Events

The city of Detroit is undisputedly the origin point of techno. Even today it’s still heralded and respected as techno’s birth place and the city still manages to continue innovating. As well as housing the founding fathers of the movement, the city has inspired fresh generations of talent, each with their own desire build on the city’s solid techno foundations. At fabric this Easter weekend we are welcoming a selection of artists from the Motor City who operate across these generational lines, bringing two distinctive visions of the future of music along with them: the old and the new.

Taking inspiration from the Mayan prophets and the parties they all enjoyed in Detroit during their formative raving years, Visionquest will be bringing their own hopes for a new phase of party-making to Room One. The four sided DJ outfit made up of Seth Troxler, Lee Curtiss, Ryan Crosson and Shaun Reeves are set to launch their Visionquest 13 tour with us in what will be their only London club date together this year.

“The ‘Thirteen’ concept is to create a series of thirteen immersive environments where we alter spaces that you may already know,” offers Seth Troxler.

“We’re stripping it back from what you might know and refocusing on what’s important, which is the connection between us and the people who are there,” Reeves continues. “There’s a lot in the theme of the event about the old cultures and new cultures, the old and new paradigm on a big scale and a small scale in our lives.”

Then, across Rooms Two and Three, Kevin Saunderson, who alongside Juan Atkins and Derrick May was himself part of the movement that birthed the techno music we love, will be presenting Curators of Techno. A new project established to set the old and new guards of Detroit talent side by side, Curators of Techno shows respect for both generations inviting them to interact with each other and simultaneously present each of their own sonic identities.
“It’s about the evolution of Detroit techno and the way that the originators have influenced the talent that followed,” Saunderson offers of the project. “The main aim of the tour is to let the world experience this great history of producers/DJs - from the beginning of Detroit’s early days up until the current - working together on the stage and performing.”

In Room Two Saunderson will be calling on Kenny Larkin, a musical innovator in his own right who found home on the iconic European labels R&S, Warp and Peacefrog, to bring his sci-fi techno soul to the proceedings alongside sets from Saunderson himself and Kyle Hall. A definitive product of the new wave of Detroit, Wild Oats label founder Hall has firm alliances with his Michigan forefathers having provided a recording home for Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir and Scott Grooves, but more importantly he’s defiantly forged his own path, with his own productions garnering the same kind of international respect his older cohorts also command.

Room Three is where all of this motoric energy will come to a head though, as Patrice Scott, a Detroit native who himself is directly inspired by Saunderson’s work, will be anchoring the room as well as going back to back with Kyle Hall. Alongside a back to back performance from Saunderson and Seth Troxler, this’ll be the spot where the old school really collides with the new, with the two physically jostling against each other to create something new, fresh and completely unique.