Canadian DJ/producer Jeff Milligan has many accolades and releases to his name. Jeff’s work for PLUS 8 and Serotonin Records (NYC) were among the first released material under Jeff’s Algorithm moniker. Since then, he has developed a long and impressive discography with numerous releases on labels such as: Blank (Japan), Foundsound (USA), Tictactoe (Denmark) 240 Volts (UK), Background (Germany), Onitor (Germany), Mutek (Canada), Traum (Germany), Force Inc. (Germany), Switch (Canada/USA).

In this very honest interview with ITM’s PieroRuzzene Jeff lets us know his thoughts both positive and negative about the minimal scene of today and the Detroit connection of yesteryear.

You hail from Canada which seems to have a plethora of artists who have strong, almost spiritual connections with Detroit techno. Why is the bond so strong between Canadian artists and that city’s scene?

Most of the influential producers of Techno all came from within approximately 1000 km of each other in a very small part of North America when u compare it geographically so everyone was playing together. I think it’s interesting to note that Toronto in particular always fell under the shadow of Detroit even though the musical evolution in Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland, Montréal and Toronto and other smaller Midwest cities were relatively equal. Detroit and Toronto are 4 hours by car drive away, making Detroit the closest major city to Toronto. So there were so many influences coming back and forth along that border. I would have to sadly admit that Detroit never worked with Canada very much at all though. Sorry to be negative but a large percentage of the Detroit originators are quite racist and egomaniacal so they weren’t particularly interested in what was happening north of them, therefore, I don’t think the bond is strong at all. The +8 camp is our closest bond with Detroit but the +8 crew were not friends with UR etc… In fact they were largely in rivalry.

You have an extensive roster in regards to production. What is the process you go through to create a track?

I have always been into taking found sound sources like so many other artists from my genre. I love to strip sounds off obscure video and in particular, really love all the peer to peer video sites like youtube for stripping all kinds of good stuff. I like many other producers make my drum kits etc., out of all kinds of sounds that were not percussive in nature. I do micro-arrangements and then stack ‘em all and pull out the eraser tool till a macro-arrangement appears. I think my grandiose philosophy overall is to create dialog between sounds, to create a discourse.

Who are some of your strongest artistic influences?

The Beatles would be number one. As far as in techno, I can’t deny that Richie Hawtin was likely the largest all round influence in particular simply because I knew him and watched his career develop from a nobody to a star. Rob Hood was a big influence musically, as was Dan Bell and other local guys like this, back in the day. My original influences came from a variety experimental and ambient music, certainly as far as production is concerned. Aphex twin was by far my biggest influence. When I trace it way back, like many others, some early industrial, new order, Depeche Mode and the like was a formative influence for me. As a DJ, watching the DMC finals really got me into turntablism.

You played some legendary parties in North America’s Midwest. What was it like in the mid to late nineties compared to now in terms of the scene and the sound?

I think that many people attach a real romance to this period and idealize it somewhat, yet there were some points that were very very cool. I think so far as sound is concerned, what was nice about this period is that all producers were trying to one up each other, take it up a notch so to speak, especially in DJ culture. You simply had to be able to rock decks or you were really given some serious attitude. A DJ who couldn’t play well was really raked over the coals and I think this led to one of the most skilled DJ cultures the world ever saw. I think DJ technique has de-evolved since then. As far as scene was concerned, I must admit that the audience was still by and large a bunch of pill popping ravers like anywhere at that time. Some things never change. The difference back then was that parties had ambient rooms and the like and people really looked at listening to music in a more psychedelic or transcendental way. Though the rigorous DJ culture and the willingness to experiment has waned in recent years, I think we are about to re-enter a global renaissance once the oil age of electronic music finally passes.

Recording on Plus 8 and playing in Toronto you no doubt spent some time with Richie Hawtin. What is your opinion on the Minus/minimal techno aesthetic?

Wow I really do get asked this question too much! Minus like any other label puts out some great records and some shit ones, it’s all a matter of opinion. I think it’s a good label like any other. I personally like more complicated stuff than the typical minus sound and I prefer the old-school minus when it was more for the geeks and less for the after party. Minus is really successful because they market and brand themselves really well, with money that few labels have. At the end of the day I think they are average and a bit hyped but as I said, some of the releases really flip my lid. What Rich did with his empire is really impressive from the perspective of a small town Canadian buddy of mine. Aside from any artistic opinion I may have, one thing that takes minus a notch up is their new environmental policy. I have been arguing this same shit forever but when minus says it, people listen. I think it’s awesome that they are taking such a hard line responsibility for our planet in this self-serving, destructive and hedonist little electronic music scene we have.

How you separate yourself from your Algorithm alias in terms of production?

I don’t separate them. The reason I used the name algorithm was because it was my DJ name first. I used the algorithm alias back in the day because my given name is almost exactly the same as Jeff Mills. Back in the nineties it was tough for me because any public compliment would simply be applied to Mills because my given name was always confused with his.

