Words: Marli Grosskopf

Detroit in the early nineties was a city overflowing with underground raves; drug fuelled partygoers, and a sonic quest to push the boundaries on dance music. We can call this crucial time in music history the second wave of the Detroit techno movement – and you can label Carl Craig as one of the founding fathers of this iconic period.

A man who is so well known – I bet your grandma has even heard his name before – credits artists such as Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson as inspiration for his love affair with music. We credit him for many memorable late nights/early mornings, and surely millions of artists have taken inspiration from him too.

You’d be familiar with Craig’s work if you’ve attended a party in the last 10 years, or with key tracks such as Bug In The Bass Bin, or A Wonderful Life. You also may have stumbled across one of his aliases like Innerzone Orchestra, BFC, Psyche, Paperclip People, or Designer Music, and not to mention his record label Planet E which houses works by artists such as Kevin Saunderson, Alton Miller, and Moodymann. Oh, and he also founded a music festival in the early millennium titled Detroit Electronic Music Festival.

In summary, you can’t avoid him, stop fighting it.

If you’ve been lucky enough to witness the audible magic that comes with a live show of the mysterious Mr. Craig, than you’ll know it’s all things infectious, transformative, and entirely reminiscent of Detroit in the nineties. An eloquent fusion of acid house, techno, jazz, soul, and experimental, Carl Craig seems to be a character bursting at the seams with new ideas (hence his various artistic outlets). You’re never quite sure what you’re going to get with him. Look no further than his most recent boiler room for a succinct summary of what Carl Craig is all about – it’ll have you stepping and clapping for 2 hours of techno power.

If you’ve not yet witnessed Mr Craig live in action, then boy, your luck is about to change, as he is returning to Australia this summer over 7 epic nights nation wide, so you have no excuses.

Tour Dates
Thursday 15th November: Collude, Auckland
Friday 16th November: Electric Rush, Queenstown NZ
Saturday 17th November: 121 Club, Wellington 
Sunday 18th November: Strawberry Fields Festival, Tocumwal
Friday 23rd November: Sugar, Adelaide 
Saturday 24th November: Knee Deep In Sound, Sydney 
Saturday 24th November: Xe54, Melbourne