very fulfilling and interesting. You can spend your whole life exploring and experimenting with sound. Those things are much more rewarding than money.? |
| While Mills downplays money as a determining factor in the dynamics of the techno music industry, he has in fact just signed a deal for the first time, with the Spanish training shoe company Art for sponsorship during the Exhibitionist European tour ??we?ve been approached to have a sponsor for dates... But there?s no money involved, it?s just the sponsor advertises ? It?s not that type of sponsor where I am driving around in a new car. But it?s a start, and it?s the first sponsor that I?ve known about for a DJ in a couple countries - after 15 years? It?s maybe past due that more sponsorship should come, but it?s a very slow process.? |
| So with this level of extended media coverage with Art presumably intending to bring Mills? music to a wider audience to sell Art shoes and Exhibitionist, Mills must have other ways in which he has managed to succeed and maintain his integrity in an oversaturated DJ market. Explains Mills, ?I will always know that music is not always created to make people happy. It?s like a conversation. Some of the words that come out of my mouth you may not like, but the fact is that I?m trying to convey information to you, and you should have some interest in at least listening to what I have to say, and vice versa. Music is more a form of communication than entertainment. My objective was never really to satisfy the people. If I could make something that people found interesting then it was like a bonus on top of me creating a project and making it reality and making it possible for people to have. It makes creating music much easier, because I?m not deciding how it should sound based on what people like. I can experiment very freely, and comfortably, and explore new ideas ? That?s how I?ve been making my career. Luckily, enough people find it interesting that I can continue and do it for so long. There?s a great advantage of conditioning yourself to expand. The more you do it, the more you become conditioned to want to create something different. If I make something that sounds too much like something that I?ve heard - I scrap it - and only when I come across something that I can?t remember anything ever sounding like do I know I?m on the right track. I can find my path easily because I am using my memory as a tool.? |
| Furthermore, Mills knows this process is not an easy one, and he is highly critical. ??most people that make music in the electronic industry take the easy way... The artist doesn?t become conditioned to doing it (thinking of new ideas), and the people don?t become used to hearing something different. Over the years I?ve heard artists trying to do different things but the response from the people is not good, so then they change and they go back in the same direction. They don?t continue to try to do different things. Intimidation from the people, fear of rejection - these could be reasons why the music sounds the same ?- it?s that the producers are afraid of being rejected or people saying ?this music is shit, I can?t use it - I can?t play it?. But if you know how to take that information and use it correctly then it makes things even more interesting.? |
| Mills? Exhibitionist is simply the latest of what has come to be expected, in a string of projects that are testaments to his ability to challenge himself. Mills comments, ?Because I am using so much of my material it would probably put me in a very difficult situation where I would not be able to make another project like this. It would actually force me to go in another direction, ? I would have to create more music that is different, and if I were ever to make another DVD it would have to be completely different. I did it on purpose.? Mills is now making music unlike the sounds and aesthetics portrayed on Exhibitionist. ?The music I am making?has a body and fullness as does classical. There are multiple layers of strings and intertwining sequences that play with one another. It has full body - but it?s techno... What I?m trying to reach for in terms of a concept is even further out in space ? past our universe. I?m fooling around with notes that are inverted and unconventional ? sequences consisting of notes that are inverted and unrelated to one another. It is a melody in a completely different structure.? |
| As for accessibility versus music that verges on only being understood by a few avant-guard crowds, Mills is walking a fine line. Mills maintains, ?it?s accessible. That?s the challenge, to reach out and create something very different, and then bring it back to the context of humans listening and they have to react. Anyone can play anything abstract and madness, but having to make it in a way so that people can actually digest it is another thing. We?re experiencing difficulties, technically in the mastering. The frequencies that we?re using are not trackable, so it?s not possible to do vinyl? I?m looking at a new material?that can actually hold the frequencies, that?s similar to a vinyl record, but different.? |
| Closer to home in Toronto, on the question of artists moving to become more successful or residing locally, Mills commented on his own hard won capacity to pick up many cultural influences and incorporate them. ?I can see things from many different angles, and understand mentalities of people ? It really depends on the particular person and how much they can extract from their particular surrounding, and then how they can actually put that into sequences and sounds for other people to listen to. But I found a way that I can extract basically anything from anywhere.? |
| Mills has done an exceptional job in the world of techno and of the business surrounding it. As an artist he is continuing to inspire and be respected. Fans can look forward to seeing him on tour again in Toronto if promoters? finances, flight shares, club budgets, and hectic tour schedules permit. |
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| Exhibitionist : The shadow side of a soft-spoken wizard: Jeff Mills. |
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