Feature: Model 500 - Remake/remodel

Thomas Cox heads to the D to check under the hood of the new live incarnation of Model 500.

Awesome article. Can't wait till the Fabric show, although it's a shame it's happening at Fabric, and in Room 2. WTF?

this was the best article i've read in a while, although i don't know the validity of asking juan "why this still matters to him" - still, dope article, hope i get to see this tour.

" I used to be like "Dude, that shit is gonna come back", but just the way it is at the festival (DEMF) right now: Moby. Everybody is going to forget us. "

discuss.

awesome article man.

no one's gonna forget these guys... there's too many torch bearers out there.

when techno comes up in conversation, i've never said more than a few sentences and not mention the black detroit origins - it's essential knowledge man.

NOTHING CAN GET MY MAN JUAN DOWN! HE IS DETROIT.

good interview.

Good stuff! Had a wicked weekend in Glasgow...
Anja Schneider, Adam Beyer and Dave Clark on friday night @ the arches.
Where some girls told us about Model 500 playing on saturday!
It was great concert! Funky as hell!

interesting read, but it is a bit weird interviewing model 500 without actually talking to juan...

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Posted by chrisdisco
interesting read, but it is a bit weird interviewing model 500 without actually talking to juan...

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uh, i did talk to juan. he was not present with the other guys and his answers were rather short because he was not in good health.

"Testing 1-2"

The Butcher
www.detroitfightclub313.com
"Sounds of Stereo"......

fantastic interview, these guys deserve the world and I hope to god they get it

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Posted by mindatlarge
" I used to be like "Dude, that shit is gonna come back", but just the way it is at the festival (DEMF) right now: Moby. Everybody is going to forget us. "

discuss.

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I think he's on point on this one. I'm from Amsterdam and there are a few parties overhere with the real Detroit sound. So I've attended DEMF the last 2 years and it's almost similar to the parties in Europe. The minimal movement had a greater attention than the Detroit sound. The real Detroit Stage wasn't buzzing as the Beatport stage. So this year I won't make the trip because the line up isn't that attractive.

On the article: good stuff!

When's the Fabric show on guys?

Nice interview Tom!

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Posted by asek_wonder
this was the best article i've read in a while, although i don't know the validity of asking juan "why this still matters to him" - still, dope article, hope i get to see this tour.

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i'm glad you liked it. the reason i asked him that question is simply because it is the oldest alias in techno music. he has been doing things under that name for over 20 years. so many electronic artists will change monikers and the like, i thought it would make sense to explain why he still feels a connection with that concept.

I love a little history lesson like that. Good to know that techno is still strong and fighting. Learn from your elders and you will definetly be wiser, plus you won't make the same mistakes.

Fantastic article and interview!
We need to spread this information. That's why R.A. is truly one of my faves today

The music is here to stay,i still listen to my UR collection almost everyday,good to know that there's still people out there spreading the music to the masses.Detroit techno forever.

hey tom,
great article. always nice to hear mad mike's perspective. couldn't agree more on the importance of emphasizing the detroit origins of techno especially to the incoming, younger fans. without it they get a skewed sense of where this music began and who the legitimate pioneers (past, present and future)really are.
respect,
kuri

Great article, Mad Mike is always a great interview subject. I thought the connections to Henry Ford and the actual city of Detroit were ambitious but ended going off track as per usual and added little to the piece. I think very few outsiders actually understand the connection between Detroit the city and its musical heritage(in my mind stretching all the way back to JL Hooker and his menacing "Detroit is Burning"-a real jahr null kinda song for the city.

hey that was a good read thanks as always!! one thing that kind off bugs me is this thing that black people have the rights to this music cause its Detroit and inner city stuff and to be good at it u must be from there! same thing came up on the forum for the recent mix by RH!! just as was stated in the interview this type of music was not taken up as much in there own country as in europe so surly credit must be given by these artist to the influence of its white audience! i realize this may sound a bit raciest but really im not just believe that music is for everybody and that colour or background should not matter sure these guys started a musical trend which i like as well as others and should be remembered !! but we should live the now create new music not live on the past wether its white black or whatever. peace not meaning to upset anybody

I gotta say Mad Mike is right on about how live music performs different than playing studio tracks. There's a chemistry with and through the audience and artist. Sometimes things get 'messed up' - but that is relative to what was carefully crafted in a studio.

