Second generation techno pioneer Carl Craig chats to Danny Turner about the genre’s cultural visibility and how he’s keeping the flame alive
One of the leading visionaries behind Detroit techno’s second generation throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s, Carl Craig picked up the torch from the genre’s forefathers, The Belleville Three, releasing classic tracks under his own name and aliases such as Innerzone Orchestra. Widely considered one of the go-to authorities on the genre, Craig is still pushing the boundaries with his innovative live sets and futuristic ethos behind his long-running techno label, Planet E Communications.
© Tim Saccenti
Alongside his encyclopaedic knowledge of electronic music past and present, Craig has been keen to promote awareness of Detroit techno culture through various multidisciplinary activities, from educational discussions at college campuses to being artistic director of the Detroit Electronic Music Festival. Meanwhile, his booming, club-oriented Party/After-Party sound and light installations are a recent example of his foray into the world of ‘living art’.
Take us back to your involvement in techno’s second wave. How indebted are you to those who came before you and defined techno as we know it?
“Of course I wanted to display my influences from the techno, jazz and classical worlds, as well as being a Prince fanatic. I put all that stuff into whatever I did, whether it was making techno or rap music, which I could have done just as easily as techno because that was another sound that was emerging at the time, even though it wasn’t as big as we now know it.”
As a primarily electronic artist, how important was it for you to have been schooled on conventional instruments?
“You know, techno guys like Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May weren’t trained musicians, and Juan Atkins learned to play bass early on and that was his instrument. I was playing guitar, upright bass and drums, and had the experience of playing in bands and school orchestra ensembles, so it did play an important role for me. I usually do everything in a minor key, and learned how to translate sounds to synthesisers at my aunt’s house in Georgia with my guitar by learning guitar voicings on the piano. It’s funny because when I’m in front of a synthesiser I never start at E, I always start at C or F, because they’re the easiest keys outside of the black keys to play, but I think it was Martyn Ware who said that where they fucked up with synthesisers was by putting a keyboard on them [laughs]. If the Minimoog or Pro One had MPC pads instead of keys we’d have played the music totally differently.”
For people who have never visited Detroit and got a first-person feel for the city, how important do you feel techno has been to the region, culturally?
“It’s not the new Motown.
