Jeff Mills goes digital with Purpose Maker

Jeff Mills goes digital with Purpose Maker

9 April, 2009 | 8.32AM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: axis, jeff mills, purpose maker

There are few artists in techno more committed to intellectualizing the music and elevating the art than Jeff Mills, the respected Detroit DJ and producer.

Along with his science fiction-inspired work with fellow Underground Resistance co-founder Mike Banks, and his forays into classical electronic exploration with the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra, Jeff Mills’ music is as close to techno purism as one can get.

We were surprised then, to learn that Jeff has decided to bring his music to the digital space - especially considering that Mills is a hardcore vinyl-only DJ that has consistently displayed the benefits of vinyl throughout his career, either through his eye-opening, three-deck mixing performances, or through his super complex, conceptual techno releases that were composed specifically for vinyl.

Today Beatportal chatted with Jeff Mills to find out more.

“The strong case that most DJs today now use digital formats convienced me that I should begin to consider expanding the Axis and Purpose Maker archive over to digital mp3 and wav files,” explains Mills, of his decision to embrace the digital era.

Despite Jeff Mills’ commitment to vinyl, he says that ultimately getting his music out to a wider audience is more important.

“Though the original compositions were designed for vinyl, many tracks have the basic structure in which could be played very comfortably today and perhaps tomorrow,” he says. “I am a diehard vinyl collector, so I’ll always make this format available. The music must reach the people and it dosen’t really matter how it gets to them, just as long as it does.”

Music for the digital age

Interestingly, Mills embracing the digital format is not just him public sanctioning the technology, it goes much deeper. Artistically, he has begun to create music that is geared towards specifically being heard via digital listening, just like how Mills and Banks created a audible parallel between Saturn and vinyl on their groundbreaking 1992 release ‘X-102 Rediscover The Rings of Saturn’ - that really came together through the rotating discs.

He reveals, “Like vinyl, I have begun to compose music that would be more condusive for digital listening and programming. Concepts that call for 3D effects and better usage of the stereo field and more ideas. These projects will be revealed over the next few months.”

Unreleased tracks from the archives

Jeff Mills’ fans have much to celebrate for the digital coming of age of his Purpose Maker and Axis labels. Importantly, the public will be able to discover in the coming months a wealth of unreleased remixes and tracks straight from Mills’ archives, as well as of course, rediscover long lost classics.

“These unreleased tracks were older tracks that I felt weren’t compatible with previous Purpose Maker releases. Meaning, that they could have been too similar to others that were released at the time,” he says. “On each EP 12”, I always made sure that there was a variety of style in tracks that would suit all DJs which was generally four tracks. Some of the tracks were created only for me to play in my own collection.”

A lot of the unreleased music is from some major names.

“To date, only about 1/4 of all Purpose Maker tracks have been officially released. In the archive, we have remixes of tracks from artists like Basic Channel, DJ Hell, Josh Wink and Fumiya Tanaka that were never released.

“And new remixes by Karl Beaney and other upcoming artists. All these works are being reviewed for possible digital releases.”

The changing face of DJ culture

With Jeff Mills moving forwards and embracing technological change, he must have insightful theories on the changing face of DJ culture, of which he has been involved with since the 1980s.

“It has drastically changed, some things for the better, some things for the worst,” he replies. “I believe that there were important attributes about DJing that were learned from DJ mixing and beat matching with only the hands as opposed to using a computer and computer software.

“Somehow, understanding modifications to the human body clock would translate to how one would approach making the music and how people would dance to it. 

“For me as a DJ, the more time spent thinking about which small collection of 12” vinyls and CDs I should play helps me understand what the dancefloor needs, not so much of what it wants.

“In the days of the Wizard [Mills pseudonym as an radio DJ on the influential Detroit station WJLB], DJs were highly considered by the way they could handle records and thus, the audience.

“Today, it is quite different. A DJs level of skill is rarely measured at all. How popular the DJ is has become the most considered and sought after.

“Where it will go from here is something I’m uncertain of. One thing I can say is that the ‘era of the DJ’ is far from over. In the future, what DJs play and how they play it might not be important.

“I think that the “feeling” the DJ/programmer can generate and translate will be the most desired. There might be various ways for this to happen, but I think technology will have a big role in providing it.”

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