This week’s Throwback Thursday features a true throwback artist in the EDM industry as he has been around for decades. Richie Hawtin was born June 4, 1970, in Banbury, Oxfordshire. He is very well known for being an influential part of the Detroit techno movement in the early 1990’s. It was in the early 90’s that he came to the forefront of the Minimal techno scene which he still dominates today. For those who are unaware of Minimal Techno, it is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetics that exploit the use of repetition and understated development. It is the repetitive beats that allows for the dj to mix and mash the original productions to create more complicated patterns to stimulate the listening pleasure of the audience. It is generally accepted that the 90’s was when Minimal Techno was established meaning the Richie Hawtin was one of the first to produce in this genre.
n the beginning of his career Richie Hawtin used the alias Plastikman. Most dj’s usually use one name for all their work but due to his enormous success, he still uses that pseudonym to go along with his actual name . At a young age he was influenced by techno due to the fact that his father was a huge fan of Kraftwerk. In his early 20’s he began to run the city of Detroit”s nightlife as he owned and operated several different big time clubs throughout the city. In the early 2000’s he moved to New York City and took over the Big Apple before moving to Berlin, Germany because he wanted to experience European Techno Music. At no point in his career has Richie Hawtin changed his style of music as he started his career producing Minimal Techno and still delivers music in the same genre. The reason behind his success throughout the years has been his live sets, as he mesmerizes the audience with absolutely mind blowing music and visuals to go along with it. In today’s EDM industry where the big name acts like Steve Angello, Steve Aoki, and Deadmau5 have all have gotten bashed at some point for playing pre recorded sets to go along with their light shows and confetti drops, Richie Hawtin plays a spontaneous set by using his equipment which one can see a little bit of in the picture above. The 3 songs in this article are The Tunnel, Spastik, and Minus Orange. To fully appreciate this legend’s career, one must understand that these productions are created to be used in various ways during a live set so that he can control the energy of the crowd as it radiates throughout the venue.
The Tunnel –
This song was chosen due to the beautiful representation of what Minimal Techno really is. It was also chosen because the music video somewhat provides a visual stimulation of what Minimal Techno is really about.
Spastik –
This is a production under the alias known as Plastikman. Hawtin unleashes a live electronic performance that takes hi mastery of technology to the next level as he incorporates state of the art visual architecture and interactive technology that blows the minds of the audience way more than any other performer in the industry today.
Minus Orange-
This was released on May 25, 1999, and shows the beauty of the dedication to the same craft used by Richie Hawtin. If one were to compare one of his newer songs to this 1999 classic, he/she would not be able to tell the difference because he never changed his style of producing. Almost every other producer that has been featured in previous TBT’s has experimented with different stlyes of genres within EDM, but Richie Hawtin is one of the few exceptions as he has never veered off of his love for Minimal Techno.
As stated before, Richie Hawtin/Plasitkman have become a legend in the Industry by dominating the genre of Minimal Techno and more importantly have become famous by the absolutely stunning live performances that leave each and every city begging for an encore. Hawtin will be performing in India at the end of February and looks very forward to playing there. He will be bringing his absolutely stunning live shows to Mumbai on Febrauary 21, Delhi on February 23, and Bangalore on the 24th (Info for the shows can be found here).
For your added pleasure is a link below from a Richie Hawtin set back in 2012. The set was performed in his current residence of Berlin, Germany and featured in the set are productions from his past and present which does an excellent job portraying his musical genius.
http://www.mixcloud.com/livesetsdjmixes/richie-hawtin-live-at-watergate-berlin-sat-25-08-2012/
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