Jeff Mills
Encyclopedia
Jeff Mills is an American techno DJ and producer.
" radio show on WJLB
. He performed DJ tricks like beat juggling
and scratching
during his sets, some of which were pre-recorded.
Mills and former Parliament
bass
player 'Mad' Mike Banks
were founding members of Detroit techno collective Underground Resistance
(UR), which embraced revolutionary rhetoric and only appeared in public dressed in ski masks and black combat suits.
Mills never officially left UR, but did relocate from Detroit, first to New York, then Berlin (as a resident at the Tresor
club), and then Chicago. There in 1992, with fellow Detroit native Robert Hood
, he set up the record label Axis
, and later, sub-labels Purpose Maker, Tomorrow, and 6277, all aiming for a more minimal
sound than most of the techno being produced in those years.
In his DJ sets, Mills usually uses three decks, a Roland 909 drum-machine, and up to seventy records in one hour. Mills' Exhibitionist DVD, from 2004, features him mixing live on three decks and CD player in a studio.
Career
Starting in the early 1980s, Mills, using the name "The Wizard", was a recurring guest DJ on "The Electrifying MojoThe Electrifying Mojo
The Electrifying Mojo is an American radio personality. He was a disc jockey based in Detroit, Michigan whose on-air journey of musical and social development shaped a generation of music-lovers in Detroit and throughout southeastern Michigan and Canada and was of importance to the development of...
" radio show on WJLB
WJLB
WJLB, is a Clear Channel-owned Urban Contemporary radio station in Detroit that broadcasts on 97.9 megahertz frequency. The station is known on-air as FM98 WJLB. This is the station that began the career of Urban radio legend and video jock, Donnie Simpson...
. He performed DJ tricks like beat juggling
Beat juggling
Beat juggling is the act of manipulating two or more samples , in order to create a unique composition, using multiple turntables and one or more mixers. This can involve pauses, scratching, backspins and delays...
and scratching
Scratching
Scratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the late 1980s, it has been used...
during his sets, some of which were pre-recorded.
Mills and former Parliament
Parliament (band)
Parliament was a funk band most prominent during the 1970s. It and its sister act Funkadelic, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...
bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
player 'Mad' Mike Banks
Mike Banks (musician)
Michael Anthony Banks, better known as "Mad" Mike Banks, is an American techno producer. He is the co-founder, along with Jeff Mills, of US record label Underground Resistance and was a key player in the "second generation" of Detroit techno....
were founding members of Detroit techno collective Underground Resistance
Underground Resistance
Underground Resistance is a musical collective from Detroit, Michigan, in the United States of America. They are the most militantly political example of modern Detroit Techno, with a grungy, four-track musical aesthetic and a strictly anti-mainstream business strategy...
(UR), which embraced revolutionary rhetoric and only appeared in public dressed in ski masks and black combat suits.
Mills never officially left UR, but did relocate from Detroit, first to New York, then Berlin (as a resident at the Tresor
Tresor
Tresor is an underground techno nightclub and record label. The club was founded in March 1991 in the vaults of the former old Wertheim department store in Mitte, the central part of the former East Berlin, next to the famous Potsdamer Platz, however the history of the club goes back to 1988 when...
club), and then Chicago. There in 1992, with fellow Detroit native Robert Hood
Robert Hood
Robert Hood is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He is a founding member of group Underground Resistance as a 'Minister Of Information' with Mad Mike Banks & Jeff Mills. He is often considered to be one of the founders of minimal techno....
, he set up the record label Axis
Axis Records
Axis Records may refer to:* A record label which is operated by Jeff Mills which releases most of his work* The former name of 4AD, a record label which was started in 1979 as Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, but quickly renamed when it was discovered that Axis Records already...
, and later, sub-labels Purpose Maker, Tomorrow, and 6277, all aiming for a more minimal
Minimal techno
Minimal techno is a minimalist sub-genre of techno. It is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition, and understated development. This style of dance music production generally adheres to the motto less is more; a principle that has been previously utilized, to...
sound than most of the techno being produced in those years.
In his DJ sets, Mills usually uses three decks, a Roland 909 drum-machine, and up to seventy records in one hour. Mills' Exhibitionist DVD, from 2004, features him mixing live on three decks and CD player in a studio.
