Detroit techno pioneer Juan Atkins has died, but his legacy lives on
The godfather and co-originator of techno made an indelible impact on modern music history.
via Juan Atkins
Juan Atkins, the godfather and co-originator of techno, has died.
Atkins’s management company, Green Smith Artists, confirmed his passing at 64 yesterday, November 1. No further information on his death is available at this time. He was scheduled to DJ on October 31 at Yu Yu Club in Mexico City.
Born in Detroit and growing up in Belleville, Michigan, Juan Atkins bought his first Korg MS-10 synthesizer when he was 15. Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, and Atkins met in high school, eventually becoming known as “The Belleville Three” for their close-knit dynamic, shared studio, and their collective contribution to the founding of techno.
Coming out of the post-civil rights era of Detroit, Atkins and his contemporaries revolutionized the use of hardware instruments coming predominantly from Japan into what we know today as techno. One of Atkins’s first projects was Cybotron, a collaboration with his friend Richard “3070” Davis that merged funk, electronic instrumentals, and futurism. Their sound can be heard clearly on their 1983 song “Clear” – a track that dominated dancefloors around Detroit and was pivotal in the early formation of techno. By 1985, Atkins had created a solo project called “Model 500” and a record label, Metroplex. Within the year, he released the track “No UFOs” as Model 500 on Metroplex, which is widely regarded as one of the first “proper” techno tracks.
In the following decades, Juan never stopped DJing and took Detroit techno across the world, recently playing the Dekmantel festival in Amsterdam. This year he released Infiniti Collection, a reissue and compilation of classic material from his project Infiniti. Along with Dekmantel, Juan had a packed year of gigs – he played ADE in Amsterdam on October 23, for an event celebrating four decades of Detroit techno. He also played in Istanbul, Tokyo, Osaka, South Korea, New York City, and many other locales worldwide, even getting to stop at home for Movement festival in Detroit.
In 2013, Atkins recorded a FADER Mix at the popular Warm Up Party at MoMA PS1 in Queens, New York.
Atkins's legacy lives on through his essential contributions to dance music culture and his vital role in shaping Detroit and international music history. Rest in power, Juan.