(313) WARP 10, scotty!
eluna (eluna@coil.com)
Mon, 16 Oct 1995 06:34:28 -0400 (EDT)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- this is not a "review." it is a passionate dialogue with you all...i want to share what i can with you because there are some things which i have been slowly accumulating for some time...things that really hit me home this weekend.

detroit. i will begin by saying that i missed the live performance by model 500 on fri night, and i missed fri night altogether. but i learned much more...some of which i have known for a long time and am just now able to put into words.

detroit. that's where it was. but what does everyone know about detroit? crime capital of the US. cars. the lions, pistons, & tigers. motown. the `67 riots. "white flight." bad roads.

techno.

here are the facts: in the 1970s, because of class conflict and racial tension, fully 1/2 of detroit's population LEFT. the city is now 70% black and half-populated. whites and mobile blacks/other minorities went to the burbs. and the stark contrast remains. one step past the detroit city limits at 8-mile road, the grass is literally greener. the streets are paved smoothly, in contrast to most of detroit's cratered roads.

this aint no picnic, this aint no joke. the people that still live in detroit have to face things that most of us would find shocking. but they live it every day. imagine a city that literally cannot afford to pay to demolish all the old houses that were abandoned 20-odd years ago. they are still rotting today. imagine a city with such desperation that its own residents do their own impromptu "demolishing" by setting fire to abandoned buildings every halloween. imagine living somewhere where the likelihood of getting carjacked is about the same as getting the wrong order at mcdonalds.

as i sit here in my comfortable living room in columbus, i feel safe saying these things. but i know detroit is not safe. detroit is america's city gone wrong. but wonderful things have been happening here, despite the odds.

i know, as well as most of you, that detroit is where techno "started" (in the sense we have come to accept it today). not to downplay the impact of other dance music from all over: chicago, new york, london, berlin, rotterdam, etc...but i cannot speak for those.

all i know is that, in the early 1980s, a very small group of friends began making music. they started humbly, as all great things do. juan atkins and cybotron were among the first...along with derrick may and kevin saunderson...and by 1985, the METROPLEX label was born. METROPLEX, and later TRANSMAT and KMS (later joined by many others including mike banks' UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE), were labels that explored and pushed the electronic soul of detroit. to paraphrase derrick, technology allowed the detroit soul to be expressed in ways that had been impossible before.

the rest is history and myth, of course: techno and chicago house/trax trickled over to london, where they were transformed and returned to the US (1988-ish), raves began (1990-ish), labels formed, etc etc. it's obviously too detailed to do it justice here.

but the point of all of this is that detroit's influence on today's techno music is hard to underestimate. and yet so many fail to understand the TRUTH behind it all, which is of course, the city itself and the individuals who derive their inspirations from it or in reaction to the sadness of it all. techno is, in a sense, a story about transcending adversity. more particularly, it is a story about black men (and several women) transcending adversity in (as mike banks might say it), a "city without hope."

and WARP 10, despite glitches and unfulfilled promises, was a celebration of that spirit of SURVIVAL.

i'm not going to give you the crap about who spun what and where (altho i will mention that juan atkins spun a short jungle set!), but please know that nearly everyone of importance to the development of detroit techno (and therefore all techno) was IN THE HOUSE. those that spun did so with such enthusiasm and spirit that the word "vibe" can scarcely contain it. those that did not spin stood and absorbed what was happening, as it was all one _could_ do.

so who was there? for you trivia buffs here's the list (can anyone else add any?):

+ rob hood
+ sean deason
+ mike banks
+ derrick may
+ juan atkins
+ gerald s
+ mike huckaby
+ eddie fowlkes
+ mike dread
+ shake
+ stacy pullen
+ rolando
+ brian gillespie
+ dan bell
+ cement space cru

other visitors worth mentioning:
+ dego
+ dan curtin
+ titonton
+ plug research guys
+ ian maclachlan
+ rob smith
+ jason attaman
+ todd sines
+ ian malbon
+ linda swanson
+ aaron bennett
+ dave walker
+ matt macqueen/kim g lansing cru in effect
+ tons of others im sure i'll forget (sue me)

so what if jeff mills and dave clarke didnt show up? jeff (who started UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE with mike banks and then went on to do his own thing) wanted to be there...but there was some confirmation problems. dave, well...i hate to say it but he's a white, UK babe in diapers compared to some of these guys.

