Juan Atkins

Last updated

Juan Atkins
Model 500.jpg
Atkins performing as Model 500 at DEMF in 2007
Background information
Also known as
  • Model 500
  • Infiniti
Born (1962-09-12) September 12, 1962 (age 62) [1]
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres Detroit techno [2]
Occupations
  • Record producer
  • DJ
Years active1980–present
Labels

Juan Atkins (born September 12, 1962), [1] also known as Model 500 and Infiniti, [3] is an American record producer and DJ [4] from Detroit, Michigan. [5] Mixmag has described him as "the original pioneer of Detroit techno." [2] He has been a member of the Belleville Three, [6] Cybotron, [7] and Borderland. [8]

Contents

Early life

Juan Atkins was born in Detroit, Michigan. [1] His father is a concert promoter. [9] At an early age, he played guitar and bass guitar in funk/garage bands with his friends. [9] After his parents split, he moved to Belleville, Michigan. [9] In junior high school, he met Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson. [10] The three would later be known as the Belleville Three. [10] At the age of 15, he bought his first synthesizer, a Korg MS-10. [5]

Career

Juan Atkins formed Cybotron with Richard Davis in 1980. [11] The duo's debut studio album, Enter , was released in 1983. [12] Atkins and Davis split ways in 1985. [13]

In 1985, Atkins founded the record label Metroplex. [12] In that year, he started making solo records under the alias Model 500. [9] As Model 500, he released Deep Space in 1995, [14] Mind and Body in 1999, [14] and Digital Solutions in 2015. [14]

He is also one half of the duo Borderland along with Moritz von Oswald. [15] The duo released Borderland in 2013 [16] and Transport in 2016. [16]

In 2015, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Metroplex, Juan Atkins collaborated with VAVA Eyewear. [17] [18]

Style and influences

Juan Atkins has stated that George Clinton's bands Parliament and Funkadelic were important to his musical awakening. [5] He grew up listening to The Electrifying Mojo's radio shows. [5] He also acknowledged Kraftwerk as one of the influences on his music. [19] Mixmag has described him as "the original pioneer of Detroit techno." [2] Stylistically, he drew upon dystopian science fiction narratives to construct his sonic landscapes. [20]

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

EPs

Singles

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Related Research Articles

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Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mills, Kevin Saunderson, Blake Baxter, Drexciya, Mike Banks, James Pennington and Robert Hood. Artists like Terrence Parker and his lead vocalist, Nicole Gregory, set the tone for Detroit's piano techno house sound.

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Movement Electronic Music Festival is an annual electronic dance music event held in the birthplace of Techno, Detroit, each Memorial Day weekend since 2006. Previous electronic music festivals held at Hart Plaza on Memorial Day weekend include Detroit Electronic Music Festival (2000–2002), Movement (2003–2004) and Fuse-In (2005). The four different festival names reflect completely separate and distinct producers, brands and directions. All of these festivals presented performances by musicians and DJs that emphasized the progressive qualities of the culture surrounding electronic music including the celebration of Detroit being the birthplace of the popular electronic music subgenre Techno.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derrick May (musician)</span> Musical artist

Derrick May, also known as Mayday and Rhythim Is Rhythim, is an American electronic musician from Belleville, Michigan, United States. May is credited with pioneering techno music in the 1980s along with collaborators Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson, commonly known as The Belleville Three.

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Cybotron is an American electro music group formed in 1980 by Juan Atkins and Richard "3070" Davis in Detroit. Cybotron had a number of singles now considered classics and style-defining works of the electro genre, particularly "Clear" and the group's debut, "Alleys of Your Mind", as well as "Cosmic Cars" and "R-9". "Techno City" is also considered an early Detroit techno track.

Kevin Maurice Saunderson is an American electronic dance music DJ and record producer. He is famous for being a member of a trio, along with Juan Atkins and Derrick May, who came to be known as the Belleville Three, who are often credited to being among the pioneers and originators of techno: in particular this act helped define Detroit techno, the earliest style of this music genre. Born in New York, at the age of nine he moved to Belleville, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, where at Belleville High School he befriended the other members of the trio.

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Moritz von Oswald is a German record producer and percussionist from Hamburg and based in Berlin. He is a co-founder of the production duo and record label Basic Channel. He has collaborated with Juan Atkins, Carl Craig, and Nils Petter Molvær. He also leads the Moritz von Oswald Trio, which has featured musicians such as Vladislav Delay, Tony Allen, and Laurel Halo. The Stranger called him "one of the master architects of dub techno".

Metroplex is an American techno record label in Detroit, Michigan, United States, founded in 1985 by techno pioneer Juan Atkins. Juan Atkins did most of his work for the label under the pseudonyms Model 500 and Infiniti, and will occasionally use such names for live acts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Belleville Three</span> Three musicians from Detroit

The Belleville Three are three American musicians, Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson, who are credited with inventing the Detroit techno genre in Belleville, Michigan.

