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A landmark mix from one of dance music’s greatest pioneers.

From techno pioneer to pop star and back again, the path of dance music would have been very different without the towering presence of Kevin Saunderson.

Kevin Saunderson has an enviable dual reputation. To the dance cognoscenti he’s one of the “Belleville Three” the trio of friends who invented Detroit techno. He is a gifted producer and remixer under such aliases as E-Dancer and The Reese Project and is a tireless international DJ. To lovers of great pop music he’s a part of the legendary 80s/90s dance outfit Inner City.

Since founding KMS Records some 25 years ago, one the one hand, Kevin Saunderson’s name became synonymous with innovative, forward thinking, sublime techno. As the driving force behind a hugely respected and influential label, a most dextrous producer of music and as a continuously in demand international underground DJ, Kevin’s musical career has remained on the leading edge of electronic music.

But from another perspective, 1988 still stands as the defining moment… the first Inner City track ’Big Fun’ hit the British charts with surprising crossover success charting at number eight. It was quickly followed up by ‘Good Life’ which peaked even higher in the UK Chart at number four. Through Inner City, Kevin Saunderson brought the burgeoning sound of Detroit to the UK and the World and heralded the beginning of dance culture as we now know it. Inner City went on to sell over 6 million records combined and many of their tracks remain the most euphoric moments in dance music history. Having woven such a fascinating career path, it’s very easy to argue Kevin occupies a unique position: that transcends total music credibility and commercial success.

Now, late 2011 into early 2012 witness the return of Kevin Saunderson to the forefront of the dance music spectrum not only with his band and the release of the first new Inner City material in over ten years but now with his brand new double mix album addition to the critically acclaimed ‘In The House’ compilation series. The Defected series that has sold more than 2.5million copies around the globe and has showcased the sound of the world’s leading DJs and pioneer producers from Dennis Ferrer, Danny Krivit, MAW, Jazzy Jeff, Giles Peterson and Dimitri from Paris to name just a few.

Today Kevin’s influence can be heard right across the current dance music landscape, from the productions of Supernova and Theo Parrish to the likes of Detroit natives Seth Troxler and Ryan Crosson as Visonquest, before it is even mentioned how Inner City wrote the blueprint for Hercules & Love Affair and Azari & III. Elevating his status further, acts such as Simian Mobile Disco and the young queen of the urban pop/dubstep Katy B have recently remixed or reworked ‘Big Fun’ and ‘Good Life’ to bring his vibes to whole new generation of dance music lover. It is fair to say, Kevin’s impact and influence runs through the veins of dance and pop music.

We wanted to hear what Kevin himself had to say about it all. Kevin Saunderson In The House gives us a rare and privileged chance to sample his sound, neatly distilled into two mixes of House and Techno, mixed completely live and displaying all the fine nuances you would expect if you were to see him in his natural habitat: the club environment. Both mixes flow from deep house into more progressive beats to straight up raw techno. Listen out for the Inner City flavours that run throughout: included here is a brand new interpretation of Good Life and Carl Craig’s mix Kevin’s personal Inner City favourite, Till We Meet Again. However, in 2012, the real meat comes in the form of Kenny Larkin’s Tension Mix of the brand new track ‘Future’; a powerful slice of pure techno, with staccato and chopped up vocals that delivers harder than a right hook from Joe Louis. It features a bass heavy kick that delicately fades out only to drop back in with no little force.

The mix also features standout tracks and remixes from Kevin’s peers with Osunlade, Josh Wink, Carl Craig, Robert Hood, King Britt, Jimpster, Joris Voorn, Phil Weeks and Samuel L. Session all contributing to what is unquestionably a classic album in the making and a turning point in Kevin’s career, ushering in a new era of creativity and productivity and with it a new audience previously unaware of this pioneer’s history, importance, influence and legacy.

This album is not just perfect for lovers of Detroit Techno but all fans of dance music who appreciate quality mixes by legendary master producers. True quality can never be over-estimated.

