DB's No School Like the Old Skool: Richie Hawtin

DJ DB has been a fixture in dance music through every renaissance the style has experienced. His archive of DJ mixes and flyers from the 90s rave era are a time capsule of electronic music's first worldwide explosion, and in NO SCHOOL LIKE THE OLD SKOOL he shares some of these treasures. Get out your notepads…

Most people know exactly who Richie Hawtin is (and if they don't, shame!). He is one of the most respected DJ's in the world. What some may not know is how long he's been pushing techno.

In 1990 my first job in music (other than spinning records) was to be hired by Profile Records to do dance A&R for them, and we started an album series with the stunningly creative name "Best Of Techno". There was literally no other labels doing electronic music compilations in the USA yet. In Vol 1 of the series we included a track called "F.U." by F.U.S.E. This was Richie Hawtin and my first exposure to his label Plus 8 and connection to his awesome talent.

Then around 94 when I first started to get booked as a DJ outside of NYC, I was brought to Detroit, where Richie and his tight crew were routinely throwing illicit parties in the abandoned downtown area of the city. The party took place the the darkest, dirtiest, scariest fucked up multi -floored warehouse I had ever seen. I remember climbing the stairs to each floor and seeing huge gaps and holes where stairs had rotted and simply fallen away!

The other thing that sticks out in my mind about the gig is that this scene was ground zero for the Roland 909 and 303 purists and not really too appreciative of my mix of pitched down 808's being used as baselines with sped up breakbeats all over them. I was actually boo'd when I started playing Jungle! Thankfully I was still playing mixed genre sets and was able to survive the set with some acid house and techno.

(pictured from left to right Alan Oldham (aka DJ T-1000), Richie Hawtin, and Daniel Bell (aka DBX and half of Cybersonik with Richie). Photo taken 'probably around 1991/1992')

Whether it's for his alter-ego, Plastikman, or himself, from logos, labels, flyers and even events, his attention to detail and design aesthetic has always been spot on!~

Richie Hawtin: Flavor, Denver, CO, USA (19/11/1994) by RichieHawtin

Here is the Richie Hawtin spotlight in my book about the history of Stickers.

Richie Hawtin Discogs here .