MSO x Jeff Mills + Derrick May

Jeff Mills cut his teeth in the scene as ‘The Wizard’ hosting a daily mix show on local Detroit stations for eight years, before founding Underground Resistance (UR) with Mike Banks, a Detroit Techno movement with a strong political view and voice. Mills was responsible for helping build the roster and ideology for the movement before his departure in 1991 to pursue a solo DJ career and launch his own record label Axis.

 Famous for his relentless pursuit of hardness and stripped down industrial sets, Mills is usually seen on stage using three decks and a Roland TR-909 drum machine. He has had various residencies throughout the world including, perhaps most famously, Tresor in Berlin and a four month-long residency as the artistic director at the world renowned Louvre Museum.

In addition to being an internationally renowned DJ and producer, Mills has written and produced film scores and soundtracks such as “Metropolis” and “Woman In The Moon” by Fritz Lang. Mills was last in Australia in 2014 when he played a sold out concert with the MSO at Hamer Hall as a part of last year’s Melbourne Festival.  Footage and details of the performance can be seen here.

Derrick May was part of Detroit’s Belleville Three with Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson, a group of early producers who tested the limits of spirit within electronic music and changed the integrity of the form forever. May’s career kick-started in 1987 with the release of his first record ‘Nude Photo’ (under Rhythim is Rhythim). Using the same moniker and via his own label Transmat Records, May released the seminal track ‘Strings of Life’, his biggest track to date which hit the UK during their house explosion of 1987-88 and saw him become one of the first American techno artists to tour England.

More recently, May produced music for the film of popular video game Tekken and took the reins of popular Memorial Day event, the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, which was renamed Movement for his stint as organiser in 2003 and 2004. May’s classic sound is typically energetic with a balance between percussion-heavy sounds mixed with string samples, which lends itself well to an orchestral accompaniment. May’s last time in Australia was in April 2013, performing a run of club show dates.