Detroit Techno Militia is proud to present another chapter in Detroit's techno history: Abdul Qadim Haqq. He has been serving the techno music community since 1989 and he is dedicated to Techno Visual Art. His artwork continues to inspire fans all over the world.

Abdul Qadim Haqq
Third Earth Visual Arts / Underground Resistance - Detroit

If you have ever bought an Underground Resistance record, a Red Planet one or been to the old Submerge building on Grand River and looked at the ceiling you know Abdul Qadim Haqq. For over 16 years, Haqq has contributed to the science fictive creeds of the Submerge crew, Juan Atkins, Derrick May and others by making visual worlds that are synonymous with the music. Characters such as The Illuminator or Firekeeper legends all have Haqq’s multimedia infusions. Each time he writes or colorizes one of the riddles to the multi-cultural electronic disbursements of funk the underground resists more junk talk about the mainstream having a chokehold on the world’s sound consciousness.

Haqq, (AKA the Ancient) spent a lot of time with television as a child and got his first ideas about other life from TV space cadets like the Star Trek family, Speed Racer cartoons and all sorts of fantasy. He did not know that he would draw from those days of channel blinking to literally illustrate what the tales of the Little Bighorn looks like remixed into Techno. After completing art school, he met Banks in ’91 and did his first project for him. He recalls having the same feelings about the sound then and now. “It [the music] always sounded like it was from beyond this world.” At the time UR was new but the music had already been living and Haqq knew this from his nights spent dancing at the Music Institute, which is burnt into the city’s history of computer dance jams. One day Derrick May skimmed some of his journal entries on Native American rituals and chose some of Haqq’s notes on the Lakotah for the backsleeve of his magnum opus, Rhythim is Rhythim’s “The Beginning”. That instance was just one of the increasing moments of Haqq’s eye and eye (third and physical) visions that are evenly building optical rapture.

Jacob Lawrence’s urban inspired hues flipped into almost fluorescent space people at a party are one way of describing Haqq’s new Submerge mural. However, the green dreadlocked man called “The Martian” definitely exhibits some Afro sci-fi reality. DJ Rolando’s key to the Aztec Mystic for the “Vibrations” CD contains more text from the Ancient. When asked how he picks and matches the otherworldly sounds to specific cultures, he explains: “The rhythms are tribal and Native Americans as well as African-Americans have healthy tribal histories.” His Islamic practices also inform the work because as he says, “Techno can be about realizing your fullest potential spiritually, the concepts work across the board.” The cover for Scott Groove’s, “Music in the City” is another piece from Haqq that melds his sight of cement verging on the fantastic approaching stuff farther than the stars.

Since ’98 he became the artist for most of UR’s productions. And working for others is one part of his mission as he develops more for art shows. Haqq’s role as the Ancient is a further affirmation of the fact that we do hear and see sound.

by Tamara Harris

Upcoming Event
August 11th, 2006 - London, England - ISF2 Movie Primier and Art Exhibition

For more info about Abdul Qadim Haqq, please visit his site: Third Earth Visual Arts

Detroit Techno Militia is proud to present a brief history of Anthony "Shake" Shakir. If you aren't familiar with one of our favorite producers/dj's, now is the chance expand your knowledge base.

Anthony "Shake" Shakir
Frictional Recordings - Detroit

One of Detroit Techno's great unsung heroes, Anthony "Shake" Shakir has been a talent integral to the genre since it's formative years. Like many producers, Shake started out as a DJ while at Cooley High School (also the alma mater of Carl Craig), though he spun Electro, R & B and funk rather than House. He was introduced to Derrick May and Juan Atkins (and subsequently the nascent Techno subculture in Detroit) through DJs Mike Huckaby and Eric Sims. Shake had been experimenting with keyboards around the same time, and gave some of his tracks to May on tape. By his own admission, those early songs were "pretty terrible", but one track that mimicked Fingers Inc.'s "Mystery of Love" caught May's attention and he recognised Shake's potential.

Before long, he found himself contributing to the seminal 1988 compilation Techno! - The New Dance Sound of Detroit on 10/Virgin. Shake recalls recording his contribution, "Sequence 10", while compiler Neil Rushton was in Detroit finalising the album's running order. But while other artists rode the waves of attention that the compilation attracted, Shake remained behind the scenes for several years after, preferring the roles of producer, A & R and remixer instead. Many have benefited from Shake's talents and connection to May, Atkins and Saunderson - most notably Octave One, whose suprise anthem "I Believe" he co-produced, co-wrote and mixed.

Shake re-emerged as a solo Techno artist on Metroplex with 1992's 5% Solution EP and continued to find outlets such as KMS, Trancefusion and Peacefrog. In the following years he founded two labels: Frictional Recordings with Claude Young in 1995 and Puzzlebox with Keith Tucker in 1996. While Puzzlebox is now Tucker's responsibility, Shake continues to run Frictional on his own and the label has provided a home for brilliant an diverse series of releases, including "Mood Music for the Moody", "Club Scam II" and the "The Revisionist's Theory".

In addition to his Techno productions, Shake has also been involved with local hip-hop artists like Scarelly Moe. He has also remixed many artists, including Inner City and the Belgian Techno-pop band Telex, but one of his finest moments remains his co-production of Urban Tribe's exceptional album for Mo' Wax, The Collapse of Modern Culture (1988).

-Tim Barr, Techno: The Rough Guide

Bj was bitten by the music bug at a very early age. As a young boy he would listen to the radio for hours at a time, imagining that one day his music would be the sound coming out of those speakers. As fate might have it, his creativity and talent would guide him down a path to help create and influence an entire genre of music. So, who is POSATRONIX?

Bj was born and raised on the east side of Detroit. The shear struggle and rawness of Detroit city had certainly influenced his perspective on life. But even having gone through learning the hard lessons of life, he never gave up, and music became his mental escape, his absolute outlet for imagination and creativity. While attending high school Bj. met Tommy Hamilton. They discovered that they had a lot in common. Both were in the dance scene and soon after became partners in the legendary Devo Dancers and Cosmic Dancers, going on to dominate the Detroit dance scene. They would create there dance routines to the music of groups like, Kraftwerk, Model 500 and Soul Sonic Force (Africa-Bam Bata). That’s when it really started to hit him and he knew right then that this music was something he had to do. He later teamed up with Tommy Hamilton, Keith Tucker and Tony Horton to form an R&b Band called "Regime". Long after that, he joined the Military and served four tough years as an Airborne Ranger. Upon his return in 1989 he teamed up with Keith Tucker and Jesse (Beck) Anderson to form the group "Frequency". They toured the local scene, unleashing a fury of raw unreleased original Detroit Techno. After years of playing, he became well known and respected for being a very talented drum programmer and awesome keyboard player. He could play just about any instrument he put in his hands, and his talent began to shine. But it was his keen ear, his ability to meticulously dissect notes and frequencies that would set him apart from the rest.

Bj's fascination with sound and frequencies had totally consumed him. He submerged himself into the art and studies of sound theory and engineering. He was what the people in the music industry called a "Studio Rat". In other words, he practically lived in the studio. Eventually becoming one of the most well known sought out producer/ engineers in Detroit. During this time, his good friends Tommy and Keith would sign with Direct Beat Records and go on to create the Legendary group "AUX 88". After receiving a call from Tommy, Bj joined the AUX team as a partner. His engineering skills was the perfect fit and would soon be put to the test. While in the studio, he worked on track, after track, after track and "POSATRONIX" was born. Tucker and Hamilton offered him an opportunity to work on the "Alien FM" album, and then he created the Detroit Electro Classic "My AUX MIND". Soon after Keith left to pursue his solo career and Bj. filled his position. Upon joining AUX 88, Tommy and Bj would go on to record the "Man or Machine" and aggressively toured Europe and the States. Together Bj and Tommy pushed the Direct Beat catalog to new heights and recorded remixes for several artist including " Control" for Undergroud Resistance and " Cripy Bacon" for Laurent Garnier. Later, Mike Banks gave Bj the task of Mixing and engineering "Millennium to Millennium" by Timeline which went on to be another Detroit classic by UR.

Now it was time for him to focus and channel his energy into POSATRONIX, and Direct Beat was certainly behind him. Bj reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out a record call "Shake it". Little did he know, this would go on to be a Detroit Classic as well. He would later record some of the " POSATRONIX" catalog on Direct Beat with such records as: DANZ, NIGHT VISION, 142 mph and a host of other POSATRONIX material. He would then later release "CONDOR" (The Auxmen) and "The Hubble: Posatronix Mix" on "Puzzlebox Records". Bj also gave a sample of what’s to come on the release of "POSATRONIX 2010". Credited as one of the pioneers of the Detroit Electro Techno Bass movement, William (Bj) Smith continues to amaze us with a unique sound of his own. 

So, what is POSATRONIX?, who is POSATRONIX? . The answer is in his music. The mission of POSATRONIX is to transmit Detroit Techno Music in its purist form. To create an epic, a body of music that attaches itself to the soul. To create something that will last forever. Not because it sounds good, but because it feels good. There is no doubt that this soldier has paid his dues. When asked, he said "Earning your stripes is good, but keeping them is what counts, and when people acknowledge your work, that's when you know you've made a difference". POSATRONIX is now releasing his musical vision on the well anticipated label "Cratesavers" together formed with "Trackmasta Lou" .POSATRONIX is sure to stamp his signature sound on generations to come.

Charles "The Electrifying Mojo" Johnson was a Detroit, USA radio disc jockey from the 1970s through the 1990s, whose on-air journey of musical and social development shaped a generation of Detroit music-lovers, and was of paramount importance to the development of Detroit Techno. The trio of artists widely cited as the founders of Detroit Techno, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, and Derrick May have all made mention of Mojo's influence on their musical development. Second generation Techno artists like Richie Hawtin (Plastikman) and Carl Craig have also praised the diversity of Mojo's playlist.

Mojo's seminal radio show ran from 1977 through the mid-1980s, and while broadcast on stations marketed at the African-American market, his programming was an inspired blend of the best soul, funk, new wave, and rock that defied standard radio industry formats and genres.

He is recognized for having "broken" many artists into the Detroit radio market, including Prince, the B-52's, and Kraftwerk, and was occasionally thanked on-air by the artists for his support of their work. Because his habit was to play entire recordings without interruption, regular listeners became deeply familiar with each recording.

The amount of influence that Mojo had on his listeners cannot be overstated. Detroiters from this era still speak of the diversity of Mojo's shows, and it is a common opinion that if someone is from the Detroit area, it's Mojo's fault if they are a Prince fan. Mojo would often play hours of Prince's music, not only his hits, but deep album cuts, b-sides, and sometimes bootleg tracks as well. Prince returned the favor by granting Mojo a lengthy live interview following a sold out birthday concert at Cobo Arena in June, 1985. A rarity during a time when Prince rarely if ever granted interviews. When Prince was about to release a new album, Mojo would often play the album in its entirety, and this practice continued into the '90s.

Mojo moved from the smaller WGPR to WJLB in its prime years, then on to WHYT as its star passed.

Juan Atkins
Juan Atkins, a Detroit disc jockey (born 1962) who started spinning in 1979, coined the term "techno" to define the high-tech funk of Cybotron, his joint project with Rick Davis. Juan Atkins had begun playing keyboards and synthesizers as a teenager inspired by George Clinton. From the beginning, Atkins had realized the potential of the emerging electronic instruments.

Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson were high school buddies that had an influence on him in choosing to start recording the music that was flying in his mind. Their friendship would soon be cemented through the collective Deep Space Soundworks, founded in 1981, and their downtown disco, the "Music Institute". While in college studying music, Atkins met Rick Davis, a synthesizer expert who had just recorded an experimental record, and history was made. When very few people were paying attention, Cybotron was producing singles such as Alleys Of Your Mind (Deep Space, 1981) and Cosmic Cars (1982) that were changing the concept of dance music. The album Enter (Fantasy, 1983) contained a track, Clear (Fantasy, 1982), that was almost instrumental and already had all the attributes of techno. Techno City (1984) introduced the term "techno" to characterize a fast electronic beat. Atkins left Davis and new member Jon 5, who veered towards rock & roll, and move on to explore techno music. His first single as Model 500, No UFO's (Metroplex, 1985), is generally considered the first techno recording.

Atkins was a visionary, but followed in the footsteps of visionaries who had come before him. His aim was a futuristic music that would wed the most abstract funk of Parliament with the robotic synth-pop of Kraftwerk. Cybotron was his album-oriented project, while Model 500 was his.

In 1988 Atkins, May and Saunderson traveled for the first time to Britain and Atkins was invited to play in front of a huge crowd at one of the open-air events, so called "raves". Atkins soon became a staple of London's underground and helped spread Detroit techno to the rest of Europe through links with the R&S label in Belgium and the Tresor label in Berlin. The latter's duo of producers Thomas Fehlmann and Moritz Von Oswald joined him for 3MB (Tresor, 1994)

The mini-album Sonic Sunset (R&S, 1994) and the debut Model 500 album, a sci-fi concept titled Deep Space(R&S, 1995), featuring The Flow, were landmark events, as were the Classics (R&S, 1993) compilation of early singles and the Infiniti Compilation (Tresor, 1995) of obscure 1991-94 tracks recordings under the moniker Infiniti.

Infiniti's Skynet(Tresor, 1998) is a quiet and ecstatic work that sails off for the galaxies (Skyway, Postcards from the Future).

Model 500's Mind and Body (R&S, 1999) was a rather pale follow-up to Deep Space.

After a six-year hiatus, Atkins' The Berlin Sessions (Tresor, 2005) harked back to his Cybotron roots.

20 Years of Metroplex 1985-2005 (Tresor, 2005) is a comprehensive 2-CD career retrospective.

Originally born in the late 80's, SCAN 7's first release, "Voices Beyond", came out on the Submerge compilation, "Escape Into The Void". Next, he unleashed projects such as, "Introducing SCAN 7" and the "Undetectable EP" both on Underground Resistance, & an exclusive "S.I.D." EP entitled, "Invisible Thoughts". In the late 90's TrackMasta Lou's made contact with Europe's most respected European label, Tresor Records - Berlin, Through a close liaison with Dimitri Hegemann (President/ceo of Tresor and credited for introducing Detroit Techno To Europe) TrackMasta Lou released many rare recordings on the Tresor compilations. Later TrackMasta Lou put out two collectible albums with Tresor, "The Dark Territory" and the "Resurfaced" album. Both were laced with a deep dark dose of classic Detroit Style Techno, and embedded with the imprints of the SCAN 7 trademark drums.

Other labels, that SCAN 7 released material on Soma, Fcom, End to End, Elypsia, and Pow Wow Records. TrackMasta Lou then went on to form, what is now the legendary SCAN 7 live act! The group is most famous for it's ninja like appearances, often dressed in black with black masks and hats, the use code names to protect there true identification, they believe it's not who you see, but what you hear that is the most crucial element in Techno! SCAN 7's most famous release to date is the "I AM FROM DETROIT" EP which includes 2 fantastic Detroit anthem's "I AM FROM DETROIT" and "YOU HAVE THE RIGHT" on display in The Detroit Historical Museum for Detroits Gift to the World".

Keith Tucker aka DJ K-1
The music scene in Detroit has a long history of producing many forms of music. Detroit has been influential in the celebrated "Motown Era," to the globally influential age of "Detroit Techno." Detroit will always in some way drive the world in music.

Detroit DJ's and Producers, in their unique ability, strive to progress into the future by putting a little of themselves into each track. This ability allows some to feel a special vibe that produces visions of the future by embracing the past.

Keith Tucker, an Artist and DJ, has captured this vision in his recordings. Tucker, founder and formerly of AUX-88, known as Alien FM and KT-19941, has moved into a new direction with his futuristic movie score sounds of Optic Nerve.

During the early part of the 1980's, Tucker focused his talents on playing his exclusive music via mobile DJ'ing. These transmissions of his exclusive music were most effective through street parties and various underground venues. Spinning the likes of Kraftwerk, Cybotron, Parliament, Human League, Derrick May and the Soul Sonic Force, to name a few. On the radio, in and around Detroit, this music was playing, and Tucker discovered that keyboards and various drum machines had taken over his life. Various other aspiring artists, Ron Cook, Tommy Hamilton, and Anthony Shakir, helped redefine Techno with wicked drumbeats and synthesized bass tracks strictly for parties.

In 1985, Tucker, Tommy Hamilton and Tony Horton formed RX-7, a local Detroit Techno band. They performed great hits by such groups as Cybotron, Kraftwerk and the Soul Sonic Force. There were many unreleased original tracks performed by RX-7. The band played at local events in and around the city of Detroit. Wanting to pursue personal projects, the band decided to disband a year later.

Starting out in Classical Music during his grammar school years, Tucker went on to learn music sequencing. He also pursued a College career in Technical Illustration, Computer Graphics and Mechanical Engineering. This in turn with a love of Classical Music has helped him to appreciate music as an art form. He learned that he had gotten more into the SCI-FI aspect of music because of the moody strings moving faintly in the background. Tucker's style of Techno conveys this in the various bass lines intermingled together too not only convey the title of his music, but feelings of being elsewhere.

This art form of music led Tucker to buy older models of analog gear and pursue sending out demo tapes to various local Detroit Techno labels. He received a response from Metroplex Records; Juan Atkins label, and signed as Frequency. Under this alias, Tucker recorded such tracks as, "Television", "Frequency Express", and "New Jack House." On the track "New Jack House," Darren Muhammad of Adrenaline M.O.D. did the vocals and Juan Atkins did the mixes. Tucker learned a lot from his experiences with Metroplex Records.

In September of 1992, while working on new tracks for Metroplex Records, Tucker received a visit from Tommy Hamilton. They brought their experiences together to form AUX-88, and found that their music talents had matured since the early 1980's. Using their Detroit Techno background, the two quickly accumulated a mass of new tracks together, as well as individually.

AUX-88 wrote a lot of new tracks with a brand new vibe. The futuristic blend of Electro, Bass, and Trance, that they call Techno Bass. In 1992 the first single, "Technology," transmitted by Direct Beat/430 West, immediately over took the Detroit club scene.

"When we heard the tune, we knew the guys had made it in Detroit, for Detroit, so that's where we released it, DETROIT," exclaimed Lawrence Burden of 430 West Records. Burden explained that 430 West had no intention of selling Techno Bass anywhere else except the U.S., but Hardwax (the only underground store in Berlin, Germany) got wind of it, and demanded we sell it to them. After that, the world just caught on to Detroit's form of Techno and made their own. After the first successful single, AUX-88 produced their monumental double EP "Bass Magnetic."

While creating a new identity on the Techno scene, AUX-88 brought about new feelings among other Techno artist. This was demonstrated through a truly historical event brought about through Juan Atkins of Metroplex Records. Tucker (K1), Tommy Hamilton (Tom Tom), and Mike Banks (Mad Mike), was approached by Juan Atkins to help organize and perform Atkins first ever-live performance as Model 500, on October 13, 1995 for Metroplex Records 10th anniversary celebration. This live performance was performed in downtown Detroit and was a huge success. This historical event brought Press and Guess from as far away as Austria to see Model 500 perform "Clear", "No UFO's," and "Technicolor," to a standing room only crown of on lookers.

Tucker received an invitation to perform December 16, 1995 at the MAYDAY gathering in Frankfurt, Germany because of his outstanding performance from Model 500 and his background in Techno. There was a highly energized crowd of over 28,000 plus Techno fans from all over the world. Tucker was the only DJ to spin an entire musical set of all Electro. This MAYDAY event was televised world wide via the Internet. K1's Electro set was greeted with many cheers of acceptance and autograph seekers.

Tucker felt it was time to leave AUX-88 and explore his other areas of interest in Techno music. He decided to pursue his alter ego solo projects Alien FM, Optic Nerve (Now signed to OMNISONUS Records of Paris), and KT-19941 on PUZZLEBOX Records (co-owned by Tucker and Wanda Dixon). Tucker feels that his style of Techno is uniquely his own and he was not being recognized for his various projects done totally solo. Many of his projects were being perceived as being group projects.

In May of 2000 Detroit was host to the largest free Electronic Music Festival In the world. Tucker brought together old and new artist to form RX-7 again for the festival. AUX-88, XILE, Black Electric, and Optic Nerve performed on one stage for the first time. Tucker vision of unity came together during the DEMF.