Fireside Chat

Jeff Mills

Axis Records, Detroit

Jeff Mills is undoubtedly one of the founding fathers of techno music. Starting out as radio DJ The Wizard on Detroit's WJLB before teaming up with Tony Sprock in the late '80s to form the 'industrial' inspired Final Cut project. At the same time, Mills met former Parliament bassist "Mad" Mike Banks. The two hit it off and soon the Underground Resistance studios came into being, fusing Bank's keyboard and synth collection with Mills' recording equipment and technical know-how. Out of this studio and collaboration came some of the most important tracks in the evolution of techno, soon to be enhanced by the arrival of a young rapper named Robert Hood. Performing in uniforms comprised of ski masks and black combat suits, Underground Resistance captured the revolutionary imagination of the dance world and built a huge fan base in Europe. A deal with the German label Tresor soon grew out of some UR licensing and Mills later set up Axis, a label run by himself and Robert Hood. Since that period Mills solo career has built an incredibly loyal following. Whether it's his ever-minimal yet highly complex live sets, his rescoring of Fritz Lang's Metropolis or his multi-media re-visiting of 'The Rings of Saturn', he treads a careful line between dance-music and art.