Juan Atkins (born September 12, 1962), also known as Model 500 and Infiniti, is an American record producer and DJ from

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

'' has described him as "the original pioneer of Detroit techno." He has been a member of

the Belleville Three The Belleville Three are three American musicians, Juan Atkins, Derrick May (musician), Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson, who are credited with inventing the Detroit techno genre in Belleville, Michigan. Origins Kevin Saunderson was born in ...

, Cybotron, and Borderland.

Early life

Juan Atkins was born in

. His father is a concert promoter. At an early age, he played guitar and bass guitar in funk/garage bands with his friends. After his parents split, he moved to Belleville, Michigan. In junior high school, he met Derrick May and

Kevin Saunderson Kevin Maurice Saunderson (born September 5, 1964) is an American electronic dance music DJ and record producer. He is famous for being a member of a trio, along with Juan Atkins and Derrick May, who came to be known as the Belleville Three, w ...

. The three would later be known as

. At the age of 15, he bought his first synthesizer, a Korg MS-10.

Career

Juan Atkins formed Cybotron with Richard Davis in 1980. The duo's debut studio album, '' Enter'', was released in 1983. Atkins and Davis split ways in 1985. In 1985, Atkins founded the record label Metroplex. In that year, he started making solo records under the alias Model 500. As Model 500, he released ''Deep Space'' in 1995, ''Mind and Body'' in 1999, and '' Digital Solutions'' in 2015. He is also one half of the duo Borderland along with Moritz von Oswald. The duo released ''Borderland'' in 2013 and ''

Transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

'' in 2016. In 2015, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Metroplex, Juan Atkins collaborated with VAVA Eyewear.

Artistry

John Bush of ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'' explains that Atkins "explor dhis vision of a futuristic music that welded the more cosmic side of Parliament funk with the rigid computer synth pop embodied by Kraftwerk and the techno-futurist possibilities described by sociologist

Alvin Toffler Alvin Eugene Toffler (October 4, 1928 – June 27, 2016) was an American writer, futurist, and businessman known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution, with emphasis on th ...

." Aesthetically, Atkins drew upon

dystopian A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

narratives to construct his sonic landscapes. Later in his career, he began incorporating elements of contemporary

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

, while retaining what critics consider to be his signature sense of

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

. He has stated that George Clinton's bands

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. As one of the two flagship groups of George Clinton's P-Funk collective, they helped pioneer the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, ...

were important to his "musical awakening." He grew up listening to The Electrifying Mojo's radio shows. He also acknowledged

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

as one of the influences on his music.

Legacy

John Bush of ''

'' conferred the title of "godfather of techno" on Atkins, and said his discography is "perhaps the most influential body of work in the field of techno." He stated: "Though it's often difficult (and misleading) to pick the precise genesis for any style of music, the easiest choice for techno is an Atkins release, the 1982 electro track 'Clear,' recorded by Atkins and Rick Davis as Cybotron." ''

'' has described him as "the original pioneer of Detroit techno."

Discography

Studio albums

* ''3MB Featuring Magic Juan Atkins'' (1992) * ''Deep Space'' (1995) * ''Skynet'' (1998) * ''Mind and Body'' (1999) * ''The Berlin Sessions'' (2005) * ''Borderland'' (2013) * '' Digital Solutions'' (2015) * ''

'' (2016) * ''Mind Merge LP'' (2017)

Compilation albums

* ''

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

'' (1993) * ''The Infiniti Collection'' (1996) * '' Wax Trax! MasterMix Volume 1'' (1998) * ''20 Years 1985 - 2005'' (2005)

EPs

* ''The True Techno EP'' (1992) * ''The Future Sound EP'' (1993)

Singles

* " No UFO's" (1985) * "Night Drive" (1985) * "Testing 1-2" (1986) * "Play It Cool" (1986) * "Technicolor" (1986) * "It's Channel One" (1987) * "Sound of Stereo" (1987) * "Make Some Noise" (1987) * "Beat Track" (1987) * "Interference" (1988) * "The Chase" (1989) * "Ocean to Ocean" (1990) * "Jazz Is the Teacher" (1993) * "I See the Light" (1993) * "Sonic Sunset" (1994) * "The Flow" (1995) * "Starlight" (1995) * "I Wanna Be There" (1996) * "Be Brave" (1998) * "Update" (2002) * "Outer Space" (2004) * "OFI" / "Huesca" (2010) * "Control" (2012) * "Riod" (2016)

Filmography

Feature films

* ''High Tech Soul'' (2006)

Short films

* ''Black to Techno'' (2019)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Juan 1962 births Living people 20th-century American musicians 21st-century American musicians African-American DJs American electronic musicians American techno musicians Detroit techno DJs from Detroit American electronic dance music DJs 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians