Artists are flawed, they say. Brilliant artists always have a crippling Achilles heel, they say. Vices that weaken their integrity. This scribe grew up with two role models. The first, Eddie Murphy, was viewed with such high reverence in his halcyon days with performances in Delirious, Raw, 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop and so forth. His proverbial star shone brightly, but true to the aforementioned law of fatal idiosyncrasies his output eventually wilted with a deluge of stinkers like Pluto Nash. Gifted artists often struggle with the duality of originator and maintainer, it seems. So how then, has this scribe’s other childhood idol Richie Hawtin managed to be such a regular tour de force of techno for over 15 years?

Having released his first records in ‘93, combining a sonic nod to Detroit with a governing minimal soundscape, Richie was one of the original proponents of the ‘new’ Detroit sound. He introduced the minimal aesthetic to the world under his Plastikman moniker, and has since dominated the techno crates with output from his Minus record label. He’s maintained respect among artistic peers and punters alike, by throwing the infamous sensory-distorting Compression parties in Windsor, Ontario in the mid 90s, introducing his seminal DE9 compilation in 1999 and innovating dancefloor technology like DVS, GPS and Bluetooth at his Contakt parties (witness his infamous ‘Cube’). Whether it’s monotony or consistency, he’s maintained a sense of focus rarely found in the agitated world of electronic music.

ITM’s Kitty Schmidt delves into the psyche that some (including Richie himself) used to call “The future sound of Detroit”.

You’re on tour in Australia soon playing at the Future Music Festivals. Outside of gigs, what do you have planned? I recall reading your now defunct Plus 8 travel diaries in early 2000 when you mentioned a love for scuba diving?

My god [laughs], you guys remember those things. I really enjoyed doing those diaries. I’ve been doing some diving in the here [in the Phillipines] actually. I’m really looking forward to coming to Australia. I’m doing the five main cities and I’ll be playing to the crowds which I haven’t played to in 3-4 years which will be exciting. I’ve got 4 or 5 days off in the middle, so I’ll be driving down Gold Coast from Brisbane, end up in Byron Bay, do some diving and meet up with a friend from highschool.

Derrick May once said in an interview that his DJ sets were akin to a conversation. The turntables, representing people, spoke to each other. They can listen respectfully, argue, banter. All the while, the crowd is listening in to this conversation. How do you conceptualise your sets?

I don’t think I can do it as eloquently as Mr. May, but I’m having a conversation between myself, with what I’m trying to do and play. The other second conversation is with the audience. I try to make this conversation as transparent and instinctual as possible, and technology helps me do that. I can manipulate and play and pick music as seamlessly as possible and hopefully that connects me with the people dancing in front of me.

Who are some artists on the Minus roster you’re excited about this year?

Right now with Minus, we’ve got a lot of upcoming projects, especially ‘the gang’. There’s a cool new project with Magda, Troy Pierce and Marc Houle, back together under their Run Stop Restore guise, collaborating with Click Box from South America. They’ll be releasing a joint EP shortly. Click Box will be releasing a solo EP in 2009 as well and they’re something really special. They’re from Sao Paolo, in Brazil, and they have a distinct sound. Really stripped down, minimal, 80s yet futuristic sound.

Matthew Dear will be continuing his releases as False. Bryan Zentz is coming out (with a release). Troy Pierce will be releasing under Louderbach with vocals. It’s downtempo, it’s alternative. I don’t know how to describe it but it’s really cool. A lot of exciting releases coming out and possibly a couple of offshoot projects.

You’re the stalwart of techno but you’ve tested the water in more abstract fields, especially with your recent Plastikman releases. Do you have any intentions on producing non 4/4, non-techno music?

Yes, I think that’s quite possible. Some of the projects and tests or experiments in the studio have been stripped down, more abstract than a typical 4/4 thing. But on the flipside, you’ll see both. I’m also working on developing a new DE9 project, which will definitely be more 4/4. My brain is definitely working on both sides of the plate. I think, perhaps, I’ve been too associated with 4/4 and the dancefloor. The last four to five years touring, gigging, DJing, partying. That’s great, but I need to strike a balance. Jump back into the weirder side.

Jeff Mills has recently explained that he’s trying to think past the paradigm of dance music for the dance floor. He did the soundtrack for Metropolis recently. What are your latest audio/visual ambitions?

I’m coming down my with visual artist Ali Demorov to all the shows in Australia. Even with the Contakt shows last year, although they were staged on the dancefloor context, they were our first towards pushing back towards an audio visual, interactive experience. If I perform at Sonar this year, it’ll be a left-field, non-traditional. Not your typical 4/4 type of thing. There’s a lot of thought, and hopefully progress into something left of centre. There’ll be something soon, hopefully sooner rather than later.

How’s your current digital setup? Having been on the forefront of technology in music, you’ve gone used some serious kit over the years. You used to tour with your effects machines and Roland TR-909 drum sequencers, then Final Scratch with Ableton. More recently, I’ve seen clips of you using Traktor?

Most of last year was Traktor 3. Part of that reason was that we locked down the technology last March for the Contakt shows in. In between, in the smaller DJ gigs, I’ve been using Traktor Pro, now I’ll be slowly moving into a total Traktor Pro format. I really like the program. It’s changed the interface, it’s changed the way I’ve been interfacing with it. I like the sets I’ve been doing with it. It smoothes things out in a way.

On that note, especially in 2009, the discerning punters have stopped the vinyl/CD/laptop debate. It was obviously an inhibition of yours to move completely into a non-turntable, digital format?

It’s funny, I was honestly very reluctant, even afraid to let go of vinyl and vinyl control solutions. I think I played without vinyl, with Traktor, for four gigs before someone asked me where the turntables were. There’s a small group of people who don’t like the idea of non-turntable DJs. I loved the years of doing that, and maybe after my 20 year anniversary of DJing I’ll play with vinyl. I want to feel like things are changing and progressing. I’m really enjoying playing with technology, things like Traktor and controllers. Technology can be a headache though. You need to find the right time, place to upgrade. You can’t jump into things too quickly. It needs to open up your creativity, not stifle your creativity. I think that’s a personal choice. It’s a great time because so much is available. Nearly anyone can get a laptop with Ableton or Traktor Scratch. It’s up to the person to create something individual that’s unique to themselves.

Catch Richie Hawtin on the Future Music Festival tour…

Sat 28th Feb – Future Music Festival Sydney
Sun 1st Mar – Future Music Festival, Perth
Sat 7th Mar – Future Music Festival, Brisbane
Sun 8th Mar – Future Music Festival, Melbourne
Mon 9th Mar – Future Music Festival, Adelaide

Keep your eyes on our Festival Page for absolutely everything Future Music Festival, and check out this clip of Richie chewing the fat with that other famous “originator” Grandmaster Flash…