In discussions about the techno movement, one name crops up again and again: Derrick “Mayday” May. Alongside Juan Atkins, Carl Craig, and Kevin Saunderson, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of the Detroit sound. Inspired by Yello and Kraftwerk, he began making electronic music with Atkins and Saunderson at Belleville High School, and with Atkins formed the early eighties DJ and party outfit Deep Space. In 1986 May set up his now legendary Transmat label and made his production debut with “Let’s Go.” Recording as Mayday and as Rhythim Is Rhythim, he carved out a new vein in dance music: a sound that came to be defined as techno. His early Transmat productions “Nude Photo” and “The Dance” were inspirational to many, and “Strings of Life” (1987) earned Detroit techno a new level of awareness among European club-goers.
Labels: Transmat, Metroplex.
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