Detroit Techno Where It All Began

The Motor City, Hockey Town, Rock City - Detroit is famous for many things. Techno is another. Often considered the birthplace of techno, Detroit Techno is a genre of electronic music that sprung root in the beginning of the 1980s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson. A distinguishing trait of Detroit techno is the use of analog synthesizers and early drum machines, particularly the Roland TR-909, or, in later releases, the use of digital emulation to create the characteristic sounds of those machines.

Detroit techno was originally considered a subset to Chicagos early house style. However, some critics argue that the Detroit techno movement was an adjunct to house music, a new style of music that acquired its name while being played at a Chicago nightclub called the Warehouse. While producers used the same hardware in both cities and often collaborated on projects and remixes with one another, Detroiters traded the choir-friendly vocals of house for metallic clicks, robotic voices and repetitive hooks reminiscent of an automotive assembly line.

A common theme of a large majority of early techno tracks was futuristic or robot themes, with the notable exception of a single released by Derrick May under the pseudonym Rhythim is Rhythim, titled Strings of Life. This vibrant dance-floor anthem ran deep with rich synthetic string arrangements, taking the underground music scene by storm in May 1987. With subtle differences separating the genres, clubs in both cities included Detroit techno and Chicago house tracks in their playlists without objection and often even notice from fans.

The Bellville Three
The three individuals most notably associated with the birth of Detroit techno as a genre are Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May, also known as the Belleville Three. Juan, Kevin, and Derrick were high school friends from Belleville, Michigan, and gave birth to electric music tracks in their basement much like Wayne and Garth did in Waynes World. With the help of the Detroit electronic music radio personality The Electrifying Mojo (DJ Charles), the three became a popular presence in local dance clubs. Derrick May once described Detroit techno music as being a "complete mistake...like George Clinton and Kraftwerk caught in an elevator, with only a sequencer to keep them company."

The location of Belleville plays a significant role in the formulation of The Detroit Three as musicians. Belleville was still pretty racially prejudiced at the time, said Saunderson. We three kind of gelled right away. In addition, the suburban setting offered a different setting in which to experience the music. We perceived the music differently than you would if you encountered it in dance clubs. We'd sit back with the lights off and listen to records by Bootsy and Yellow Magic Orchestra. We never took it as just entertainment, we took it as a serious philosophy, recalls May.

The three teenage boys became one while listening to an eclectic mix of music: Kraftwerk, Parliament, Prince, and The B-52's. The electronic and funk sounds that influenced the Belleville Three came primarily from the five hour late-night Detroit radio show of DJ Charles called The Midnight Funk Association. Juan Atkins was inspired to buy a synthesizer after hearing Parliament. Atkins was also the first in the group to take up turntablism, teaching May and Saunderson how to DJ.

Inspired by Chicago's house clubs, May, Atkins, and Saunderson founded a club of their own in downtown Detroit, named the Music Institute. The club went great lengths to unite a previously scattered scene into an underground "family," where May, Atkins, and Saunderson DJed with fellow pioneers like Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes and Blake Baxter. It promoted collaboration and helped inspire what would become the second wave of Detroit-area techno, which included artists whom the Belleville Three had influenced and mentored.

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