Very good interview.
Sorry I couldn't get a photo in on time for the deadline, just been insanely busy these days. Gotta make cash where I can - this city is Dirty D real. Artists on the streets, connecting with people in live situations. I see artists on the bus around town, in the bars checking out each others' work, supporting, respecting, unifying. When you have an environment that offers little to feed off, everyone becomes a creator of a sort.

Then I go to events like I did today - a tour of the high schools with hip-hop legends speaking with the kids about violence and gang activity. I hear and see the disrespect of youth and I wonder where things are headed. Today's talks were full of personal messages that I would hope sank below the superficial layer shown of being 'cool'. I wish the talks today could have been delivered one on one, to connect with each and get beneath the peer pressure of a crowd. Hopefully when I put the video clips together people can review them alone and get in touch with the message in a real way.

It seems Juan has been "sick" for some time. I have heard crack people have suspected hiv any answers to that? He certainly has lost much weight over the past few years.
The new band I think is better than being backed by Aux 88 or the collaboration he had last year. I wish he would get off his duff and release some new music too, even if it's an honest open collaboration. That is one story that could come to light in how many of the so called Detroit classics shouldn't be attributed to just one individual.
The Moby thang, well he was really huge a few years ago for an album that essentially ripped off Blues vocalists. He isn't that relevant now and I am a bit surprised Mike even mentioned him but I guess it firmly makes the point of a white guy getting more cred than all the founders of this music. Who really gets the shaft are the old Chicago heads. Seriously why hasn't Pierre or Marshall Jefferson played DEMF?? Those guys are the founders more than Kevin or Derrek.

Anytime you get Submerge to open the doors to a conversation be prepared to be schooled. Nice work!

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Posted by pipecock

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Posted by chrisdisco
interesting read, but it is a bit weird interviewing model 500 without actually talking to juan...

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uh, i did talk to juan. he was not present with the other guys and his answers were rather short because he was not in good health.

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ah, ok. i wasn't sure because it said the interview was with all of them, but i couldn't find any quotes from juan.

nice work on the feature and get well juan!

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Posted by mumbles
one thing that kind off bugs me is this thing that black people have the rights to this music cause its Detroit and inner city stuff and to be good at it u must be from there! same thing came up on the forum for the recent mix by RH!!

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it's not about "rights to the music", none of them ever said you have to be black and from the inner city to make good techno. if you really think that's what Mad Mike is about you read more Mad Mike, he's all about transcending race.
guys like Aphex Twin, Basic Channel, Black Dog, Autechre, Orlando Voorn, Dave Angel and others got plenty of love from Detroit heads (shhh, there's even white Detroit guys who make techno too). it's more that sometimes there's a lack of recognition that that's where techno came from, that's it's roots. because the scene is so much bigger in Europe that's where most of the focus is, so these guys who've devoted their entire life to developing this sound can feel a bit left out.

I hear this all the time about how Detroit artists have this chip on their shoulder, and I suppose there's some truth in that, but you have to look at it from their position as black people living in one of the most depressed and segregated cities in the US. race is very real and effects their entire life often for the worse. for a lot of these guys making techno and djing was just about all they had of worth and they're damn proud of it, rightly so imo. don't go judging them because you live in a better social environment where maybe race isn't such an issue (see the Theo Parrish interview where he talks about his experiences living in the suburbs)

If you are from Detroit and had a passion for DJing and music production whether it is rock, soul, techno, r-n-b or whatever, we believe in performing and pushing the limits each and every time!!!

Model 500 was the sound then.....1987-1989. Model 500 is still the sound now. Detroit techno music has never been a "style" or a patch on a keyboard.

It is music form where a person's life experiences, attitudes, feelings and so forth are expressed through an unspeakable creative process where conventional sounds and tones are crushed, destroyed and......remade...remodeled...

Some artists get it, some can tap into, some really hear it....

For me, It Is What It Is.

The Butcher
www.detroitfightclub313.com
"Interference" from the "Electric Entourage".......

These guys deserve all the respect and the consideration for what they've realized.

I saw 3 weeks ago the Interstellar Fugitives show and it was really inspirational.
I hope to catch Model500 one day.

the other photo is mine if you care
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acidpolly/259649938/

& it's amazing how detroit continues to influence and inspire . check Patrice Scott , Keith Worthy Omar s , Minx and many many more . great article and more of this please .