IDM Mailing Archive

Just an observation, but does it seem to others that nearly everyone that is into techno and idm are white males? If you think this is true, why is it? Tony Thorpe of Moody Boyz is the only non-white techno artist I can think of. Are there any other black/hispanic/asian/etc artists or techno/idm followers out there? On this list? -boB (white male)

The world according to rweisend@tuba.aix.calpoly.edu:

quoted 2 lines Just an observation, but does it seem to others that nearly everyone

>Just an observation, but does it seem to others that nearly everyone >that is into techno and idm are white males?

No, not at all.

quoted 2 lines Tony Thorpe of Moody Boyz is the only non-white techno artist

>Tony Thorpe of Moody Boyz is the only non-white techno artist >I can think of.

Well, what about Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Carl Craig, the Future Sound of London, and Tony Garcia? And that's just from the stack of CD's I've listened to lately and haven't put away yet. (Incidentally, one of the members of FSoL is black, the other is white. I can't put a face to either name, though, I'm afraid.) And I wonder why you decided to make an issue of this. It seems to me that techno may be the single pop music genre around today that places the least emphasis on artists' personal identity (including race) in favor of concentration on the music itself. Hype about Richard James's lucid dreaming notwithstanding, the fact is that it's THE MUSIC that counts and most of us couldn't care less that Derrick May is a black guy from Detroit or Richard Kirk is a white guy from Sheffield, as long as they keep putting out brilliant tracks (or, in May's case, resume putting out brilliant tracks....but I digress). C. -- (Chris.Hilker) cspot@netcom.com

I agree fully with you chris.... im tired of the seeming racial forum that eventually invades each genre... i hope it will never take a hold in this partt of the industry... later, jasonosaj. @@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@ j a h 1 0 @ r a . m s s t a t e . e d u @@@ @@@ @@@ --------------------------------------- @@@ @@@ @@@ b R o t H e R A l p H a B e T @@@ @@@ @@@ --------------------------------------- @@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@-how many days to oblivion anyway?????-

Plus Colin Dale is black, he presents the number one IDM radio show on Kiss FM in London "The Outer Limits". Most of the originators of modern techno are black as well. The vast majority of idm producers are male, though. I wish this wasn`t the case, but then again it`s true with most other music scenes: this is why the recent "riot grrrl" thing in the UK had a point. But if you go to a club, say Megatripolis, most of the people there are female. I reckon it`s just the males who get _really_ into it and start DJing and producing because, um, that`s the way they are. But if this scene stays so male-dominated then it`ll become sad like heavy metal. More females should be encouraged to make music etc, you never know they might have some new ideas. Most girls that I know will go to a techno club and have a good time even if they like metal or rock, while metaller boys would hate it there. I think women are a bit more open-minded which also means that they tend not to get too heavily involved in any music scene but prefer to listen to everything. Another garbled, confused message from Brendan Nelson your slithering idiot from downtown atlantis

quoted 5 lines Just an observation, but does it seem to others that nearly everyone

>Just an observation, but does it seem to others that nearly everyone >that is into techno and idm are white males? If you think this is true, >why is it? Tony Thorpe of Moody Boyz is the only non-white techno artist >I can think of. Are there any other black/hispanic/asian/etc artists or >techno/idm followers out there? On this list?

this is just untrue, actually. there are a lot of white males into it, but there is also a selection bias at work here because a majority of the people on the net are white males. so you're getting a skewed picture. if you go out to clubs here you'd see a huge diversity both in terms of gender and race. i can think of two techno artists working here in the bay area that i know personally who are not white. and a few more that i don't know who are not white. in fact, most of the DJs here that play harder stuff are women... we guys are just softies, i guess! Jon Drukman jdrukman%dlsun87@oracle.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This calls for a very special blend of psychology and extreme violence.

Um, can I kill two birds with one stone? I'm Japanese American and a woman. (and an idm lurker) -Lunarre ----- Lunarre Omura lunarre@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu lunarre@uhccmvs.bitnet

Chris Hilker writes:

quoted 5 lines Well, what about Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Carl Craig, the Future Sound of

>Well, what about Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Carl Craig, the Future Sound of >London, and Tony Garcia? And that's just from the stack of CD's I've >listened to lately and haven't put away yet. (Incidentally, one of the >members of FSoL is black, the other is white. I can't put a face to either >name, though, I'm afraid.)

What? The two members I know of are white. Who's the secret third one? - chris@minsk.docs.uu.se

The world according to Christian Bartholdsson:

quoted 10 lines Chris Hilker writes:

> >Chris Hilker writes: > >>Well, what about Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Carl Craig, the Future Sound of >>London, and Tony Garcia? And that's just from the stack of CD's I've >>listened to lately and haven't put away yet. (Incidentally, one of the >>members of FSoL is black, the other is white. I can't put a face to either >>name, though, I'm afraid.) > >What? The two members I know of are white. Who's the secret third one?

Oh no, don't tell me I've got False Memory Syndrome. I have a graphic memory of a piece on them in 'Select' around the time of 'Accelerator' with an accompanying photo that I drew the above conclusions from. My apologies for the mistake. C. -- (Chris.Hilker) cspot@netcom.com

well, i don't know if anyone caught this from my last post (or my name!) but i am south asian- indian to be precise, and i am an IDM fan. i also produce music (with darshan)... though i can say generally it seems like idm is a white thang, it isn't entirely because of people like us! manish