Editor’s Note: This is reproduced from 5 Mag Issue 227, out this week.
There was never a moment before today that Juan Atkins was not a vital part of the American electronic music scene. More than the creator of several classic and influential records, Juan Atkins was a dynamic force, an embodiment of the underground techno movement and the young black musicians from Detroit who created it.
Atkins died this weekend after he was found unresponsive in his hotel room ahead of a gig at Yu Yu Cine Club in Mexico City. He was 64 years old.
Kevin Saunderson just called Atkins “the originator of techno” and that’s the beginning and the end of the conversation on the issue. Atkins’ role in establishing the new sound and especially in getting it down on vinyl was crucial to exporting the sound of Detroit techno — a brew of influences ranging from Kraftwerk to WAR to Giorgio Moroder and Donna Summer — to the world beyond the city’s confines.
As techno today dominates the global music scene in places he couldn’t have imagined, Atkins must be recognized as one of the most important Detroit artists since the dawn of Motown — certainly since Motown decamped for Los Angeles in the early 1970s.
Atkins was born and raised in Detroit. He would later tell the filmmakers of God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines that his father was incarcerated for much of his youth and for many years he was raised by his grandmother (later, at the same moment that marked the beginning of his music career — when the Electrifying Mojo played his record on the radio — Atkins’ father was being taken back to prison). Watching his grandmother play boogie-woogie on her Hammond organ was among his first formative musical experiences. Atkins would form a collective called Deep Space, a rival to Detroit’s Direct Drive DJs. Origin stories of Detroit electronic music trace back to fierce competitions, DJ battles and partnerships of those days.
Still a teenager, Atkins met Rik Davis (aka “3070”) in the waning days of high school. The two would form the group Cybotron, which released a series of singles (particularly “Alleys Of Your Mind” and “Cosmic Cars,” both released on Deep Space Records) that were massively popular in the city of Detroit and massively influential elsewhere. Their album Enter bundled up several of these singles and other material that would form a blueprint for the next 40 years of electro. After their split Atkins would release “No UFOs” as Model 500 and “Techno Music” which settled any disputes over the new genre’s name.
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“No UFOs” was the first release on Atkins’ new label, Metroplex, which would release a huge number of foundational Detroit techno tracks, including Eddie Fowlkes’ “Goodbye Kiss” and Kevin Saunderson’s “Triangle Of Love.” Figures such as Anthony “Shake” Shakir, DJ Bone, Aaron-Carl and others appeared early in their careers on Metroplex alongside Atkins’ own cuts under aliases from Model 500 to Infiniti.
Atkins played a huge role in passing on the technical knowledge and sometimes spiritual wisdom of making records to peers and up-and-coming producers; Saunderson specifically credited Atkins with “show[ing] me how to finish my first record.” This was a service every bit as important as the records he made himself.
The words “legend” and “godfather” get tossed around a lot. Juan Atkins was those things, but something more. The records weren’t just musical milestones — creative experiments achieved, acknowledged and then surpassed. Decades later we still talk about them. And decades later we still want to hear Juan Atkins, both records he made and records he played. It is a depressing thought to consider that for the first time since 1980, there will be no more of either.
Photo: Juan Atkins screen capture from God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines
