DJ and Producer Marcel Dettman resident of Berghain, Berlin made his way to Bangkok for the very first time and shared his thoughts on Techno and EDM music, future changes in the music industry, his favourite Thai dish and many more.
With EDM being a dominating genre in our culture particularly in Asia, Marcel Dettman is here to give us some insight of how he views EDM and Techno and what changes we can expect to see at festivals in the future!
From the riots that occurred in 1967, Detroit became the city of reminiscence of decay industrial. Along with the birth of synthesizer and drum machine, techno music first emerged in the mid-late 1980s founded by Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May known as The Belleville Three. Techno is described to be a blend of black styles including Chicago, house, funk, electro and electric jazz and influence of futuristic and fictional themes that were influential in American late capitalist culture. Most of the Techno’s rhythm was developed from the “four on the floor” rhythm pattern which was taken from disco with house. With the war ending, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Techno expanded over to Europe rapidly to rave parties of like-minded free spirits of the 80s and 90s.
EDM, on the other hand evolved from techno trend of the 90s, heavily focused on being as danceable and energetic as much as possible. Rather than identifying itself to a particular genre, EDM encompasses styles from beatless surrounding to 200-beats per minute from house, techno, drum and bass and dub-step. With it’s main emphasis being the rhythm and less on maintaining a beat.
Globalization within the music industry meant that multiple genre are constantly merging with one another. Marcel Dettman is here with AsiaLive365 to discuss whether we can expect to see any changes with the Techno music. Read below.
AL365: In your opinion what is the difference between Techno and EDM and why you have chosen Techno path over EDM?
MD: Both EDM and Techno are Electronic music however the difference is the way they produce the music. Techno is produced in a more repetitive and hypnotic and is classified to be psycho dance music and EDM is somewhat very switching in tempo at every single second. EDM is popular choice to many because it’s catchier. Similar to a movie, you could be watching a well-directed art movie and it takes time to warm you in to it and understand what the plot is. Or you could be watching a blockbuster where every minute someone gets killed, or a car crashes, and I think that’s how I would compare Techno and EDM together.
AL365: Since EDM is still such a dominating genre at festivals in Asia, do you think we can expect to any changes in the future?
MD: Music is constantly changing due to its popularity. Popular music often grabs the attention from most people whereas underground music gets attention from smaller crowds.
For me there are considerable number of festivals out there and I understand that they have many stages catered for each style, also with EDM stages of course to get the bigger crowds and it’s a great way for me to catch people playing at the festival even if its just 1-2 % of the crowd.
Those who come to my stage are the people who notice there’s something different where the music isn’t quite commercial. Growing up I listened to 80s stuff and electronic music like Gabba and Trance and I get into it, and I get deeper into it, then I find my own taste. And that’s what’s happening to kids these days, they are listening to pop and EDM stuff and then they realize they are attracted to my stage. That’s why I love festivals because it’s a great way for me to attract crowds and get people connected to my music. Those who come to my stage are the people who notice there’s something different.
AL365: If you could perform a B2B set who would it be with?
MD: Miss Kittin, Laurent Gaurnier , Ben Klok. There are a lot of people I’d like to play with, if you give each other other a chance and challenge each other it can turn out to be something very special.
AL365: What can we expect to see from MDR (Marcel Dettman Records) in the future?
MD: I haven’t released any music on this label for quite some time but I’m thinking of creating a new platform for different style and different kind of music and it’s coming soon.
AL365: As a young DJ was it hard to get other people to notice you?
MD: Yes ofcourse that’s why I speak so much about being at the festival. I think in order to get noticed it’s a continual process. If I play at a big festival with 10 EDM stages with 2 techno, I’m one of hundreds of DJs and that’s the same with younger talented DJs, they have to work hard for it with a certain style.
