FUTURE UPwith JEFF MILLS Interview by Marianne Jacquet Photo by Yoko Uozumi
Jeff Mills is a visionary artist from Detroit born in 1963 and a legend of the electronic music scene. Together with Juan Atkins, Derrick Mau and Kevin Sanderson, he contributed to build what became Techno Music.
Following his creative instinct for more than 2 decades, Mills has explored the dimensions of sound far beyond the club culture. His career is an example of artistic freedom and ethics. It is hard not to mention his involvement with the collective, Underground Resistance, that set the techno music free from social discriminations and distributed the sound of Detroit all around the world. Since 1992, Jeff Mills is releasing his music, Cine-Mix and film productions on his label Axis records. Interview Opening track: Terry Riley by Africa Express Beside the incredible fascination of watching the artist in motion whilst creating, the Exhibitionist 2 has a strong didactic aspect, is it a desire to present Techno music as a more accessible medium to a larger public? Yes, exactly. My objective is to show the creative process from beginning to end and how everything is pulled together in the form that most people here it. The “track” or the “mix” I think by showing this will allow for a better understanding, and hopefully, a better appreciation of the art form and genre.
seriously, rather than always for entertainment. If we can all agree that we need music, then it’ll be around for as long as possible. Do you think that it is a duty to educate and communicate on a more intellectual level and to ennoble Techno music? Yes. I also believe that producer have a certain amount of responsibility to try and bring something new to their listeners. That, at some point in the course of their careers and work, an effort to go beyond what is expected should be normal. They should feel free to do that and not confined by the opinions of the public and media.
The diversity of your work, is close to a researcher, always out framing to another environment, your approach to music is almost anthropological. Have you ever wished to quit music for physics? No, I’m quite occupied with trying to figure out how to describe things through Music. It’s more than a full time job! I think that the usage of translating subjects of certain relevant topics gives more value to the purpose of music. If we can do more with music, then as societies, we’ll might consider music more
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The constant appetite for the future and novelty of this former student in Architecture lead Jeff Mills to break with the patterns of music genres and art conventions. Answering to the invitation of the Louvres in Paris, Jeff Mills succeeded in ennobling techno music alongside the pianist Mikhaïl Rudy with whom he performed « When Time Splits » in front of the psychedelic masterpiece film « l’Enfer » of Henri-Georges Clouzot Jeff is presenting, on September 25th, a second opus of the « Exhibitionist 2 », a DVD and record but above all an opportunity to enter the maestro’s mind and the core of the machine. Mills explains to us his vision on his artistic and scientific collaborations starting now - FUTURE UP! You have built in your career a bridge between the club scene and its industrial background and some of the most respected cultural institutions, are you fighting the dichotomy between these two worlds are embracing it? I have no problems working at both levels. In fact, I’m learning a great deal from other ones and applying it to the other. These new experiences are shaping the way I perceive and what I strongly believe to be of substance. As an artists, I could not asked for anything more than this. When you are improvising on your instrument, is it the same mindset that drives you when you are performing on a film score? No, it’s different. Improvising is an immediate psychological response. A gesture based on how I feel or that I’m convinced I could accentuate by doing a particular thing at that precise second or moment. In scoring film and the
way I manage it, I first memorize the film and mostly compose off of my memories of certain scenes. Then, I’ll watch the film and measure the length and duration of the Music in order to make them fit into each part or scene. How do you sync with other humans and other machines? In Classical performances, synchronization is managed when the conductor and musicians hear a click or pulse sound that’s being created and generated by my drum
