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Kevin Saunderson: Fuse-in's Festival Producer
“Detroit has always been famous for everything from Motown to Madonna to Eminem. It's a market that's always waiting to explode...”
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It’s 9pm on Friday night and Detroit techno DJ and producer Kevin Saunderson is just leaving the office when RA gives him a call. For Kevin, who has taken on the role of Festival Producer for Detroit’s monster outdoor 3-day electronic and techno festival Fuse-in, in the past few months, leaving the office has meant exactly that, an office - not a DJ booth or production studio. Athough it would appear he has found enough time to grace all three based on his tour schedule and the forthcoming release of a new 12”, his first original release in some time.
Amidst the sound of honking horns in the background – what else would you expect from an interview with someone in the Motor City – RA caught up with Kevin Saunderson at the start of the final week leading up to the Fuse-in festival to see how he’s managed to put the festival together in such a short time and what we can expect next weekend.
You're often referred to as a 'Godfather' of the techno scene. However that term is also applicable in this instance given that you stepped in and took on the responsibility of looking after the, at very short notice. How has it been dealing with the enormous responsibility?
It is a heck of a responsibility but it's almost like everything we've experienced throughout our career. I think a lot of it is already self-built-in. It's related to everything, to the music, to performing at festivals, to realising how people treat artists. The hardest thing has been the timing. Obviously the more time you get to plan something the better. We'd prefer to have a little more time but I think under the circumstances we've done very well.
There's only one week to go before the gates open. Is everything on schedule? Have you needed to cut corners?
Well, next week is THE week. We've just got to send a few bills, do a few logistics, a few walkthroughs but right now is everything is set and ready to go.
What does the Fuse-in festival mean to you?
To me it represents the foundations where all this music started from. It's about people wanting to come back to Detroit to experience what they've heard about the music, what they know about the music and see where this music has come from. It will be in the city, right across the water and it's a great atmosphere being downtown. To have something like this festival in our city means a lot to me; to be able to bring it back here and make it happen.
Musically do you think the city of Detroit is still as rich in electronic producers and DJs as in the early days when yourself, Derrick May and Juan Atkins built the scene from the ground up.
I think talent is always here. Detroit has always been famous for everything from Motown to Madonna to Eminem. It's a market that's always been waiting to explode which has always taught me that it's going to be up-and-coming.
I think the festival will have an impact on our music scene, will inspire many to take different steps in the creative and cultural arts.
The festival has a new name this year. How will Fuse-in be different from the previous Movement festivals, which were primarily spearheaded by Derrick May?
There's going to be a slight difference in terms of staging and obviously the line-up is different. The concept is also a little different because we've added a little more hip-hop to it, that type of thing. We added MOS DEF and a few other hip-hop things.
I wanted to find a way to add a little pop, not a lot but the kind that I feel has been inspired in a sense by some electronic music. I think in America, you have to find a way to really bridge, to really fuse the two together in a way where people from both sides can understand both types of music because it's such a big country.
The line-up for Fuse-in features over 120 electronica and techno artists. Are there any particular artists who you personally invited to play at the event?
UR [Underground Resistance], Octave One, Richie Hawtin. People that I have relationships with and are friends with.
The biggest difference between this year's festival and previous ones has been the decision to charge an admission fee for the first time. How has the response been so far? How are advance ticket sales coming along?
The response has been mixed but there has still been an overwhelming amount of support for it from the people because they understand why we have to charge. They also understand that there are other events going around in the country here and around the world that cost $85 so I think people don't mind spending that amount.
It takes a little while to get used to but I'm hoping that people will just show up. It seems like they will but you don't know until the gates open. I think we put a good line-up together so when they look at what they came for, they can't go see most of those artists or even five of those artists for that price.
“I wanted to find a way to add a little pop, not a lot but the kind that I feel has been inspired in a sense by some electronic music.”
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The financial problems of previous festivals has been well-documented. How will the money from the ticket sales be spent? Will it be used to settle the debt from previous festivals?
It's going to go back into the festival. Some will go to the City and some will go back into the company. I have a moral obligation to try to potentially settle some debt. I don't have any legal obligation but I have a moral obligation.
It depends how it does. If it does really well and there's some money for next year and the city gets their money and everybody gets paid then that's when I will go and look at that. However there has to be a way to certify people with past debt because they can come out of anywhere. You can get a million dollars come from anywhere, you know, money owed. So we're going to look at that later down the line once we get past the festival.
What kind of international support have you received?
We've received a lot of support from the press and the media like TechnoTourist. We've got an international director based in Holland and he has been very supportive in getting some governments to cover some of the artists' travel and accommodation.
Other electronic music festivals in the U.S. like the Winter Music Conference in Miami receive a lot of support from Britain's BBC Radio1 network. Are you disappointed that there has been no support from England given it's in some ways an epicentre of dance music culture?
No not really given the short amount of time and the problems that we've had in the past. I think that it if we had a full year for us to get all those avenues involved, I'm sure they'd be more than happy to get involved. However with such short notice and [problems with] people committing it became problematic.
How accommodating are booking agencies especially when it comes to booking some of the bigger names? Were you able to get artists for reduced fees?
I think everyone has worked with us on this one. I think artists have pretty much always worked with us but in this case they've worked with us really well too. I think they realise that we are trying to pay people and that's why we have to charge.
They understand also that there's no guarantee that this thing is going to be profitable. People understand we want to see it happen and therefore have to make sure certain fees are met. The support has been enormous. A lot of people have just offered their services and time to make this thing happen.
How do you think you will feel when you take to the Main Stage for your DJ set on Saturday night? How difficult is to block out your responsibilities as an organiser of the Festival and concentrate solely on your DJ performance?
It's definitely trouble. There's no doubt about it because you're dealing with different issues and it depends on what the issues are at the moment. Even last year when I played, when I was helping Derrick [May] with the festival there were a lot of different issues we were dealing with. There were times when I was playing when it was definitely difficult hard to keep the focus. I'm only playing an hour and I'm going to try to relax and not be at the festival for a few hours before I play and just come right before I need to play, so I can just play.
The after-parties which take place at various clubs around Detroit are as much a part of the festival as the festival itself. Which ones will you be playing at?
I'm playing at Release, which is our opening after-party on Saturday
Unlike previous years there's no down-to-the-wire uncertainty about whether or the fetival is going ahead. As you mentioned earlier, everything is in place. Which organisations or people would you like to extend a personal thanks to for enabling the legend of the festival to continue?
First of all, I gotta thank the Mayor's Office because they finally stepped up and got involved; also the City Council, the fans and all the artists. This outfit has been very supportive. Just everyone you know; my staff, everyone who has played a role. The local community of Detroit has been very supportive.
Finally, what are your plans for the summer once Fuse-in and all your associated duties with the festival are over and you can concentrate more on the music side of things?
I'm going to tour and do Impulz in Holland and Dance Valley and some other festivals. I'll pretty much be touring from the middle of July through August and then I will head towards Asia, that kind of stuff.
I also have a track coming out called 'Say Something'. It's just been remixed and it should be coming out shortly, within a month. It's coming out on UDC, [the label from] the people who do Dance Valley.
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Published / Tuesday, 24 May 2005
 16 Comments
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