How Techno was born: From Detroit to Berlin and back

Techno is everything. I'm 72 and dance on it ever Saturday and Sunday from midnight till 5 in the morning, but without alcohol or any drugs, totally sober. I drink only water.

As a Berliner, it's weird to me, that the city still continues to get praise for it's clubs and the music being played there. We are weeell past the glory days and everything has been long commercialized and washed down by way too many and too generic DJs. And the city does it's best to actually kill off the parts of the scene, that still have a DIY element to it and where people are actually about creativity and not about "I've played in *insert famous club*", by shutting down venues and criminalizing raves. I'd love to see this music grow somewhere else, where the grass is still wet.

I am German, 1984, Techno is something that reaches me on a very deep level. Amazing emotions and I love to dance to it. I never took ecstasy because this amazing feeling comes naturally, just through the music. I can not explain why I love Techno so much more than other music genres.Sometimes when I listen and dance to a good DJ it feels like tribal music, a trance that I naturally love to move to. It feels like it actives stored emotions/instincs from the past. It also helps me imminently to let go of stress and anxiety because of the positive emotions I get from it. I cannot explain it differently, sorry.

As a 28 year old Brazilian American male I can honestly say Techno is such a huge part of my life right now. I used to listen to hip hop and metal. But Techno is something that reaches beyond what my soul and mind can handle. It’s almost like I’m exploring different parts of the solar system when listening to this music. I also have roots in electronic music when my mother used to play Eurodance all the time while cleaning the house. Dubstep and house is another inspiration to me when I was in my adolescent years. One day I really need to visit Berlin or even London to really get the gist and atmosphere of techno and REAL electronic music!

The rave is one of the most important spaces in society, influencing the zeitgeist, fashion, music & culture of society. In today's society it's one of the few spaces that brings together people from all backgrounds in presence, in a low state of ego, for extended periods. A medium & a melting pot for self expression & the opening of the mind. A microcosm of possibility. Techno's true power is it's ability to act like a decentralised, communal, global glue, helping us to realise how we are all connected through the universal language of sound.

It's a bit unfortunate that there is no mention of what happened before Detroit. In particular Kraftwerk, EBM, New Beat from Belgium, the New Wave and Italo disco scene were hugely important in shaping that Detroit techno sound. It's also safe to say that it is not just Berlin that has been important over the years. Warp records were doing techno way before Berlin, we had Djax up Beats in The Netherlands, hugely underrated is the scene from The Hague Netherlands (Bunker Records, I-F, Unit Moebius, Legowelt, etc) who have been largely responsible for the electro revival. Berlin is cool, but a wee bit hyped and way past the early days of Basic Channel and Hardwax.

As a Detroiter in my mid 50s, its always a pleasure to see our once underground culture now globalized and making the world dance.

Dear users,  because many of you have asked for the tracks from this episode of 'Arts Unveiled', we are posting them here in the comments. We couldn't reconstruct some tracks, so we rely on your help. If you notice anything missing, please post it under this comment, and we will continuously update the list. Thanks for your support! Tracklist: How Techno was Born 0:15 – 0:25 Reality - Ellen Allien (BPitch Control) 0:35 - 0:42 Clear – Cybotron (Fantasy) 0:50 – 1:05 Autobahn – Barrie Gledden et al (Audio Network) 1:10 – 1:30 Berlin Minimal – George Giorgia (Audio Network) 1:45 – 2:15 Cyber Trolls – Igor Dvorkin et al (Audio Network) 3:05 - 3:25 Sound vom loop Tresor Archivmaterial (ohne Angabe) 3:35 – 3:50 Session 1 – Juan Atkins (Tresor Records) 3:50 – 4:05 Blake Baxter @ Loveparade 1996 Tresor Archivmaterial (ohne Angabe) 4:25 - 4:35 Alleys of your Mind – Cybotron (Deep Space) 4:50 – 5:05 Alleys of your Mind – Cybotron (Deep Space) 6:07 - 6:26 Detroitism (Generator) -DJ T-1000 8:45 - 8:58 Detroitism (Generator) -DJ T-1000 6:33 - 6:44 Memoir (Symbolism) - ANNE 7:17 - 7:27 Cutting In - Patrick DSP (Interruption Records) 8:30 – 8:45 Blake Baxter @ Loveparade 1996 Tresor Archivmaterial (ohne Angabe) 9:10 - 9:22 Unclean Spirit - Blush Response (Sonic Groove) 9:35 – 9:50 Blake Baxter @ Loveparade 1996 Tresor Archivmaterial (ohne Angabe) 10:10 – 10:20 For An Angel – Paul van Dyk 10: 37 - 10:50 Paul van Dyk @ Loveparade 1996 Tresor Archivmaterial (ohne Angabe) 11:33 - 11:43 Ellen Allien @ Loveparade 1996 Tresor Archivmaterial (ohne Angabe) 11:43 – 12:10 KCKC – Ellen Allien (BPitch Control) 13:25 – 13:45 Jupiter Beach – Alexis Smith & Joe Henson et al (Audio Network) 14:35 – 14:45 Cyber Trolls – Igor Dvorkin et al (Audio Network) 15:40 – 15:50 LOVE – Ellen Allien (BPitch Control) 16:20 – 16:40 LOVE – Ellen Allien (BPitch Control) 17:10 – 17:50 Thought Process - Infiniti (Tresor) 17:55 – 18:30 The Berlin Session 1- Juan Atkins (Tresor Records) 18:40 – 18:45 The Berlin Session 1- Juan Atkins (Tresor Records) 19:30 – 19:45 Dystopia (Original Mix) - Rebūke (Drumcode)

