Intuitive Music

Derrick May

Born in Detroit 1963, Derrick May is considered as one of the fathers of techno and precursor of the Detroit scene in the mid-80’s.

Derrick May met Juan Atkins while being at school in the the suburb of Belleville and introduced him to the sound of synth pop pioneers like Kraftwerk and Gary Numan. During the school days, May met his friend Kevin Saunderson, with whom he lived when his mother moved to Chicago. Both of them were intoduced by Atkins in the art of DJing. In 1985, the three of them formed Deep Space Soundworks and they also worked with a local DJ named the Electrifyin’ Mojo.

Derrick May kept in touch with the emerging house scene in Chicago during his constant trips to the city to visit his mother, where DJs Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy were using elaborate turntable set-ups. Derrick May got fascinated by the community feeling that he saw in the scene of clubs like the Frankie Knuckles’ Power Plant and Ron Hardy’s Music Box as he recalls: “I was just a kid then, I didn’t make music or anything, but I was captivated by the atmosphere I found in those places. When Frankie played an electronic track the whole vibe of the place changed from ‘one love’ to ‘angelic’. You could smell nature against this electronic backdrop. It was almost supernatural. You were transported somewhere different. I’ve always thought that if I had the chance to re-live a moment in my life, that’d be it. Ron was a very radical DJ, mixing high pitched records, re-mixing Stevie Wonder tracks, he was future then, and he would be future now.â€? (Skrufff.com, 2004)

Derrick May later moved to Chicago for one year. When he returned to Detroit his idea was to take the spirit of unity of the Chicago scene to Detroit and he found the Music Institute, which became the craddle of Detroit’s underground scene and hosted the talents of Eddie “Flashin” Fowlkes, Blake Baxter, Carl Craig, Stacey Pullen, Kenny Larkin and Richie Hawtin, to name a few.

Derrick May debuted as a solo artist with the album “Let’s Go”, released in 1986 on Juan Atkins’ Metroplex Records. That same year, he founded his own Transmat label, releasing numerous techno classics such as “Strings of Life, “Freestyle”, “It Is What It Is” and “Kaos” where he made famous his classic sound characterized by the mix of hard percussive sounds with orchestral string samples.

Derrick May’s single “Strings of Life” became a huge hit in the UK coinciding with the British house explosion in 1987 and he was one of the first American techno artists to tour England. That same year the single “Nude Photo” would credit his work as one of the most innovative and soulful ones in the modern electronic music.

In 1991, Derrick May quit producing music, apparently as self-imposed reaction to the bad critics from the press to his single “The Beginning”, with the exception of a collaboration with Steve Hillage’s System 7, and he focused on his work as a DJ touring around the world. At the time he was close to sign a deal with Trevor Horn’s ZTT label to form a synth pop duo with Juan Atkins, but the rumor says that the deal never got to terms after May’s condition in the contract to avoid any appearance of the project on the Top of the Pop’s British TV show.

In 1995, a compilation of his most innovative tracks was released under the title of “Innovator” and he also contributed to the soundtrack for the famous video game “Ghost in the Shell”. He also released 1997 the remix album of house classics “The Mayday Mix”.

In 2003, Derrick May was granted control of Detroit’s annual electronic music festival, two years after the controversial scandal happened after Carl Craig’s was fired as an artistic director by the organization. Derrick May also changed the name of the event to Movement but he quit the charge in 2005 saying: “I learned that sponsors don’t give out money just because you have a great idea. The festival works as far as the public and the media are concerned. But it doesn’t make any money, and it can’t work like that. To try and redesign it at this point, when it’s already been riding on three wheels, would just be very difficult.”

In 2004, the governor of Michigan recognized Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson for their outstanding contribution to Detroit and culture worldwide and they were awarded with the Governor Awards for Arts & Culture.

Derrick May has worked with some of the best DJs and producers of the Techno scene, such as Juan Arkins, Kevin Saundrson, System 7, The Orb, and Carl Craig.