Seth Troxler on Berlin, Detroit, and being licked clean by Tina Turner

Jasmine Phull talks to Seth Troxler about experiencing music through a plethora of sensory perceptions, where music does more than just move your feet; it paints a picture.

With all the hullabaloo about Berlin being the mecca of minimal and techno sounds, which is of course, not completely unfounded, today’s listeners often overlook equally influential locations - those rooted in history. Detroit, Michigan is a city rich in musical heritage, a place that’s encouraged growth and inspired decades of techno maestros.

And the mid-eighties saw a number of things, from the inception of this aural delight to the birth of one Seth Troxler - in a town called Kalamazoo. Nestled neatly between Detroit and Chicago the little-known town would have a big influence on the future of Troxler. With a local DJ for a stepdad, Troxler was in good hands because without even realising it, the now producer was being groomed for the bigger picture.

Currently a resident of  Berlin, Troxler pays tribute to his roots with new collective Visionquest. Along with fellow Detroiters Lee Curtiss, Ryan Crosson and Shaun Reeves, Troxler hopes to create deep electronica that is not just limited to the dance-floor.

I’ve heard talk of a debut LP. How’s the process going?
We’ve not started yet, but it’s definitely something that we’re thinking about. We’ve got a number of remixes as Visionquest to get out of the way first but as soon as these are done we are going to get busy working on our debut Visionquest album. Given our release schedule I think that realistically we’d now be looking to put this out sometime in 2012.

Is there a particular theme that you are working with? Will the sound be much of a divergence from your previous works and remixes?
We aim to build on what has come before and explore some new aesthetics outside of just straight up house and techno.

You starting spinning vinyl when you were 15 - is there anything else you could have grown up to be?
I was brought up in a town called Kalamazoo, which is kinda half way between Detroit and Chicago so during the late eighties and nineties this was one of the most exciting places musically on the planet. My stepdad was a DJ on local radio and I used to go and sit with him in the studio when I was really young and watch him at work. His DJ name was ‘Too Fine’ and he had a nightly show between 10pm and 5am playing early house and hip hop before midnight and then slow jams for a show called ‘The Love Zone’. My stepfather has always been a major influence in my life both musically and in many other respects. I’ve always looked up to him and, given that I’ve never had another job apart from working in record stores, DJing and making music, there isn’t anything else I could have grown up to be.

You made the move from Detroit to Berlin. Do you see the effects of this move in your music?
Both Detroit and Berlin have helped shape our musical outlook, however, they are very different in a lot of ways. While Detroit has an amazing musical heritage that goes back generations, the scene there is pretty small, with only a few good venues and promoters throwing parties. You really have to work hard to make things happen in Detroit, which is why so many of the city’s most successful artists have flown the nest. Berlin, on the other hand, has been for the last decade to electronic music, what Paris is to fashion, or London or Frankfurt is to banking. It’s an amazingly creative environment with an amazingly well-developed scene that attracts people from all over the world to live, share ideas and generally inspire each other. Having said that I think that, these days at least, Berlin has slightly gone off the boil and lost some of its appeal to cities like London and Barcelona.

When DJing how do you source your tracks? Does Beatport play a big part in the process or is your first ‘point of call’ your industry friends?
It’s a mixture of both but normally my first port of call is still always the record store. I love shopping in places like Hardwax and Spacehall in Berlin and Rush Hour in Amsterdam. For starters you can always pick up old records that other DJs might not necessarily be playing but they also do limited run pressings of their own tracks and re-edits which are unique to the specific shop. I also get sent a lot of promos and tracks from friends who make music and then I use Beatport to fill in the gaps.

You started as a producer in 2002. Is there something that’s notably changed within the music industry?
Um… pretty much everything! In 2002, you could still get rich from making music, DJs played vinyl and CDs as only really super-nerds like Richie Hawtin had even considered the idea of digital mixing and people still actually paid for music. There was no Facebook or Myspace and most people bought their records from record shops rather than digitally online. These days you can only really make money from performing (fine if you are a DJ, terrible if you just want to be a producer); the entire landscape of the music industry has evolved that it’s almost unrecognisable to what it was a decade ago.

Can you come up with a metaphor that describes how you picture your music makes a listener feel?
It’s like being covered in honey and licked clean by Tina Turner and Whitney Houston when they were both nineteen years old.

What was the first album you bought?
I think it was called the The My Little Pony Sing Yourself To Sleep FuckJamz Megamix. I dearly loved that album.

One track that makes you feel elated?
 ‘Golden Dreams’ by Footprintz or anything by Jamie Principle or Gwen Guthrie.

Do you feel visual aesthetic is an important part of Seth Troxler, whether on stage or off stage?
I’m an extremely visual person, so definitely yes… I think what we’re trying to do with Visionquest is paint pictures with sound and create unique atmospheres for people to enjoy. Right now we’re working with some exciting people to develop a visual element to our performance that will provide new environments for listening to dance music.

We are going to be renting spaces and transforming everything, to the point where the lines between gallery installation, club night and stage show meet; transforming spaces into three dimensional environments where the clubber can interact with the space in a different way to just a normal rave or club night. This excites us… the idea of what hasn’t been done before, but doing it without breaking too many rules. I think with the nights we’re doing now, like the Fabric showcase, we’re just starting to show the musical side of the journey that we plan to create. The visual side will come later and by degrees. We have some great new artists for the label who have some great ideas, like this group from Montreal called Footprintz. We want to create shows that span the musical spectrum, and offer something more than what people are used to.

What should the crowd expect from your gigs?
To be taken on their own personal Visionquest.

Benoit & Sergio ‘Where The Freaks Have No Name EP’ on Visionquest is available now to buy on vinyl and MP3. Footprintz ‘Utopia EP’ is available to buy now on vinyl.

Interview by: Jasmine Phull
Twitter.com/j_fool

Seth Troxler plays at Midlesborough's Arena on Sunday 1st May with Jamie Jones. Tickets are available through Skiddle below.

Tickets are no longer available for this event