Richie Hawtin: Techno’s future-focused pioneer

Nostalgia  

Another reason we’re feeling nostalgic is that Richie has just received the Outstanding Contribution gong at the DJ Mag Best of North America awards. The award, given to figures in electronic music who’ve positively shaped the landscape over their career, has Hawtin reflecting once more — something he’s not too comfortable with. After all, isn’t nostalgia the enemy of techno? 

“It is and that’s why I try not to look back too often, and having an award like that, there’s a weight to it, so you have to stop and reflect and think,” he says. “It is, on one hand, the enemy of techno and the ethos of where this music came from, [but] it also celebrates how strong that ethos has been and how it’s created a whole foundation and tapestry of music that continues to evolve today. We all dreamed and hoped that we could continue making music for our lifetime and that techno wasn’t just a disco fad or something — we’ve proven that it has staying power, but can it continue to evolve?” 

With over two decades nestled firmly at the heart of the genre, Hawtin’s in a better place than most to comment on the new batch of techno releases and artists that are fronting the genre’s current global wave. “I can hear records coming out now and I hit my forehead and think ‘I can’t believe someone’s made a record like this.’ It sounds exactly like a record that came out 20 or 30 years ago and people are going crazy for it. And y’know, it works because it worked before. I can’t put myself in the shoes of this generation, hearing any kind of techno record for the first time, because I’ve heard them for 25 years. So, I’ve got to find new ways to excite and inspire myself with new forms, but I [also] wanna be open to letting everybody appreciate everything that’s come before as something new and fresh.”

That freshness he seeks isn’t just what’s inspiring him, but inspiring a new generation of audiences that have migrated to his recent shows, as techno’s global ascension continues to attract EDM converts. “I was at Ultra [Miami] recently and you can look at it in different ways,” he begins. “Sure, it’s a huge EDM festival, but it’s also a festival that’s expanded from one Resistance [the Ultra-owned, techno-heavy, underground-leaning event series] tent to I think three, and is opening up the gateway further to kids discovering our style of music. 

“During my set I could really feel like some kids out there, it was their first time hearing our music. They were responding in a way that they might to a more commercial EDM act, responding to big drops, but they were just starting to get sucked deeper into our culture. It was funny at times, but it was overwhelmingly positive and incredible — this is another generation, they are getting floored by the kind of music we’re playing, they’ve never heard this style. This is exactly what was happening to us back then.”  

Underground 

One of the common threads among more underground — albeit less reactionary — producers and DJs during the EDM explosion, was that it would eventually lead to a stronger underground. As those who were initially intrigued by the sonics of EDM, matured and developed their tastes, they’d eventually seek something more esoteric as they discovered their niche. It’s a mantra Hawtin firmly believes in. “So much has happened over the past five or ten years, we’re all looking around thinking ‘Wow, how did techno become so big?’ And it is part of that EDM explosion, it is part of bringing and welcoming more people than ever before into our wider electronic music community. The people that walk through that door are looking for a lot of different things and some of them find this little techno corner, some by accident, some by constant searching over months or years.” 

As the current genre-du-jour, techno is definitely seeing something of a resurgence, but is its ethos being eroded in the process? “We’re not the small, underground, unknown, faceless community we were 25 years ago, but in comparison to the scope and size of electronic music, we’re still the weirdos in the corner. I wanna celebrate us weirdos in the corner with other weirdos who allow us to play cool records, and twist people’s heads off and still feel like we’re taking techno into the future.” 

Ultra did bring with it the powerhouse that is Resistance, but only a few days prior to our chat — still soundtracked by intermittent drilling — KFC had purchased a DJ slot at the Miami festival, where a swollen-headed Colonel Sanders serenaded the bemused crowd with a haunting refrain of “I’m Colonel Sanders! I am everywhere!” Recently too, Red Bull Music Academy and Red Bull Radio announced they’d no longer be operating, at least in their current form. Two very different examples, but similar at their core — brand-sponsored electronic music-related projects. Given Hawtin’s underground credentials, we wonder what he believes the continued role of brands in music will be — positive and negative — and if the EDM bubble brought with it new and engaged techno fans, did it too bring with it the commercialism that drew so much ire in the first place? 

“In the early ’90s, when electronic music started to get its first surge of popularity, major labels came in and signed some underground acts, other underground artists were doing mixes for Madonna. Sometimes people would ask ‘Are they selling out?’, but I always thought ‘Stay the course, have as many like-minded people around you, stay independent, grow.’ What I’m trying to say, I don’t think there’s anything different now than there was 20 years ago. There were always people poking into our scene with money and ideas, promising things, telling people they’re going to make them a star. Some people went that way, others didn’t. There’s enough of us that stayed as connected as possible to where we came from, grew with the scene, and stayed true to our values.” 

He’s sat forward now, clearly a topic he’s considered before. “Everything’s more visible. Information flow, social media — back in the day, Plus 8 was offered to be bought by one of the majors. John [Acquaviva, Hawtin’s label co-owner] and I were having meetings, they were gonna take the label, take the artists. Of course, we didn’t do it, but that was all happening it just wasn’t so much on everybody’s radar. 

“The explosion of EDM was crazy. It sucked some of us up, it sucked me up a little bit, just by how big it got. We did Plastikman Live at EDC — of course there were a lot of people scratching their heads, but there was also a lot of people saying, ‘What is this crazy music?’. Beatport got bought by a major investor, and so did a lot of other festivals. There will always be people coming in and trying to take advantage of things that they don’t understand.” 

It’s refreshing to hear from an artist who’s evolved far beyond the underground, into the active consciousness of electronic music fans everywhere. Hawtin’s success means he’s by no means obliged to champion underground philosophies, but feels now they’re more important than ever. “It’s up to us as individuals and the scene as a whole, to have strong armor and deflect the people who are here for the wrong reasons, and stay connected to our brothers and sisters in the scene who are committed to this as a life-long experience and adventure.” 

CLOSE Encounters 

One of that adventure’s most recent offspring is his CLOSE show, a 75-minute audio-visual experience that combines DJing with live performance, introducing a spontaneity that DJing alone simply couldn’t offer. Using infrared cameras, Hawtin’s movements are traced and projected on giant screens, giving the audience an abstract glimpse into his art as he darts from one piece of kit to the next, his blurred, smeared limbs leaving ghostly projections behind. 

“I’m always listening and giving and receiving as much energy from the people around me as possible,” he explains. “That’s what I love about performance, that’s what the art of DJing is, more than any other art form in my mind. When you’re really doing it well, when you’re really locked into the moment, you’re listening and responding, there’s a level of sensitivity in a great DJ set that is unparalleled. 

"You have this repertoire that you can dig into: records, frequencies and loops, listening and navigating in the moment, you’re on the trip as much as anybody else. That moment is the epitome of techno. Searching and discovery, mystery and adventure at the moment of creation. That’s probably also why I do more performance than studio work — of course, performance takes me away from studio work — but the experimentation I can do live and what I’m doing with techno and CLOSE, that’s why I got into electronic music. Me, machines, people around, technology and frequencies, it’s like a little explosion you’re in the middle of.” 

Two years after he debuted the CLOSE concept at Coachella, it’s time to reflect once again, this time on the show’s influence and evolution. With rave reviews (pun intended), CLOSE’s transition from Hawtin’s mind to ours has been a success, but it wasn’t a simple path. “I know there’s a certain amount of people in techno, or underground, or whatever you want to call it, that don’t feel that this music fits at festivals on the main stage,” he says. “It’s a very fine balance, transferring this music from a club, an immersive experience, onto a large stage and still keeping the essence of the music. I’ve been experimenting with that for 10 or 12 years, and CLOSE is as close as I can get to creating a live techno show that can compete on that level — in front of thousands of people, next to a rock band or whatever.” 

Transitioning to the main stage can often be associated with theatrics, something Hawtin was keen to avoid. “Why it works, I think, is that there actually is no ‘show.’ All it is, is cameras going through computers and augmenting what’s happening in real time. I don’t have to worry about what’s happening behind me, there’s no real discussion about what I have to play or hitting certain timelines, I start and I go on my journey, and my cameras capture what’s happening, and we twist it just enough through visualization technology to turn it into this entertaining spectacle. 

“It’s like being with me in the studio, not caring if anyone is looking in, and doing something that’s turning me on, and I’m thinking ‘This is fucking cool,’ I could easily be by myself in my parent’s studio, in the same way as I’m on stage at Glastonbury or whatever, in front of 10,000 people.” 

Technology 

Hawtin’s relationship with technology is at the core of everything he does; from early days of tinkering with mechanical parts, to assisting in the development of timecode technology that eventually became Native Instruments’ Traktor Scratch and changed DJing forever, his investments in new music tech startups and, of course, the development of his own DJ mixer, the PLAYdifferently MODEL 1. While many of us consider the technological advancements of the past 25 years to be liberating — offering us powerful access to information, media and communication and the touch of a button — for Hawtin it’s more considered than that. 

As more and more DJs are adopting the ‘live’ ethos — be it with an FX box in the booth, a sequencer running custom loops or a full-blown live show — it’s not so much a transition to another form of DJing, rather a throwback to a time before technology homogenized the art. “The idea of DJing has become even more limited over time,” says Hawtin. “In the early days when I started, it was quite normal to see a DJ bringing an FX box or a reel-to-reel into the booth. As our culture has evolved, the definition of DJing has become tighter and more specific. The equipment in the DJ booth has now become — for a lot of people — CDJs and a mixer. I think people are searching for a way to find their own identity over just music alone. 

“That’s another thing that’s changed — when music wasn’t so readily available and you had your white labels that no one else had, your identity was built up from a musical perspective, which is the foundation point of any set: music. But now that everyone has access to the same music, how do you add something into that mix to give yourself more individual creative freedom? I think that’s maybe why you see people jumping into adding more instrumentation or bridging that gap between DJing and ‘live.’”

Dark side

Another progression in electronic music culture is less of a technical one. The discussion around mental health and the challenges that DJs, artists and professionals face while navigating our industry is continuing to increase, and with it, the realization of how serious the problem is. As a touring DJ of 25 years, surely Richie Hawtin isn’t immune to the darker side of dance music? 

“Oh man, I’ll tell you what, this scene is not easy. I’ve been through my crazy times of drinking too much, or partying too much, but to be honest, that’s the easy part,” he admits. “The constant touring, late nights, no sleep, isolation from friends and family, sitting in strange hotel rooms, having a not-so-good gig, it’s extreme highs and extreme lows. It’s honestly not something everybody can do. I don’t know if I was born to do this job, or if I re-engineered myself over the past 25 years. It’s difficult, and it’s even more difficult now with the size of the scene, social media, the personalities. It’s incredibly challenging.”

What are the things that he’s found can combat the darker times? “Sleep a couple of months a year, get away from the scene, away from some of the technology, closer to friends and family, the warmth of familiar surroundings — you need to find this balance. As soon as you have some sort of success, whether it’s a label or a hot record, you’re going to have hundreds, if not thousands of friends. Millions of followers. But it’s not real. You’ll meet some real people through that but you’ve got to find a way to realize who’s real and who’s not and remember to try and keep those people who you knew before, in the early days, close to you.”