Interstate 808

PS: You studied jazz drumming when you were younger, and you have a history in hip-hop and house music as well. Do you know what it is about techno that makes it, for you, the ultimate genre?

JM: I know what it is so far. It’s evolving and it’s going to go much further. So far, it is a genre that’s difficult to determine exactly what it’s supposed to be. And that opens up all possibilities. For instance, I can tap on a table, but if I can tap on a table with my hand in a way that gives you the impression you’re experiencing something that is reminiscent of the future, that, to me, falls under the category of techno. It’s one of the few genres, maybe the only genre, that deals with frequencies at the same level as notes and chords — meaning that the sound of white noise is perceived the same way by the listener as a note on the piano. That’s the most important indication, because that means that the people are really willing and ready to explore more of the unknown, which you don’t quite find in other genres. You don’t find that in rock or hip-hop or other things. So that’s also a very strong indication that whatever sounds may come in our future, they will probably find a place in techno or electronic music. And that gives the genre some type of insurance that it can always accommodate whatever’s going to come. You can see it now with the way that we’re using computer sequencers and software to sequence the music. I think that’s also an indication that it’s going to transform and do whatever it takes to move forward. Even without us pushing it, I think it’s set up for that already. That I find to be very exciting. And I think that using all these tools, and if people utilize them in the right way, the genre could become much more relevant to people’s lives way off the dance floor. It could be come something closer to what rock was to people in the ’60s.

The Quietus: Surely, with a mode of music that’s as obviously reactive as dance music, the temptation to please the crowd must be enormous.

Jeff Mills: But the idea of people deciding whether they like it or not gets in the way of music being a way of developing musical creativity. Making them happy denies that. I eventually decided they had to be taken out of the equation. The music is for them but your intention should not to be loved by the crowd and to make lots of money.