This is tough to describe for me. I'm not a writer, so it's hard to verbalize
a lot of my thoughts on this. I know many of the Detroit techno musicians,
and know some of their motivations and politics.
Race is not an issue of the music, it's a motivation for some. Being black
in Detroit (anywhere, really) defines and shapes who and what a person is.
No two people see the world the same, and every experience we go through
changes our perceptions even more. A person like "Mad" Mike Banks writes
a lot of his music out of anger and frustration at being stepped on in life.
Yet, he also makes music that comes from other emotions besides anger.
Looking back over his different musical efforts shows a lot of different
influences.
From the point of view of the listener, race is not necessarily an issue.
To use Mike as an example again, he has always been secritive about the
identities of the members of UR and even his alternate identities under
which he records and produces. To enjoy the music, it doesn't matter
who made it or if you match their demographics. You are influenced
emotionally. The emotions may or may not be the same as those that were
influencing the originator of the music. I suppose that depends on how
well the musician can interpret and express their emotions.
The techno of Submerge is different from the techno of +8. They will
never be the same, as the sources are are such different people with
different talents and experiences and motivations. From my perspective,
it doesn't matter the race of the musician, just the output. From the
artists' perspective, race makes up who they are, and is therefore
important beyond words.
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fixer@d2.com is Robert Smith Digital Domain
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fax: 310/314-2866 Venice, CA 90291
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"The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves."