T IN THE PARK S P EC I A L I S S U E
PLASTIK FANTASTIC Bringing his cold, robotic brand of techno to T in the Park for a closing night set, electronic producer Richie Hawtin (aka Plastikman) talks to Henry Northmore about creating ‘human emotional reactions’
R ichie Hawtin is one of the true pioneers of electronica. Born in Oxfordshire, he moved to Ontario, Canada, at the age of nine, where his love of alternative music (the likes of Echo & the Bunnymen, New Order and Depeche Mode) grew until he heard a new sound coming from just across the American border; the early Detroit techno of Derrick May, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson (aka the Belleville Three).
‘I figured out that half of my favourite records were being made just across the border from my house,’ explains Hawtin from his Berlin home. He quickly latched onto the emerging artform. ‘It was kind of like a siphon; you put a coin in and it goes around it and it just gathers up speed and speed and speed and then it goes whoosh and it’s down. And that’s kind of what happened to me with music, then alternative electronic music and finally techno just sucked me in.’
One of the second wave of Detroit innovators, Hawtin formed the seminal record label Plus 8 with John Acquaviva and released a slew of tough, leftfield tracks under the guise of Concept 1, FUSE and various other aliases. However, it was as Plastikman that he released his most remarkable albums, such as Sheet One in 1993 or the minimalist brilliance of 1994’s Musik. ‘Plastikman has always been directly at the heart of who or what Richie Hawtin is. It’s a darker, deeper sound, it’s a little bit more fucked up,’ he adds. ‘I can see why people say it’s cold and robotic, but part of that is what’s beautiful about the music. No matter how cold music is, if it’s 20 THE LIST 24 Jun–8 Jul 2010
‘THIS METALLIC,
DELAYED, CLANKY, FLANGE-DRIVEN, HYPNOTIC GROOVE’
done right and you connect to the people on the dancefloor, something happens to those people together as individuals, they have some kind of human emotional reaction.’
Now he’s bringing Plastikman back for 15 live shows during 2010 including headlining the Slam Tent on the Sunday night of T in the Park. ‘I don’t hear people making music like the Plastikman records, but I still hear many people playing those Plastikman records. I felt that this sound that I have – this metallic, delayed, clanky, flange-driven hypnotic groove – just wasn’t there and I thought this could go so much further, so much deeper, if I stepped back that Plastikman into guise. If nobody else is doing it, I can’t sit around and complain about it, I should do it myself.’ rebirth of Plastikman includes new material and a new live show as Hawtin hammers out his addictive brand of abstract techno in front of a bank of LED screens and lighting. ‘I hope it’s a full- bodied experience,’ says Hawtin. ‘It’s intense, when you put Sheet One on, or Consumed [1998], these albums take you somewhere and spit you out at the other end. There’s a big team to make this happen – after the first note of the show [is played] and the curtains open, people are sucked in. When they walk away later, maybe they don’t know if they liked it or didn’t like it, they’re just like, “what the fuck was that?” And then I’m happy.’
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Plastikman plays live in the Slam Tent at T in the Park, Sun 11 Jul.
SOUNDTRACK TO THE WEEKEND
So you’re at T in the Park. There are bands everywhere . . . everywhere! The important thing is not to panic. You won’t be able to see them all. Jonny Ensall suggests merely that you arrive at the right stages in time to catch the following songs
FRIDAY Plugging into the feeling of anticipation, start Friday with ‘Suffragette Suffragette’ by Everything Everything, playing early at King Tuts Wah Wah Tent. Do: knowingly agree that this understated Manchester indie outfit is the next big thing. Don’t: shout, ‘here we, here we, here we fucking go’ – not yet anyway. Onwards to Mayer Hawthorne & The County at the Red Bull Bedroom Jam Futures Stage, and an excellent example of white boy soul crooning
(Plan B eat your heart out) on ‘Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out’. For
those who like a little indie fuzz in the afternoon, The Big Pink’s ‘Velvet’ will take care of all your nu-gaze needs on the Main Stage. Though for a real electronic
kick, there’s no missing out on Kele (aka Kele Okereke of Bloc Party) venturing into Chromeo-esque dance territory with first solo single, ‘Tenderoni’ back at the Futures Stage. Then stay exactly where you are for 80s post- punk perfection courtesy of Echo and the Bunnymen’s ‘The Killing Moon’ before a sprint finish to the Main Stage in time to catch Muse’s ‘Knights of Cydonia’ for a stomp and a singalong. ‘No one’s going to take me aliiive!’
SATURDAY Saturday begins with LA band Local Natives harmonising to heal your ears with the beautiful ‘Airplanes’ on the Radio 1/ NME stage. This is just a warm- up, however, to the truly
excellent Canadian collective
Broken Social Scene strumming and hooting their enthusiastic little hearts out on rockabilly- tinged new album track, ‘Texico Bitches’ at the King Tuts tent.
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