Albums
- 1992 Waveform Transmission - Volume 1
- 1994 Waveform Transmission - Volume 3
- 1996 Mix-Up Volume 2 Live at the Liquid Room (a live DJ set)
- 1996 Purpose Maker Compilation
- 1997 The other Day
- 1999 From the 21st
- 2000 Every Dog Has Its Day
- 2000 Metropolis (soundtrack to the Fritz LangFritz LangFriedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
film) - 2000 The Art of Connecting
- 2000 Lifelike
- 2002 Actual
- 2002 At First Sight
- 2004 Exhibitionist (a live DJ set, also available as a DVD)
- 2004 Choice: A Collection of Classics
- 2005 The Three Ages (new soundtrack to the Buster KeatonBuster KeatonJoseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
film) - 2005 Contact Special
- The Mission Objective (2005) (a live DJ set)
- 2006 Blue Potential
- 2007 One Man Spaceship
- 2008 Gamma Player Compilation Vol 1: The Universe By Night
- 2009 Sleeper Wakes
- 2010 The Occurrence
- 2011 The Power
- 2011 2087
- 2011 Fantastic Voyage
Axis
- AX-001 - Tranquilizer
- AX-004 - Mecca
- AX-005 - Thera
- AX-006 - More Drama
- AX-008 - Cycle 30
- AX-009ab - AX-009 Series
- AX-009 cd - Actual
- AX-009ef - Medium
- AX-010 - Growth
- AX-011 - Purpose Maker EP
- AX-012 - Humana
- AX-013 - Tephra
- AX-015 - Other Day EP
- AX-016 - Very (first released vinyls were perfume-scented to 'enhance the idea of influence through interaction)
- AX-018 - Tomorrow EP
- AX-019 - Apollo
- AX-019 OUR - From the 21st part 1
- AX-019 AFV - From the 21st part 2
- AX-020 - Every Dog has its Day vol. 1
- AX-021 - Lifelike EP
- AX-022 - Metropolis
- AX-023 - Every Dog has its Day vol. 2
- AX-024 - 4Art/UFO
- AX-026 - Every Dog has its Day vol. 3
- AX-030 - Every Dog has its Day vol. 4
- AX-036 - See the Light Part 1
- AX-037 - See the Light Part 2
- AX-038 - See the Light Part 3
- AX-039 - Expanded
- AX-040 - The Tomorrow Time Forgot
- AX-041 - Suspense/Dramatized
- AX-043 - Time Mechanic
- AX-044 - Blade Runner (EP) (inspired by the Ridley ScottRidley ScottSir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
film) - AX-048 - Systematic/The Sin
- AX-049 - Alpha Centauri
- AX-052 - Flyby - X-102
- AX-055 - The Good Robot (Coming Soon)
Purpose Maker
- PM-001 - Java
- PM-002 - Kat Moda
- PM-003 - Force Universelle
- PM-004 - Our Man in Havanna
- PM-005 - Steampit
- PM-006 - Vanishing Act
- PM-007 - Live Series
- PM-008 - Skin Deep
- PM-009 - If/Tango
- PM-010 - Circus
- PM-012 - Jetset
- PM-014 - Electrical Experience
- PM-015 - Divine
- PM-016 - Kana
- PM-020 - The Bells [10th Anniversary]
- PM-021 - Natural World
- PMWCD9601 - Purpose Maker Compilation [CD]
- PMWLP9601 - Purpose Maker Compilation [2xLP]
Tomorrow
- TW-001 - Preview EP
- TW-300 - Sculptures 1-3 CD
- TW-400 - Europa CD
- TW-800 - Time Machines CD
6277
- MISSION 01 Elektrabel - Elektrabel EP 2003
- MISSION 02 Hieroglyphic Being - Du Commencement A L'Eternite 2004
- MISSION 03 Elektrabel - Crocks EP 2005
- MISSION 04 Elektrabel - For Various Reasons 2005
- MISSION 05 Sub Space - First Step EP 2005
- MISSION 06 Zachary Lubin - Controllability 2005
- MISSION 07 Various artists (Jeff Mills Mix) - The objective Mission [Top Secret] 2005
- MISSION 08 Trefa - Elektrabel 2006
- MISSION 09 Ben Gibson - No Signify EP 2006
- MISSION 10 CounterPart - The Martian Mystique 2006
- MISSION 11 Johannes Volk - The Mysteries Of Tharsis Montes 2006
- MISSION 12 Jeroen - New Reality
Tresor Records
- Waveform Transmission Vol. 1
- The Extremist
- Waveform Transmission Vol. 3
- Waveform Transmission Vol. 3 (Detroit Cut)
- Atlantis (under moniker X-103)
External links
- Jeff Mills discography at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
. - See Deep House Page for some very rare live Chicago sets from around 1985-86.
- Higher Frequency Interview
- Hardware Interview
- Real Detroit Weekly Interview