Radio!!

I am sorry for the lengthy silence. This new schedule with a full time job and kids is hectic and I have been taking some time to adjust before I get my research schedule back up to speed. So I don’t really have much news to report about the wonderful world of techno and house in Detroit. Although, Detroit radio is definitely a highlight of my morning and afternoon drives to and from work. The other day, on the way home, I was listening to WJLB 97.9 and DJ Fingers is on at 5PM for the drive home. He played Inner City “Good Life”!!! I’m not sure where else in this country, and maybe even in the world where you could hear on a mainstream corporate radio station, a local DJ playing something so significant to Detroit’s musical history. It definitely was a hit in its day in the late 1980s, but those kind of tracks don’t often make it onto radio stations anymore, unless it’s a college or independent radio station.

Radio, Obama, and Hockey

Something nice about having a full time job, aside from actually being able to support my family, is that I get to listen to the radio in the morning on the way to work, and on the way home in the evening. Sometimes I pop in a CD, like yesterday, I was listening to a couple of mix CDs from K-Hand, which were excellent by the way. And I heard DJ WhoDat’s voice chime in and realized that K-Hand’s mix was done live on WhoDat’s radio show Turning Point on Netmusique.com Wednesday evenings. But, I also listen to WDET 101.9FM, Detroit’s public radio station, Mix 92.3FM, a soul and r&b station, WJLB 97.9FM, another soul, r&b, and hip hop station, and, when I can get it in, CJAM 91.5, college radio from the University of Windsor, just across the river. For the past two days, on WDET, 92.3, and WJLB, there has been a lot of excitement about Barak Obama becoming the Democratic Presidential nominee. This excitement is of course because of his political views and perspectives, and because he is an African American. History and pride are two things that are repeatedly invoked during these on-air discussions about politics, race, Detroit, African Americans, and Civil Rights. I’m really excited to be living here at this moment in US history! Children and their parents, religious leaders, political figures, all kinds of people are calling in to radio stations to talk on the air about their support of Obama. There is just so much excitement and pride coming from so many different types of people and organizations and rallying around hope for Obama to become the next President of the United States!

Another, maybe less profound, but just as interesting story that I have been hearing on the radio yesterday and today is about hockey. And yes, hockey on Black radio! This is Detroit, it’s cold here for a lot of the year, and hockey is not just for white people here. Two days ago, the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup championships. There was a huge parade downtown near Hart Plaza this morning for the Red Wings. I didn't go...because I was working, remember?! But they carried the giant cup and other trophies on top of pickup trucks down Woodward from Hockeytown to Hart Plaza. Hockeytown is a restaurant on Woodward next to the Fox Theater and across the way from the Tigers' baseball stadium (Comerica Park) and the Lions football stadium (Ford Field). Hockeytown is also a nickname for Detroit.

There are so many interesting things happening here in Detroit right now and I'm so glad to be here this year. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is going through a huge amount of controversy with misuse of city money and an affair which he documented thoroughly through text messaging on cell phones. There is a huge amount of construction going on on just about all the major freeways here. That's been a drag, but it has given me more of an opportunity to explore Detroit using other streets. It has been great to explore different parts of the city when I go for interviews or go to different clubs and parties.

Looking forward to a weekend at home and heading down to the Detroit Festival of the Arts!

Movement - Part 5, Finally! - Until Next Year...

Sorry for the absence. I now have a full time job outside of the home, whereas before this week, I was a full time, stay at home Mom. There are so many ways that I am diverging from the traditional path of a fieldworker, and now having a full time job is yet another. But, I must remember that the traditional fieldwork story that some of us hold in our minds is probably not that typical as ethnographic disciplines, like ethnomusicology, anthropology, and folklore, continue to change over time. Working in Detroit is just one more way that I can learn about Detroit and experience life immersed in this city.

I will try to finish up my notes about the festival tonight in this post. By far, the star of the day was Soundmurderer, Todd Osborne. I had never heard him play before, he was excellent. He was playing at the Red Bull stage, the sound was great over there by the Detroit river at the back corner of Hart Plaza. I have been hearing about him for a while, and saw him talk on the panel at Submerge for the Red Bull Music Academy event about a month or so ago. He, along with Brian Gillespie do the monthly Family event at Oslo. There were a couple of excellent dancers with a square of linoleum taped down to the concrete for jit competitions. It was such an interesting crowd over there - lots of dancers, way more ethnic diversity than at any of the other stages that day. Along with Nick Speed Collection and Buzz Goree, Soundmurderer played music that sounded so new and different to me, but still along the lines of other forms of electronic dance music.

I think I am too tired to write this post properly. The rest of Monday was pretty exhausting and a bit boring - by that point in the weekend, many of the sounds were just blending together way too much for my little ears.

Didn't go out Monday night, we just went home to watch basketball and drink a beer.

Movement - Part 4

Sunday, May 25th was a disappointing day. I didn't make it down there until 7pm because of childcare difficulties. And, 7pm was the time that my volunteer shift began, so I knew that I was going to be tied up until about 11pm. I was hanging on to the fact that at the volunteer meeting with Paxahau, the event promotion company for the festival, they explained that even though we would be volunteering, we would all be wandering around the plaza anyway and would not really be missing any of the performances. Well...that was so wrong, I don't even know! First they had me stuck handing out free fruit in the VIP area, which consisted of a few of the festival musicians, press, and people who paid extra for VIP passes. Then after literally a few minutes there not knowing anything about what I was supposed to be doing because I was just plopped down at that booth, I get nabbed to head down into the Paxahau office "temporarily" to guard thousands of dollars of equipment and to check in and out two-way radios. Then they brought down another volunteer who had been working all day since 11am, and who had spina bifida and walked with a cane. It was nice to have someone else down there with me and it was nice to talk with her, but what a crappy shift. We got to listen to the metal door frame vibrate and squeak from the bass and watch the madness that was going on with all the ravers and other festival goers outside the windows of the office. The office was located in the underground area of Hart Plaza in between the Real Detroit stage, and the main stage. So my ears were getting a mess of rhythms and sounds with no way of distinguishing things and I was missing so many people that I wanted to see. I missed Punisher, but heard she had a great set. Missed Kenny Larkin, Ectomorph, Mark Farina, and Richie Hawtin. There were some others that I wanted to see earlier in the day as well, but I got there too late. It was just a really interesting day at the festival, and I was frustrated to be missing so much of it. But back to the office, so many people kept coming in, people who worked for Paxahau and had some mission to be there, and people who were just festival goers and wanted to try to sneak some free vitamin water or red bull. At one point, three cops came in and then just sat down to hang out. It was weird. They were talking to me a bit, and then there was just silence. Maybe they just wanted to sit down, but the police/first aid area was right next door!?! So finally, after making sure that they had a replacement for me, because there was no way that I was going to miss Carl Craig after all that, I got out a little after 11 and headed up into the cool night. Carl Craig was really interesting. He's one of the major Detroit techno guys and was one of the first organizers of this festival in 2000 and 2001. He was playing live and had some other musicians with him, one on a laptop, one with a few keyboards, and a saxophonist and clarinetist.

Then James and I walked back along the river walk to our car and headed home to check on the baby. I breastfed him and then I dragged my tired husband out again to Alvins, a bar/club near Wayne State University in Detroit for the Underground Resistance party. It was excellent, and I'm so glad that I chose that party to go to. We got there when Buzz Goree was spinning. This was another moment when I heard really new, interesting sounds this weekend. His set was excellent - I feel like I need to hear him play a few more times before I get a good sense of how to describe his performances in words. Then we saw the Aquanauts (Bileebob and Milton Baldwin). They were excellent. Really interesting electro-funk-punk kind of music, I don't know if that describes it well, but I'm trying. Bileebob was the vocalist and he was electronically manipulating his voice into the mic, emphasizing the highs and lows at different points. His dancing was something to see. He's a great performer. Really robotic, sharp, harsh movements - not silly 80's robot, nice, clean, pristine movements. And Skurge was really great too - really interesting, hard, intense but simple rhythms. Then the Suburban Knight came on and again, great set. It was just a great night! Nice way to end a frustrating day. I ran into Cornelius Harris there taking photos up at the stage. Had a nice chat (well, a yell) with him about coming down to the Submerge building for a tour. Looking forward to it!

More tomorrow. Yes, there's still more...

Movement - Part 3

I just want to add briefly a few words about the Moby set. He was at the main stage in the bowl of Hart Plaza.

Here's some photos from flickr of Hart Plaza. These are not my photos, I just searched for Hart Plaza on flickr.
And here is a map of Hart Plaza. This is from the main webpage for the festival. This is the layout for this particular festival along with all the stages that were set up.

Anyway, Moby was wearing a Detroit zip up hoodie that he got at the festival, probably, or sent someone to buy for him at the official Paxahau Movement tent. He played Inner City in the first few minutes of his set. Inner City is a project that Kevin Saunderson and vocalist Paris Grey put a few releases out with in the late 1980s. So it's major Detroit music. And, later in the set, he got up on the table on which his equipment (all digital) was set up and was getting the crowd to chant "Detroit!" over and over. Now, in that kind of setting, it's difficult to distinguish between a chant begun by the DJ or a chant begun by the crowd. It just starts and grows louder and louder until it fades out. It was a very strange moment to see a huge crowd of mainly young white people (teens and 20s), most of whom were not from Detroit, chanting "Detroit!" along with Moby. Festival attendance is predominantly white people in their teens and 20s. The population of the city of Detroit is predominantly African American, 88% according to the 2000 census. So, most Detroiters were not in attendance at the festival. Maybe some of the white crowd came from suburbs that make up metropolitan Detroit, the rest are midwest ravers, fans from Chicago and other nearby cities, and some from other parts of the US and around the world. So irony was in abundance at the Moby set that night. What about Detroit was being represented at that moment when the crowd was shouting "Detroit!"? People come in to the city to see a DJ who has nothing to do with Detroit, and they are only in the city for the festival and then leave, grateful for not getting mugged or killed, because, you know, Detroit is the murder capital of the world apparently. Okay, now I'm being sarcastic and moody, but this seems to be a reality for alot of people who live in the city of Detroit. It is a city full of poverty, joblessness, terrible education system, misguided leadership unconcerned with much of Detroit's population, and a lengthy history of population decline, of crippling violence on such a scale that some say the city still has not recovered, and general invisibility to the rest of the US. I write invisibility because many accounts of Detroit by visitors emphasize the empty state of this city with its abandoned skyscrapers, empty streets, and eerie nature of the dilapidated city. I wrote about this in an earlier post as well. Fans of Detroit electronic music visit the city for the festival and during the long weekend, head out to explore a bit of the city. Many come away with a view of the city that really does not exist in reality. These accounts describe the city as desolate, empty, miles and miles of road with no human in sight. Who are they looking for, because there are people present all the time, especially during the warm spring month of May on Memorial Day weekend! Are poor Black people just invisible in these accounts, even though they are clearly a visible part of Detroit's cityscape? Race and class sometimes have the ability to make one invisible to a more privileged perspective.

Well, I did not plan on taking that route with this post, but I'm glad that came out onto my keyboard. I'll write more about the festival soon.

Movement - Part 2

Saturday was a great day, everything went like clockwork. I was really stressing out about being away from our kids for such a long time day and night and worried about how the baby would do. But things worked out better than I had hoped for. After a nice morning prepping and cleaning up the house, the babysitter arrived at 2pm. The kids were excited and ready for a nice afternoon. James and I headed down to Hart Plaza and arrived at about 3pm. We parked in a free lot on the Detroit river walk. It was about a mile walk to the festival, but free parking all weekend, no problem finding a space, and a bunch of really nice walks back and forth along the river. We stopped by the underground Real Detroit stage first to catch some of Reggie “Hotmix” Harrell’s set. Lot’s of heavy, loud, funky house. Then we went over to the Red Bull Music Academy stage to see the Nick Speed Collection. I had never heard them before and loved it. The music was really new and different to my ears. Pretty eclectic beats, 4 musicians up there, lots of equipment (2 turntables, mixer, laptop, drum machine, not sure of everything). James got up on the stage to take photos, he was working for the festival doing photography. James Rotz photography, woo hoo! They were having set up difficulties, so while one man was working the laptop, two others were trying to repair the connection between the mixer and one of the turntables (I think that is what was happening). And the fourth man was selling cds. While the two were repairing the connection, one of them eventually stripped one of the wires, and then connected it directly to the turntable. It’s interesting to watch musicians repair their instruments/equipment in the middle of a performance. The DJ got going on the tables and mixer and then suddenly some new sound came in pretty strong and in rhythm, but the DJ looked a bit confused. He motioned to another in his crew to get on the laptop and turn down or turn off whatever was coming through from the laptop. Another interesting moment. And while all this is happening, there is excellent music flowing non-stop and seamlessly through the speakers.

We had to leave there kind of quick because I had tentatively scheduled with Minx that I would videotape her set from 4PM -5:30PM in the underground Real Detroit stage. She still had to clear it with the stage manager before I got up there. So when we got downstairs again, she was setting up. I headed down right in front of the DJ table, which was pretty high above my head. I waved to her and asked/motioned about videotaping. She asked the stage manager and he nodded his head and then disappeared. I didn’t know what was going to happen. Minx continued playing. Then, after a few minutes, the stage manager taps me on the back and hands me a “worker” pass to hang around my neck. I slapped that baby on and headed up to the stage. I was so nervous and excited to be up there. It was one of the most fun experiences with electronic music that I can think of. Watching her up close do what she does, it was freaking great. She was clearly having a good time! It was so hard for me to keep still and not dance while holding the camera. Oh, holding that camera! It is pretty lightweight, medium sized consumer grade digital video camera. I got it in 2003, right before all the really tiny digital video cameras became widely available. Anyway, I really need to get a monopod to hold it in place, because my arms were barking! I rested my elbow on a speaker from time to time and probably have some lovely vibrations in my video now. I wondered if I would get to keep my worker pass, not that I would really do anything with it – what the hell would I be doing back stage at anyone else’s set? As I was packing up my camera, the stage manager came over and asked for the pass back. I figured he would be on it. So I'm going to set up my first feedback interview with Minx to watch her set and talk about what she does as a DJ. I'm so excited.

Mike Grant came on next and played some great music. I had never heard him before either. Then we headed over to see Newcleus, but they were having some setup difficulties and James and I were starving. So we got some food and then I headed home to help get the three boys in bed at about 7:30PM. James stuck around to photograph Terrence Parker. So bummed that I missed his set. Gotta love TP!

Didn’t get back until about 9:30, bounced around for a while and tried to find James through crappy cell phone reception and unbelievable noise from the festival on both ends – nowhere to escape. Eventually we met up and headed over to see Moby. James got on stage and took some nice photos. I tried to keep an open mind about Moby. I liked him when I first started going to raves back in high school in 1995, so maybe he will do something nice at DEMF. But no, he was just silly, getting up on stage and acting like a superstar DJ, but not really doing anything superstarry.

Then we left to go up to Northland Roller Rink on 8 mile in Detroit for Kenny Dixon, Jr.’s Soul Skate party. We went last year and had a great time. But this year we got there much later than last, at about 1:30 AM. Missed the hot “soul food” and got some yummy, but cold food. The mac and cheese was gone by then though. So sad. Got a blister right away, and got knocked on my knees pretty early on. The party was great, things just didn’t go as well for me as they had in 2007. Nice music from Kenny Dixon, more r&b and funk than last year, fewer Detroit techno hits. Heard Isley Brothers "For the Love of You" as we were walking in. Wish we had been able to skate to that. Also played Captain Rapp "Bad Times" for one of the groups in the skate competition. Then we headed home to relieve the wonderful babysitter from her 14 hour stint, and got a bit of rest for the next day of festival going.

Movement, Part 1

So here is my first installment of my posts about Movement this past weekend, Detroit's annual electronic music festival. It's going to take me all week to get through these notes because I want to be thorough and there's a lot to say! It was a great, exhausting, wonderful, disappointing, frustrating, rainy, but sunny, fun weekend!

Movement: Detroit’s Electronic Music Festival
Saturday, May 24 – Monday, May 26, 2008
Hart Plaza, noon - midnight

Afterparties that I went to:
A Night at the Museum: The Fusion of Techno and Science
Originally at Detroit Science Center, moved to Majestic Theater day of party
Friday, May 23, 2008

Soul Skate ’08 with Kenny Dixon Jr.
Northland Roller Rink, 8 mile road in Detroit
Saturday, May 24, 2008

For Those Who Know PT IV
Underground Resistance Party
Alvins 5756 Cass Ave, Detroit
Sunday, May 25, 2008

Friday night at Majestic:

Disappointing night, originally scheduled for Detroit Science Center. Great idea, but didn't work out. It was moved to the Majestic the morning of the party. I headed down at 8:30PM imagining what I had been missing because the doors opened at 5:30pm and the lineup was so tight. There were three stages scheduled for the Science Center, but only one stage at the Majestic, so the lineup was pared down considerably. When I arrived, Delano Smith was on, playing some really nice house. I wasn’t sure who it was at first, because he was up on a stage and was pretty far away, and I actually haven’t yet met him. Terrence Parker was there and he mentioned that it was Delano up there. He said that coming down to hear some good music is like therapy for him. Still pretty empty space. Huge concert hall with two bars and some round tables with chairs set up around the outside edges of the linoleum tiled dance floor. DJs were set up on an elevated stage with curtains and everything. It was a pretty interesting set-up. Not one I have seen in Detroit – because usually the crowds are smaller for electronic music in Detroit, and the clubs, bars, lounges, and restaurants they play in are smaller and more intimate. It was interesting to see who was in the crowd. Clearly some Detroiters were there. I recognized some of them from other events, and some of the older, Black men just looked like they were not festival goers from out of town, but were house heads from Detroit! Then there were a few people who looked like they were from out of town. It was quite a change to see some young white people (in their 20s) at a party with primarily Black DJs in Detroit, also not something that I have seen a lot here.

Headed outside for a bit. As I walked back in, I heard Minx call my name. Walked over and talked to her for a while. She’s so friendly. Said she doesn’t like playing to an empty room because she likes to dance when she plays and likes the interaction with the crowd. Introduced me to Diviniti, vocalist for Women on Wax, Minx’s label.

T. Linder was on of Detroit Techno Militia. Part of Submerge. Detroit Techno Militia is an interesting group of DJs, I think they are almost all white which is interesting next to some of Submerge’s other groups – like Underground Resistance. Nice techno. Then Terrence Parker was up – played some nice house music. As always, a great set. And he kept it under an hour and a half, which seems unusual for him. Then Minx was on, but only for a short time. Mike Clark came up to the stage and they switched. Mike played a really interesting set, kind of house with a lot of Brazilian beats. It sounded great!

By this time, it was getting closer to midnight, I was getting tired and ready to head home so I could conserve energy for the rest of the weekend. But I heard that Juan Atkins was supposed to play at midnight and I really wanted to see him play since I never had before. I know, can you believe it???? After watching the party promoters and others scramble around for a while making phone calls and talking with worried looks on their faces, I decided that Juan was not going to show up. After making a bathroom stop, I was getting ready to head out to my car. But I first saw Rick Wilhite, they must have called him up to finish the night. We talked briefly about setting up an interview and then I decided to head home anyway even though I really didn’t want to miss his set. I just really wanted to get home.

So there you have it, night one. More tomorrow.