“When I think of today’s definition of DJing it actually makes me realise that I’m not even really a DJ anymore,” muses techno ledge Richie Hawtin. “To the masses, someone standing up on stage with their hands in the air while they play the same playlist they’ve played for the last bunch of gigs makes me wonder sometimes what we can say real DJing is, any more.”

Well, just to put things straight, 42-year-old Richie is about as real as it gets if we’re talking about the realness of DJing. As part of Detroit techno’s second wave of artists [he's from Windsor, Ontario in Canada, just over the Detroit River] he pioneered the minimal techno sound in the early 1990s, most famously via his productions made as Plastikman.

And that’s before we even mention his record labels Plus 8 (founded with fellow techno man John Acquaviva) and M_nus. This year, his ENTER. parties — every Thursday at Space, were a highlight of the Ibiza summer season. And, since then, he’s been working towards this month’s mega-gig at the Guggenheim museum in New York (4th November).

“I’m literally working on it as I speak,” he says. “I want to create some special music and a special place for what will be a unique moment in time.”</span></p>