Intuitive Music

Carl Craig

Carl Craig is one of the most important names in the Detroit 2nd generation of electronic music DJs and producers.

Carl Craig started getting in touch with techno music when, while attending school at Detroit’s Henry Ford College, he started a course on electronic music, getting aware of the early techno classics. Fascinated by the techno sound he soon borrowed some equipment to start experimenting at home with Detroit influenced beatless music, in lack of a drum machine. One of these homemade tapes containing a track called “Neurotic Behaviour” happened to reach the ears of the Detroit techno master Derrick May, who soon shown his interest to work with a 17 year old Craig, booking him into the Metroplex studios to produce the song. This was the start of a long term relationship between the artists.

Carl Craig’s early techno releases in 1989 were released on the Transmat and Fragile labels, under the monikers of Psyche and BFC, which were good examples of the most creative and personal techno music from the late 80’s. Shortly later Craig founded his own RetroActive label along with Damon Booker, where he released the works “Wrap Me in the Arms”, “As Time Goes By” and BFC’s “The Climax”.

In 1991, Damon Booker quit the label and Carl Craig relaunched the project under the name of Planet E, being today one of the most reputed electronic music labels which has released the work of artists such as Kevin Saunderson, Moodymann and Alton Miller. Craig also inaugurated the label with the release of the jazz oriented album “Four Jazz Funk Classics” (1991) under the moniker of 69, which is considered a revolutionary work of electronica that gave him the nickname of “the boys of genius techno“. This recognition was confirmed in 1992 with the pioneering work of drum ‘n’ bass “Bug in a Bassbin”, released under the alias of Innerzone Orchestra.

Carl Craig’s debut album “Landcruising” was released in 1995 where he paid tribute to his German influence by artists such as Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk. The album was followed by the albums “The Sound of Music” (1995) as 69, “Elements 1989-1990″ (1996) as Psyche/BFC, and “The Secret Tapes of Dr. Eich” (1996). In 1966, Carl Craig released an album in the famous “DJ Kicks” series from the K7 label, which was a confirmation of his recognition as one of the most important techno producers. A year later, Craig released the album “More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art”, which was originally his first solo work but still unreleased after his decision to wait until the end of his contract with Warner Bros. to make it live. The work that Craig had been nurturing he later named “my ultimate album” and it would become one of the most acclaimed techno and electronic music albums from the 90’s and it is considered. Shortly after the album, Craig joined forces with the jazz musicians Francisco Mora (drums) and Rodney Whitaker (double bass) of Sun Ra for a performance at the Tribal Gathering festival in 1997. The result was a unique combination of techno, drum ‘n’ bass, rap, soul and jazz, which was followed by the Interzone Orchestra’s album “Programmed” (1999) which also featured jazz pianist Craig Taborn, bassist Paul Randolph and Richie Hawtin.

By 2000, Carl Craig started working as artistic director for the Detroit electronic music Festival, which ended up with his being fired a few days before the 2001 edition when he was accused from the organization of failing to meet the deadlines for the delivery of contracts from 18 of the 73 performers. Carl Craig consequently sued the festival producer Pop Culture Media, claiming defamation of character and breach of contract and answered to the accusations with an stated that such claims were false and accused the president of Pop Culture Media of failing to provide him with artist agreements until early April, which didn’t give him enough time to finalize contracts. He also said that his contract didn’t include any deadlines for finalizing contracts and that his position as a respected member of the Detroit techno community allowed the festival to attract artists on the cutting edge of electronic music. The issue caused a big controversy in the Detroit techno community, which started a big campaign for the support of Carl Craig and the major Detroit record labels handed out stickers saying “I support Carl Craig”. Also, several of the artists announced like Mark Farina and LTJ Bukem dropped out of the festival and some others, like Laurent Garnier and Kid Koala, dedicated songs to Craig. In 2003, the city officials turned down Pop Culture Media’s request to renew its contract for Hart Plaza.

On Monday 28th May 2001, Carl Craig was awarded a special commendation from Dennis W. Archer the Major of the City of Detroit that recognized his founding role in the festival and Detroit music. Two years later, Craig won a partial victory in a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed against festival producer Pop Culture Media.

In 2001, Craig appeared in the Obsession label “Abstract Funk Theory” compilation with artists such as Derrick May, Juan Atkins and Richard Davis, and released the album “Onsumothasheeat” remixing the back catalogue of the Shadow label. 2002 saw the release of the double-disc package “The Workout” on React label, containing remixes of Craig’s early works.

Under the alias of Paperclip People has released his most danceable works, and he has remixed for and collaborated with numerous artists such as The Orb, Dave Angel, Yello, Depeche Mode, Can, System 7, Bandulu and A Guy Called Gerald.