Jeff Mills, along with Robert Hood, Carl Craig,
and Joey Beltram, is one of the biggest American names in techno. Championed
for his music's relentless pursuit of hardness and his stripped-down, almost
industrial DJ sets, Mills is the latest in a long line of Detroit-bred talent
to take on an international reputation. A founding member of noted Motor City
institution Underground Resistance, Mills helped build the artist roster and
label ideology (as well as much of its back catalog) with partners "Mad"
Mike Banks and Robert "Noise" Hood before moving to New York in 1992
to pursue more vigorously his solo and DJ career (with a resident spot at the
legendary Limelight and a recording contract with the noted German label
Tresor). (Although rumors of bad blood between the early UR crew have been
denied by all involved, Mills' decision to split was apparently total, with
Banks all but repudiating his involvement with Mills and Mills distancing
himself from the continuing political militancy of Banks and the UR organization.)
. Mills' UR-related releases (including "The Punisher" and
"Seawolf") are stripped-down and erratic, fusing elements of hardcore
acid and industrial techno to the sparse Detroit aesthetic. Not surprisingly,
his post-UR sound hasn't eased a bit, although UR's penchant for the four-track
has been replaced by higher-quality production. Prior to his involvement in UR,
Mills was a DJ at Detroit public radio station WDET (he was also studying
architecture at the time), spinning everything from Meat Beat Manifesto and
Nine Inch Nails to Chicago house and underground Detroit techno.
He began
producing in the mid-'80s, working with Tony Srock on the project the Final
Cut. Mills met Banks through a local
garage group Members of the House, who Banks was working with in the late '80s.
Mills remixed a track on a Members 12-inch, and his and Banks' shared love for
Chicago soul and the harder edge of Detroit techno blossomed into Underground
Resistance as a combined business and creative enterprise. The pair, along with
Robert Hood, recorded several EPs and singles together, including tracks such
as "Waveform," and "Sonic," before Mills defected to New
York in 1992 to pursue a residency at the Limelight club and a solo career
recording for Tresor and his own label, Axis. Mills' discography includes two
full-length volumes of Waveform Transmissions for Tresor, a live album and
rarities collection for the British label React, and the first album in a new
contract with Sony Japan, as well as a handful of 12-inch EPs on Axis and
several collaborations with Robert Hood on his M-Plant label. In 2000, Mills
took more memorable action by scoring a new soundtrack for Fritz Lang's 1926
film Metropolis, screened around the world at venues including the Museum of
Music in Paris, London's Royal Albert Hall, and the Vienna International Film
Festival.
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