Richie Hawtin [call him Rich] is a man who refuses to rest on his laurels. When the world was doing hard trance, he decided that 3-deck techno was the way of the future. Then when everyone caught onto that, he embraced a new technology – an unheard, untried and untested piece of hardware called FinalScratch. Years on, the hardware has achieved critical mass – everyone who is anyone and likes technology has it – yet Rich is past it now. Enter Ableton Live - the newest piece of ammunition in the Minus stable and with it, the most forward-thinking and brilliant release the world of electronica may have seen, ever. Indeed, some years from now when our children are enjoying themselves at clubs and dance parties Transitions might be the mix that is as talked about as Jeff Mills Live at Liquid Room or Richie’s own Decks-EFX-909 are now – the immortals. For Transitions is a multi track masterpiece of sound, that will never sound the same twice.
Charming down the phone from a dreary and wet day in Florence, Italy, Hawtin describes the subtleties employed in the thought and execution of the project. “The whole venture was about finding the nuances of the music. Closer to the Edit [another of his compilations released around the turn of the century] was created before Ableton and therefore, it was more complex to build structures and designs with it. It really foreshadowed the programs that would come after that time, that would take the original ideas, but make them more efficiently accomplished.” He explains further: “When I did Transitions, I had to look further into the technology – I thought about what makes me a better DJ and what I can add to the listener’s experience. To do that, I looked back at the original ideas of what a DJ was; and that was to create and play and expose people to new music and ideas, while entertaining them. The important thing was transitioning and building an experience or environment to see how they went from one moment to the next; and the bedrock of this idea enabled me to lock together loops and songs and to use human intuition to know what would work together. It was really about how deeply I delved and how music interplayed and transitioned to something that someone knew. I wanted to create some dynamics and tension and do what a good DJ has been doing for a long time – but to somehow weave a more complicated tapestry.”
The new project to which I refer incidentally, is more than just a mix CD – even though that on its own, is a brilliant and exquisite example of a minimal yet powerful sound. Transitions is more – and while the logistics of doing a complete audio-visual setup has in the past haunted Hawtin [do some research on Mutek] he refused to be beaten. “Doing video and audio together is a completely different world. In the studio it’s easier. It was important for me to have some kind of live element though, because I took that together with the Plastikman concept. The important thing with Transitions after coming up with the audio, was the concept of musically, how it was going to be built. I decided on digital 5.1 audio as that element; and given it’s a widely adopted delivery mechanism; it opened the option of video and in turn, demanded video content. The interesting thing was to find a balance between them and having them complement each another. That was always an idea for Closer to the Edit, but it was so complex we found it difficult to show people what was happening with the music. Now, with the technology available, it has become about construction and deconstruction. And I thought, why don’t we use the video on the main mix to give people more information about the sound; use it as a language.”
Either way, the end result is a desire to make music fun and entertaining. While his music retains the elegance and subtlety of the original Detroit aesthetic, it is still funky and futuristic and even experiments. Sure it can be hard, but not always; though it remains organic yet somehow refined at the same time. The evolution that was born in Windsor many years ago has today proven its ability to transcend genres, to overcome obstacles and to captivate generations. To this end, the evolution of music will bridge these different concepts and ideas together – and despite the great successes and the dismal failures – the experience of the future will almost certainly be in 3 dimensions. “We create stories to help people go to make believe destinations – we can make the future seem more like a reality and we need to use stimuli do that. One day we may even be able to touch and see all these things – perhaps it’s a really forward way of thinking, but just imagine where we can go with these ideas.”
Richie Hawtin Dates
Saturday 31st December, Melbourne @ Belfast (Oldskool Set)
Sunday 1st January, Melbourne @ Sunshine People
Sunday 1st January, Perth @ Sun Electric