What are the sonic differences? Your sound seems to have a strong experimental Warp kind of influence. Do you consider the IDM sound influential on your sound?

Massive, to this day I play lfo and sweet exorcist test one in my sets. Those tracks choke me up and make my hair stand up every single time I have heard them. I loved black dog, tricky disco etc., and as far as I’m concerned, Aphex Twin is god.

How has the digital revolution in the studio affected the way you work and your sound?

It was the best thing that ever happened to my production career because I can travel and work at the same time, and the non-linearity of digital production really changed the way I looked at creating music. Serato SL changed my life; regular records are annoying as hell to me now!

You have a long history of DJing. How do interact it with your production work? Do you ever play live?

Well I think that pretty much everything I learned about structuring a track came from my experience as a DJ. I do play live, but very rarely. As most people know, as a producer I tend to write rather subdued, down tempo, cerebral music that isn’t necessarily for the dancefloor. Lately I have been into producing way more for the dancefloor but it’s a recent trend for me. If I play live, I put the audience to sleep, plus I think it’s boring as hell to play live.

The ‘minimal’ sound you have been involved with for so long is enjoying incredible popularity in Europe for the last few years. How has that affected your DJing career?

Well every other DJ and producer play minimal now, and the definition of minimal has really changed. It’s funny that all the audience who criticised what I was doing as “weird” or for galleries and not dance clubs, are the ones that are all into minimal now. I also find it funny that today’s minimal fan pretty much has no clue what studio 1 or basic channel is, let alone wouldn’t even be able to name one innovator in the genre from 10 years past. So in some ways this has helped my DJ career since this style is so popular, but I think that very few new audiences are even influenced by it. Most of the new minimal audience’s favourite DJ is Magda and wonder who on earth I am. They just heard a rumour that I am allegedly some old-school guy that the scene looks at as an originator so they just accept that as fact. Sorry if that seems negative. The positive side is that there are so many people who stopped listening to trance and started going to minimal parties which is better for the world in general. ;)

What have been the highlights of your DJing career? What have been some the craziest parties you have played?

Wow, that’s a loaded question. So many parties in the past 20 years have passed me by. At the risk of being nostalgic… some of the old parties we did in the early nineties in Ontario were simply amazing. So much room for conceptualization, to experiment, and for massively big audiences. Generally I like small and tight parties but can u imagine that full on minimal techno parties in cities like Toronto were getting 4000 people. No kidding.

Listening to your records you seem to have a deeper, more dub inflected sound than most of your techno contemporaries. Do you have a strong love for dub music?

Growing up in Toronto, a city with a huge Caribbean and Jamaican community, it’s hard to not sound a bit dobby. I would say that this dub sound and even this dub style of DJing that I like to employ, came for me, largely from drum n’ bass. I’m a big drum n’ bass fan and I probably played as many drum n’ bass parties in the nineties as I did techno parties. I love the editing, the syncopation, the counter-rhythms in jungle and dnb and it massively influenced my mixing style. I was kinda the staple in the drum n’ bass scene in Toronto as the DJ who played the end of parties with all the whacked out shit. Many people don’t know it but Toronto was pretty much the drum n’ bass capital of North America for a few years.

Who are some DJs and producers out there at the moment that are blowing your hair back?

Wow, again, a loaded question because there is so much good stuff out there. I have to admit that the DJs I give props to these days day are the ones from back home, and it’s not from bias that I say it, it’s from experience. The best DJs on the planet are from that 1000km radius back home. Adam Marshall, Mike Shannon, Jeff Samuel and a few others from there are still the best DJs in the world to me. There are a bunch of unknown guys from Japan that I play with often that no one reading this would know, but I gotta say, the Japanese DJs are really highly skilled in general. The most notable new producer that I think rocks the world is Poland’s SLG. We met and played together in Warsaw some years back and I have been consistently blown away ever since. We’re proud to have him on our cynosure label. I think Akiko Kiyama and a bunch of the new Japanese producers are really creating some original and innovative stuff too.

You record for a multitude of labels from a variety of countries. Which label/country is really exciting you at the moment?

Japan and all for former Eastern block states… I will always bend over backwards to work with my old Slovak friends.

What is on the horizon for you in the next few months?

Actually, I plan to settle down and pull back on all my touring and DJing. I’m at a point in my career where I want to slow down on touring and spend a lot more time in the studio and stay put. Time to roll back and reflect for me so I decided to move back home to Toronto for a while and plan to keep on moonlighting between Berlin and Toronto.

Finally, what is the strangest thing someone has said to you behind the wheels of steel?

Hmmm, wow, there have been so many freaks come up to me and say random stuff. It’s likely that someone said something crazy to me in a foreign language that I didn’t understand. One girl told me she had an orgasm from leaning against the speaker when I was playing. ;) I have had pill poppers tell me all the “visions” they had during my set. That’s always entertaining.

You can catch Jeff play at Ladylux in Sydney this Friday 14th September and in Melbourne at Nano on Saturday 15th September.