so what if it was at a "club?" it was in the process of being refurbished so it had the "flavah" anyway.

so what if there was a other party the same night? if anything, the other party symbolized and exemplified everything that is wrong with the "scene" at large (at least here in the midwest):

+ those that have a clue, and those that dont.
+ appreciators vs. consumers.
+ drug use for fun/self-fulfillment vs. drugs as an industry/lifestyle.
+ and lest we forget: black vs white.

yes, im bringing race into it again. race and economics are at the root of it all. let's not kid ourselves: most "ravers," in fact most of us "net" people, havent really had to face the issues and decisions which most people in detroit have had to face. there are two distinct cultures that exist, and rarely do they truly cross over or interact in any way. these cultures do not exist solely along racial lines, but even poor whites are certainly treated differently by a white society than blacks. and no matter how "white" and upstanding a black person you are here in america, you still have to deal with people looking at you suspicious at the jewelry store, locking their car doors as you cross the street, women changing their purses to the other side as you approach them...i could go on but i am not black so it aint my place.

even those of us "liberated" folk have quite rosy glasses on. i have to make an extra effort to constantly strive towards a deeper understanding of black cultures (and YES there is more than one). on the other hand, blacks have a very intimate and CONSTANT knowledge of white culture...through media and the attitudes of the majority who feel that these "lazy niggers ought to shape up and GET A JOB." white culture constantly demeans and debases black culture (to be fair, there are many "white cultures" too but i mean here the overall one which is the media and government policy...and let us not forget that to most whites there is only ONE black culture). if you dont believe me, and you are white, take the glasses off and "pretend" to be black. ask yourself how many GOOD black friends you have. ask yourself if you have ever had to decide between joining a gang and getting a job at burger king. ask yourself if you have ever lost a friend or a family member to gang violence. i dont want to categorize the black experience as a purely rotten and violent one...but (as an example) white kids whose parents are paying for their college while they go fuck around and beg for more money just to pay rent...or similar "comfortable" situations...these are people that have got to get a CLUE.

mike banks of UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE spoke eloquently on the subject, in a passionate post to the 313 list in august. i wont try to put words in mike's mouth, as he deserves a hell of a lot more respect than that. but one of the main points he made was that to escape the pressures of the inner city, there are basically 4 options:

1) prison 2) joining the military 3) leaving, if you could afford it 4) substance abuse

it's that real, y'all.

i might add one of my own: professional sports. talk about a pipe dream. you give a child a vision of basketball stardom or something...knowing full well what the chances of THAT are. and yet the very few role models that there are in black culture(s) are mostly sports figures. but those that DO make it are a source of great pride. which is why downtown, there is an entire side of a building that features barry sanders (rb for the lions), with his stats and all!

drugs: y'all know what's up with that...stereotype city, i know...but it's an immense force of destruction fueled by its very illegality. i mean, legalization brings on a host of other problems, but the so-called "drug war" has certainly been used as an excuse to victimize a great many of people of all races, especially blacks.

_music_ has been one of the few positive ways of overcoming the obstacles which detroit presents. and the detroit techno scene is no exception. yes, there are problems. politics, ego, and bad business (among blacks themselves) go a long way toward dividing the detroit scene. and yes, most of the dj's are black while the crowd is white. some of this is the usual white cultural imperialism, some of it is honest appreciation (and every shade inbetween). the ironies are palpable and real.

but detroit techno has done two things of immense importance, above and beyond any musical accomplishment. first of all, techno has raised up a few black women and men to a higher status: a status of self-reliance; of no longer needing to emulate "white," exploitive business practices (just look at the integrity and success of most detroit labels who, while none are rich, at least dont have to worry about how to pay for the next record). second of all, detroit techno has brought two cultures (black & white, in the most general cultural sense), under one roof. it is both a "first meeting" and a reconciliation. let us celebrate this togetherness and truly learn from it...and from each other. we have spent too long apart.

it's time to take a real look at what these people have accomplished... they have given hope to a city without it.

ps-thanks to mike for giving fresh life to these thoughts. i hope you are reading this...your insights will not soon be forgotten.
++
e d

now that you've read some of my words, please go back to who, or back to
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