TECHNO
RICHIE HAWTIN
Optimo at The Barrowland, Glasgow, Fri 26 April; the Venue, Edinburgh, Sun 28 Apr
TripTych has plenty to offer the seasoned Clubber with some of the greatest names from every genre cropping up at some point over the weekend (see listings for full details). But perhaps one of the most innovative is Richie Hawtin, famed for his minimalist techno and love of technology since the 80s.
So how did this lad from Canada become one of the biggest players on the Detroit techno scene? ‘When I was nine I moved from England to Windsor Ontario, Canada, which happened to be next to Detroit,’ he says. ‘So when l was a teenager if you wanted anything different, clubs, records, clothes, you went to Detroit.’
This led to him setting up subliminal record label Plus 8 with fellow Canadian and partner John Acquaviva. ‘We were playing records but we were like: “This works but I have an idea that might work better", there was a real DIY mentality back then,’ Hawtin explains. ‘John was older than me and had the business smarts and a studio. I guess I was the younger guy who had the drive and the energy to get John off his ass.’
HOUSE; DUB PAPA WASHINGTON TRIO Iguana, Edinburgh, Sat 27 Apr
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Technology geek and proud of it
Freely admitting to being a ‘technology geek’, Hawtin has used advancements in machinery, gizmos and computers as a defining part of his electronic sound. ‘Finding music that was made by or with computers really excited me,’ he says. ‘That’s always pushed me along with every album, what can technology do for me now? How is technology changing and how can that change my sound?’
Hawtin has always been pushing at the future of dance music, and now he is using a system called Final Scratch he can’t ever see himself going back to straight DJing. ‘It’s a system which uses turntables to control digital music files. It allows us old fart DJs to interact with the music in ways we are used to, by scratching, by back spinning, all those physical movements get picked up by the computer through a special piece of vinyl. lt transfers those movements into a computer and those music files interact just as it would if it was coming off vinyl.’
‘Not only is this type of festival exciting for the people but for the artists involved,’ Hawtin enthuses as we get onto the topic of tripTych itself. ‘You get new ideas and inspiration hearing stuff you might not of heard before.’
With enthusiasm like that its hard to tell who is gonna enjoy the weekend more. (Henry Northmore)
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Word up
The latest club news
FANCY A FREE PARTY WITH a twist? Well Budweiser is putting on two massive freebies. Not only is it bringing a triple bill of tip top DJ names — Junior Sanchez, David Holmes and Howie B — to its Bud House Party, but each venue (the Arches, Glasgow, Fri 3 May and Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, Sat 4 May) will be decked out like the biggest, mentalist, most phantasmagorical house you have ever seen (see picture). 30 expect to groove in the bathroom, breakdance in the bedroom and bust some moves in the living room. Tickets are going super fast, so get yourself along to Fopp (Glasgow and Edinburgh branches), the Arches in Glasgow or Underground Solu’shn in Edinburgh. Failing that we have five pairs of tickets for each city on hold for the List faithful, send your name and address to clubs@list.co.uk no later than 29 Apr.
PIVO, ONE OF EDINBURGH‘S premiere pre-club venues is not closing, losing its licence or anything of the sort. Certain beauraucracies, who shall remain nameless, have fumbled the ball and its 3am license has been postponed. But it is imminent and should be sorted out in the next few weeks.