Juan Atkins: A Model Artist

Rewind to the early 80s and Atkins was resident of Belleville, Michigan: a small town on the outskirts of Detroit. As a high school student, he met Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May; the trio bonded over a love for the music played by Detroit DJ, Charles 'The Electrifying Mojo' Johnson. From the 1970s funk of Parliament, Funkadelic and George Clinton to the more experimental electronics of Kraftwerk, Telex and Gary Numan, the DJ's freeform approach to mixing genres and styles was a rarity on American commercial radio.

Inspired by what they heard, they formed the Deep Space Soundworks collective; DJing at parties and, after meeting with Mojo, providing their own mixes for his show. At this time, Atkins also began his own experiments with synthesizers and keyboards. When he began attending Community College after High School, he enthusiastically played the recordings to his classmates, including Rick Davis, who had already released a record of avant-garde electronic music as 3070 and was particularly impressed with Juan's efforts.

The pair became friends and started producing together as Cybotron. Their first single Alleys Of Your Mind released via their own Deep Space label in 1981. Thanks to considerable airplay by Mojo, the record became a hit in Detroit, with follow-up Cosmic Cars helping them land a record deal and setting the wheels in motion for their album, Enter.

However, differences on the musical direction of the band led Atkins to break away – he wanted to concentrate on a more electronic sound while Rick and the third Cybotron member, John Howesly, were keen to move into rockier territory.

"When Cybotron split we went our separate ways and I started my label, Metroplex," explains Atkins. "I started recording solo as Model 500. Basically, Rick and I had different visions musically".

In 1985, he released his first Model 500 single, No UFOs - a track that's generally considered to be the first 'techno' recording. Over the next four years, Atkins was at his most prolific releasing further singles including Night Drive, Interference and The Chase amongst others; all further defining this new sound. "I was very young, full of hormones, so it just came naturally to me... it was just the thing to do," says Atkins of this particularly creative period.

In 1993, Juan signed to Belgian label R & S, who gathered his earlier Model 500 singles on compilation album, Classics; releasing the mini-album Sonic Set the following year. His first full LP, Deep Space, arrived in 1995 - which featured work with Kevin Saunderson, François Kevorkian, Moritz Von Oswald and vocalist Aisha Jamiel.

"The story behind my collaboration with François is an interesting one," he recalls. "I was over in New York when Kevin Saunderson invited me to work with him on an Inner City track. I laid down some parts but Kevin felt that it didn't really fit with what he was doing... he thought they were too futuristic sounding, so he let me have them for my own production. When François came to the studio and heard what I'd be working on, he asked if he could be involved and the result was Milky Way on the album."

That same year, Atkins played live as Model 500 for the first time at Detroit's Cement Space Gallery to celebrate the tenth anniversary of his Metroplex label. Recruiting Keith Tucker of Aux 88 and Underground Resistance's Mike Banks and Tommy Hamilton to form part of the Model 500 band, the four played a number of sets over a weekend to enthralled crowds.

"Back then there wasn't a lot of ways to have your tracks sound as good as the records when played out live," says Atkins, explaining why he hadn't performed earlier as Model 500. "I didn't want to do a show and not perform it properly... it wouldn't have represented the sound I'd produced in the studio."

The Model 500 incarnation that will be performing at Triptych first played together last year; the line-up still features Mike Banks alongside Atkins, but Mark Taylor and Milton Baldwin (aka DJ Skurge) have replaced Aux 88. Atkins is set to record a new Model 500 album with this line-up in the next few months, his first since 1999's Mind & Body.

"I'll get started in April, but first I have to finish building my new studio. Hopefully by May we'll have something solid and I'm looking to have it commercially released in the summer; I want it to support the further live shows I've got planned."

Described as one of the 'Godfathers of techno' thanks to his creation of what was a new sound on his early Model 500 releases, Atkins admits he had no idea of the impact it would have. "I knew I wanted to do something different and that I wanted to be ahead of my time, so to speak, but I didn't really foresee the global phenomenon of the sound."

So what does he think of the way techno has now developed so many off-shoots? "New technology has allowed people to make the sort of music that it just wasn't possible to do 20-odd years ago. It's healthy to have different variants; I don't think there's necessarily specifics when it comes to techno. Electronics is the main thing - innovation with an electronic base."