Kevin Saunderson In The House. Released: 30^th January 2012

CD1

1              The Soulshapes ‘Comin’’
2              Jay Haze feat. Laila Tov ‘I Wait For You’(King Britt Remix)
3              Reese & Santonio ‘The Sound’ (2011 Remix)
4              Brick City ‘Rumba Magic’ (2010 Mix)
5              Osunlade ‘Envision’ (Yoruba Soul Mix)
6              Josh Wink ‘Jus Right’ (Jimpster Remix)
7              Michel Cleis ‘Litoral’ (Original Mix)
8              Lauhaus ‘Moonshine’
9              Alex Kenji ‘Those Good Vibes’
10            Adam Port ‘The American Dream’
11            Heartik ‘Meltdown’ (Original)
12            Kevin Saunderson feat. Inner City ‘Future’(Kenny Larkin Tension Mix)
13            Inner City ‘Good Life 2011’ (Instrumental)
14            Shlomi Aber ‘Groove Mechanism’ (Chris Liebing Remix)
15            Gavin Herlihy ‘Watch Ya Feet’ (Berlin Mix)
17            Manjane ‘Do The Dishes’ (Original Mix)

CD2

1              Kevin Master ‘Reese’
2              Alex Picone ‘En Pensant’ (Phil Weeks Remix)
3              Phil Agosta ‘Tribute To Detroit’ (Agent X Motor City Mix)
4              Internullo ‘Taifas’ (Alex Celler Dub)
5              Pablo Fierro ‘Check the Boogie’ (Soul Minority Remix)
6              Humano ‘Life’
7              Kevin Saunderson ‘Pump The Move’ (Samuel L Session Remix)
8              Gabriel Rocha ‘Ride On Time’ (Original Club Mix)
9              Kweku Saunderson  ‘Innuendo’
10            Brandon Decarlo ‘Forever & A Day’
11            Kevin Saunderson ‘Rock To The Beat’ (Ben Sims Remix)
12            Tommy FourSeven ‘Track 5’ (Robert Hood Mix)
13            Carl Craig ‘At Les’ (Christian Smith Hypnotica Remix)
14            Inner City ‘Till We Meet Again’ (Carl Craig Remix)
15            Kevin Saunderson ‘Bassline’ (Joris Voorn Remix)

Take a listen below or Buy Now

Here is an recent interview with Kevin, with more in-depth information…

2012 will mark 25 years of KMS… do you have any plans for the anniversary?

Yeah, we are going to do some shows throughout certain countries, with some of the artists that worked with me doing some of the dates. Derrick May and I are doing a tag team on four decks and Kenny Larkin will also be involved; it’s going to be KMS and friends. Inner City is going to do some shows and Reese Project as well. I’m also planning on doing an E Dance live I haven’t done an E Dance album in a very long time.

You’ve had a significantly longer career than compared to a lot of artists… looking back, what would you consider would be the proudest moment of your career?

Highlights of my career would include my first techno mix compilation. My manager, a guy called Neil Rushton came over to visit me at Detroit in late 1987. He came over and just hung out with us, listened to our music and told us about England. It came together because then in March ‘88 I was invited over by him to check out the scene. We met some record company guys like Nick Clarke who was the A&R guy at Ten Records at the time. I played my stuff, we discussed about some meetings, and before I knew there was this deal on the table to do this techno compilation, which was eventually released as Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit. Before I knew it, Faze magazine back in Detroit was doing this cover story; I had no clue what it was all about, but I was just going with the flow. This was definitely a highlight because this was the beginning of a significant impact that we had which consequently lead to bigger and better things.

Another pivotal point was when I heard ‘Big Fun’ played at Spectrum by Paul Oakenfold. I didn’t really know just how big the record had become until then, all I knew was that it was a good record and people liked it. In those days you didn’t have the Internet, we had faxes. There were no social networks and news spread way more slowly, so you weren’t really aware of the power a record had. I tell you, when he played that record, everybody just stopped. It was a truly spiritual moment, and as those chords came, the place just went crazy. It made me realise how much of impact my music and Detroit was having at that time.

The techno scene in Detroit has changed dramatically over the last few decades, arguably to the point that there isn’t really a ‘scene’ there at all nowadays. Is that fair? Do you think the hunger is still there for the music?

One thing is for sure, at the end of May it becomes alive because we have Movement Festival which used to be called ‘Detroit Electronic Music Festival’. That’s when everybody seems to come out, but it shows that people have the potential to come out and dance. The issue we have today is that we have no movement compared to where we started. In the late 80’s you had Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Eddie Fowlkes, Blake Baxter, Carl Craig, Mike Banks, Jeff Mills and myself. Then a little later, you had a different wave coming though; people like Richie Hawtin and the Plus 8 guys, who weren’t necessarily from Detroit but were heavily associated with it. They were just tonnes of people bouncing off each other and being inspired. Now, a lot of these people live in Berlin and not Detroit; people have spread out. In Detroit, we don’t have all that many young people being inspired enough to do their own thing and to create a movement, so there isn’t continuous support of the music scene.

It seems like everybody wants to get out now instead of staying. It could be because they have seen us travel so much and never be there. That’s what happened when we became popular back in ‘88 and ’89; we’ve been touring for 25 years now, so I believe that plays a role in the matter. However, America is changing. I’m not sure about Detroit, but there are definitely pockets out there where the scene has improved and it’s pretty good. Cities like Seattle, LA and San Francisco are cities that are pretty much rocking now comparing to the past. Maybe there’s a chance for passion to return to the city.

You’ve recently spent some time in a studio putting together the ‘In the House’ mix for Defected… tell us about the process of putting it together and what people can expect from the mix…

Putting the record together was about trying to get a good variation of tracks that I play and tracks that I don’t get the chance to play as much, because sometimes I’m restricted by the type of event that I am playing at. I play at a lot of house, tech house and techno events, however I still like some deeper sounds too. I grew up on disco, soul, funk and other types of music that eventually became the ‘dance’ music we hear today. So I tried to do start deep and build the vibe from there. I’m always using EQs and the faders; I like to keep my hands in action, rather than sit back and just let the record play. I have never really done a two CD set, so that gave me the opportunity to be more versatile and I’m really happy with the results.

Did you try to keep the mix contemporary or are they a lot of tracks from past decades?

There were some tracks from the past, but not that many. It is always inspirational to look back at something from the past, but here I concentrated more on the contemporary than on the old school.

Are they any tracks that you discovered in preparing the compilation?

I knew pretty much all the music that I used before I started, however there was one that was sent to me at the last minute; ‘Comin’’ by The Soulshapes It’s groovy, a deep, building track and the perfect opener for the mix.

This is the first mix compilation you’ve done in while…does this mark the start of a new phase in your career? Or would you say that this is something that sums up for the last few years?

I think it’s more of a summary of what I have been doing, I wouldn’t say this a new phase. It’s definitely not the first mixed CD I have ever done, but it could maybe be the best one I’ve done.

Touching on your new single ‘Future’… does it mark a departure from things you’ve done previously, or is a continuation of what you’ve been making for the last 25 years?

I think that it is similar to what we have done before, but updated for today. There is only one person who is going to sound like Paris, so that’s a big part of our sound too. I think another thing that has remained consistent is the writing; we write very spiritually in most cases and try to convey positive messages. Titles like ‘Big Fun’, ’Good Life’ and ‘Hallelujah’ aren’t just plucked out of nowhere. Ultimately you want to take the good, leave the bad behind and keep on moving. In order to be a survivor in life you have to persevere and keep moving on and we try to convey these messages with our songs. Musically, it doesn’t still sounds like anybody else because we are who we are.

I read a recent interview with Octave One in which they said that if you’ve ever been passionate about making music and dedicate yourself to it, there will have been a time where you don’t know where the next meal is coming from… is that a problem you’ve had to contend with?

No, because I had enough success with ‘Inner City’ early in my career that it was never a real issue. Financially, it’s different now than it was then because digital records don’t sell as they used to; everything is a lot harder. Today you have to make money from performing. When I was staring out, the music I created helped to get more gigs and increase awareness of me as an artist, and that much at least hasn’t changed for today’s artists.

Finally, you probably have more experience than anyone else in this game… what advice would you give to people that would like to succeed in a similar way as you have?

You have to work hard, you have to be passionate. You have to really love it and be truthful to yourself. You need to develop and you need to understand the parameters of what you are doing so you understand every part of the musical process. It won’t happen overnight, it you love what you do and believe in yourself it will take you a long way.

Take a listen below or Buy Now

Posted in: Interviews, Releases | Posted on January 10, 2012 by Defected