There was a saying in the 90s: Techno is music sounding like machines, and Trance is machines sounding like music.

For me for the dj, club & rave subculture to survive it must reject mainstream influences and get back intouch with its underground roots in order to find its rhythm, energy, vibe, crowd and audience that understood its meaning, art and message its trying to convey.

Juan is giving me an Obi Wan vibe with his earthy outfit. Im loving it. Thanks for the great music.

Moved in Berlin 2 years ago. After adapting to the City, I fell in love with the Techno. Having visited other major European cities, nobody can argue that Berlin still has one of the best scenes out there. I really love watching these videos, learning about the roots of this genre and how it developed to be what it is today. I was unlucky not to live those glorious days. Currently what really bothers me is that the scene got greatly commercialized, big events are about profit and the smartphones along with the great visual effects during those events seem to be taking off many things that Techno had to offer during its emergence. But still in Berlin there are places for people to listen to Techno, dance and forget about the outer world while being there, where as much as possible cameras are turned off. I get why the older ones feel that the scene has changed and it surely has, but that goes with everything in life. So I think we should embrace these changes while not forgetting what the scene is meant to represent.

I think everybody forgets that Frankfurt is actually the city that brought Techno to Germany and made it big. Nowadays Berlin just screams Techno all the time but became kind of mainstream in many ways.

As a Berliner I must say that the huge difference between the glorious 80s/90s/2000s techno era and today's techno in Berlin is, that we lived it underground back then, it was a special cosmos we could escape during the weekends...Friday evening in, Monday morning out...then back to our work and repeat it next weekend...no one out there knew...it's very different now but still proud that Berlin is the capital of Techno!

We definitely need a tracklist. There are so many good songs. Especially in Alan Oldham’s part.

I live in the Metro Detroit Area. I’m “new” to the REAL scene. Last two years I’ve TRULY started digging into what House and Techno is. Movement Featival (Once DEMF) really opened my eyes to the talent that has come to Detroit. Small clubs in Detroit on any given night can have the names of some of the best: Eddie Fowlkes, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Daniel Bell, Stacey Pullen, Carl Craig, Norm Talley, Delano Smith, Mike (Agent X) Clark, the list goes on and on. AUX88 playing at Spotlite 8/18/2023🙌🏼

Interesting that Kraftwerk was left out of this

Thankfully Blake Baxter made an appearance in this. Early Detroit pioneer whose name is not nearly as known as the belleville 3, but deserves respect for shaping the sound in the earliest days of techno

Thanks for spending doing the time to create and share this content

For anyone looking for the track that plays between 3:50-4:03 and again at 9:34-9:50, is Love Has Taken Over · Ground 96 It's sped up a bit. but after searching from Blake Baxter's live shows from Tresor, I found it. Edit #1: It's also Garage House, not Techno. Which means that House and Techno are much alike than how its stated in this documentary. Tech House is an oxymoron.