Tic-Tac-Troxler

Born in Kalamazoo, a half way between Detroit and Chicago, Seth Troxler was first introduced to house and techno by his parents; his stepfather was a radio DJ, while his mother knew producer Brett Dancer. However, it was his move to the Detroit suburb of Lake Orion in his early teens that properly began his involvement in the city’s techno movement, initially through gaining a job at the city’s legendary Memories and Melodies record store, working alongside the likes of Terrence Parker and Theo Parrish and later by attending his first rave, becoming completely immersed in the city’s party scene soon after.

Now bitten by the techno bug, he asked for turntables for his 15th birthday and his father duly obliged, also supplying him with a stack of records; including old Dancemania, Black Nation, DJ International and Metroplex releases. When he started out buying records, he focused on Chicago house music, however after hearing productions on German label Perlon he got switched on to its minimal style and began playing more of it in his sets.

Making friends with Shaun Reeves, Ryan Crosson and Lee Curtiss, who were of similar age and also passionate about DJing, he moved in with Reeves and Curtiss, the trio started the Tesh Club in the basement of their apartment with the name coming from the German pronunciation of ‘techno’. Bored by the music they were hearing whilst out, they wanted to party to the records they liked, also experimenting with sampling and recording to develop a ‘teshno’ sound which they tried to make “sexy, more downbeat; more experimental”.

It wasn’t long before he started organising proper parties with Crosson, while he was also an established DJ, playing across Detroit.

Then after graduating high school, he went to Germany to play as part of a small tour with the FXHE label, visiting Panorama Bar and Robert Johnson, continuing to travel to Berlin every summer to play, till in 2007, he decided to up sticks and move to the city, moving in with Ryan Crosson and Shaun Reeves.

Since then, his career’s snowballed, with a move into production for labels such as Crosstown Rebels and Wolf & Lamb and remixes for the likes of Radio Slave and Fever Ray. In a short space of time, his popularity has exploded, thanks to a DJing style that goes beyond the expected and a desire to create productions with longevity that he wants to considered as “art” and indeed, tracks like Aphrika and Love Never Sleeps obviously come from the mind of someone who wants to push things forward. Allied to his well-known, party-hard lifestyle (he considers himself a raver who got lucky) and you have a DJ that stands out in a scene bloated by so many who are happy just to play-it-safe behind the decks.

“He’s our favourite DJ of all those we’ve had play at the night and because he likes to play right across musical genres. He's even agreed to play a four-hour set”, says tictactoe resident/promoter Andrew Doran, explaining his re-booking. “He’s also a down to earth, easy-going guy and we’re really looking forward to catching up with him again”.