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<i>Digital Solutions</i> 2015 studio album by Model 500

Digital Solutions is the third studio album by Juan Atkins as Model 500. It was released by Metroplex on February 18, 2015. It is his first studio album under the pseudonym in 16 years, following from Deep Space (1995) and Mind and Body (1999). It includes additional production from Mike Banks.

<i>Classics</i> (Model 500 album) 1993 compilation album by Model 500

Classics is a compilation album by Juan Atkins under the alias of Model 500. It was released in 1993 by R&S Records.

<i>Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit</i> Compilation album by various artists

Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit is a 1988 compilation of early Detroit techno tracks released on the Virgin Records UK imprint 10 Records. The compilation's title helped establish the term "techno" as the name for electronic dance music emerging out of Detroit in the 1980s.

<i>Transport</i> (album) 2016 studio album by Borderland (Juan Atkins & Moritz von Oswald)

Transport is the second studio album by Borderland, a duo consisting of Juan Atkins and Moritz von Oswald. It was released via Tresor on April 29, 2016, as part of Tresor's 25th anniversary celebrations. It is the follow-up to the duo's 2013 debut studio album, Borderland. "Riod" was released as a single from the album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No UFO's</span> 1985 single by Model 500

"No UFO's" is a 1985 techno song by Juan Atkins under the alias of Model 500. It was released on Atkins own label Metroplex. The song was the first track released after the split of Atkins' previous group Cybotron. The music followed similar themes of the previous group with science fiction and alienation but featured less of a song structure than Cybotron's music leading the track to be often identified as one of the earliest techno songs.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Juan Atkins, Juan Maclean - A Nurvous + Rinsed Event". Resident Advisor . Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Reece, Callum (November 9, 2015). "Juan Atkins in The Lab LDN". Mixmag . Archived from the original on January 20, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  3. ↑ Coney, Brian (December 3, 2018). "Juan Atkins reveals first-ever Cybotron live show". DJ Mag . Archived from the original on December 4, 2018. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  4. ↑ Hoffmann, Heikko (November 28, 2005). "From the Autobahn to I-94". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Eede, Christian (April 9, 2019). "Techno pioneer Juan Atkins is rewiring his electro legacy". DJ Mag . Archived from the original on July 5, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  6. ↑ Rafter, Andrew (May 18, 2017). "Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins and Derrick May set for world tour as The Belleville Three". DJ Mag . Archived from the original on May 19, 2017. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  7. ↑ Ryce, Andrew (November 29, 2018). "Juan Atkins to perform first-ever Cybotron live show on new tour, starting in London". Resident Advisor . Archived from the original on May 3, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  8. ↑ Codrea-Rado, Anna (February 26, 2016). "Juan Atkins and Moritz von Oswald Celebrate 25 Years of Tresor with New Borderland Album". Vice . Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Ferguson, Ben (May 23, 2017). "Interview: Juan Atkins". Red Bull Music Academy . Archived from the original on November 1, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  10. 1 2 Runk, David (February 10, 2003). "Techno gets its due at museum in Motown". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  11. ↑ DeVito, Lee (January 15, 2020). "Cybotron, the original Detroit techno act, is returning with a new album and tour". Metro Times . Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  12. 1 2 Mixon, Imani (May 23, 2018). "Detroit is Techno City, and techno is Black". Metro Times . Archived from the original on June 1, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  13. ↑ Tompkins, Dave (October 30, 2013). "The Things They Buried: On Cybotron's Embattled Techno Sci-Fi Masterpiece, 'Enter'". Spin . Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  14. 1 2 3 Leinhart, Kat (November 19, 2014). "Juan Atkins Announces New LP as Model 500". XLR8R . Archived from the original on August 27, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  15. ↑ Weiss, Jesse (April 21, 2016). "25 Years On, Juan Atkins and Moritz von Oswald Are Still Exploring the Borderland of Techno". Vice . Archived from the original on November 29, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  16. 1 2 Wilson, Scott (February 25, 2016). "Juan Atkins and Moritz von Oswald return as Borderland with Transport LP". Fact . Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  17. ↑ "VAVA METROPLEX". VISIOPHONE. September 28, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Vava Eyewear | Metal Magazine". metalmagazine.eu. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  19. ↑ Atkins, Juan (November 11, 2012). "Juan Atkins on Kraftwerk". Electronic Beats . Archived from the original on June 30, 2017. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  20. ↑ "This New Documentary Unearths Valuable Techno History—With Some Glaring Omissions · Feature ⟋ RA". Resident Advisor. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  21. ↑ O'Neil, Tim (December 3, 2006). "Various Artists: High Tech Soul: The Creation of Techno Music [DVD]". PopMatters . Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  22. ↑ Coney, Brian (August 13, 2019). "The history of Detroit techno is explored in new documentary, Black to Techno". DJ Mag . Archived from the original on December 25, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
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