Genre: Detroit Techno
Detroit Techno Militia
Description:

Status: RECON:313
Location: Brussels, Belgium

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dennis@detroittechnomilitia.com

Der Mercenary was born and raised in Detroit, and since an early age, he’s been influenced with the social and artistic movements, which arose in that city. Heavily inspired by the early Detroit techno culture, he began collecting records and DJ’ing in 1996. After a move to Chicago in 1998, he began to spin at rave parties, clubs and radio stations around the Midwest (Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee). In 2000, Der Mercenary began compiling his studio equipment to produce his own techno music and started spinning overseas in Europe. Around the same time, he began performing with more than just decks, using the infamous Richie Hawtin’s “Decks Efx & 909” album as an inspiration, and performed with various effects and with his 909 on occasion.

In 2002, he moved back to Detroit, where he acted as the Vice President of Mission: Detroit association – organization dedicated to promoting electronic music and philanthropy in the city of Detroit (www.missiondetroit.org). In 2002-2003, Mission:Detroit threw bi-weekly techno parties in Detroit, which featured der Mercenary as a frequent performer playing beside famous names such as Terrance Parker, Gary Chandler, Keith Tucker of Aux 88, and Derek Plaslaiko. He was also a co-founder of the now defunct www.mp313.org and for over four years he had showcased Detroit and like-minded artists’ productions. Der Mercenary has performed in many different countries on numerous occasions, playing at Triebwerk in Dresden ( Germany), Clues ( Belgium), Cologne (Camouflage), and Rewers and Paragraph 51 in Poland. He tag-teamed with Kube72 (Ian Cheshire) for an official Movement 2003 afterparty, and played at just about every popular bar/club in Detroit (including the Works, Corktown Café, O’Blivions, McCarthy’s pub, Mission: Detroit, etc.) . In early 2004, der Mercenary moved to Belgium. He has since played in Germany, Belgium, and in Plock, Poland which was filmed and aired on VIVATV. He visited his hometown of Detroit for the Movement festival, where he played at the Nefarious booth solo, and with Derek Plaslaiko, Jeff Samuel, and Adam X. Since moving, Der Mercenary has also been playing in and around Brussels, at the Full Moon bar, for Sam et Allain productions, and has been a guest DJ on Boups radio www.boups.com

The early roots influence Der Mercenary’s truly eclectic style to this day. In his DJ sets, Der Mercenary combines the Detroit classics with all forms of techno, industrial and new wave sounds to produce a truly unique dance-floor experience. His fearless, yet flawless mixing style, raw energy and pure delight in spinning translate into original and extremely passionate sets. His own work is characterized by impeccable sound quality, and is heavily influenced by the classic techno and industrial sound.