Rich pickings

“The Art Of Noise were one of the first acts who used sampling quite heavily and the title was my way of paying homage to what they and other, similar acts did in the past.” Richie Hawtin, one of techno’s most revered names is revealing the meaning behind the title of his latest mix CD, DE9; Closer To The Edit. Apart from the subtle reference to the legendary act’s finest moment, it’s Hawtin’s way of linking electronic music’s past to its future. “It’s people like them that make you realise DE9 isn’t exactly a new idea, but it is done in a different way. “

Despite Richie’s modesty, there’s no question that the thinking and modus operandi behind DE9 is revolutionary for the mix CD concept; selecting over one hundred tracks, Hawtin then cut and spliced the chosen music down to its most basic components, reinterpreting and re-creating the remaining three hundred loops in his own inimitable fashion. Hawtin’s last mix project Decks FX & 909 was a more traditional offering, yet Hawtin insists this latest work is a logical progression.

“There is definitely a continuity between both albums in the sense that I’m making use of whatever technology is available at the time alongside the normal DJ turntable set up,” Hawtin observes, adding that the marked difference between both releases is “the nature of the technology I was using and the way I used it for DE9; this was more of a studio album than Decks FX & 909. However, if you listen to the first CD, as it develops it takes on a dubbier feel and it’s more technical than the start of the mix, closer to the sound on DE9.”

So, while its predecessor was hewn from predominantly pounding, punishing rhythms, re-jigged through Hawtin’s hyper speed deck skills and a little help from his beloved drum machine, DE9 sees the bespectacled one looking to a more subtle, dub influenced sound, albeit one sonically re-constructed by Hawtin himself.

“ ‘Decks’ was only a small section of my taste and what I’m like as a DJ,” he explains. “It was a representation of a two hour DJ set I’d play, while the second mix is more like what I’d do if I was given five hours in a club!” To his credit, it would have been far easier for the Canadian DJ to include the same “big techno superstars” that featured on ‘Decks’, but Hawtin had a new game plan for DE9. “I wanted to use this mix to introduce lesser known producers to the public, to highlight more obscure people,” he reasons. “Many of them don’t sell more than five hundred copies per release and putting them on a mix like this gives them the attention they deserve.”

It’s this raw material that makes it possible for Hawtin to re-create such a compelling, hypnotic mix, if he had chosen uninspiring music, DE9 could have ended up sounding like every other standard techno mix CD. I put it to Hawtin that this is the most important factor in the process and that most people who listen to DE9 will only place a secondary importance on his technical prowess.

“Yes, before there can be any technical wizardry there has to be good music, it has to work in different situations and for different people,” he agrees. “Irrespective of the style of music, you can’t prescribe to the listener how they should listen to it and what level their enjoyment should be on. If someone wants to listen to DE9 as purely a dance mix CD, then that’s fine with me, if they want to deconstruct it and analyse the technicalities of the mix then that’s OK as well. There are different layers of understanding and various levels that it can be appreciated on.”

Hawtin hopes that, rather than merely remaining a testament to his own skills, that DE9 inspires other budding DJs and producers to great heights. It’s exactly for this reason that he lists all the technology used on the CD’s sleeve notes, a move he claims has already provoked some controversy among his contemporaries.

“I want people to know how to do all this,” he says. “Without naming names, I have had disagreements in the past with my peers about this; these are people who think I’m making it too easy for everyone else to do it, that it isn’t real’ anymore I hate that attitude because it’s exactly what I got ten years ago from rock musicians who said I wasn’t a ‘proper’ artist. Everyone can have access to and use the technology I use, that’s the great thing about it.”