by RAF KATIGBAK

Ask any music buff about the history of techno music and they'll tell you, "Talk about techno and you gotta talk about Detroit. And if you talk about Detroit, you gotta talk about Jeff Mills."

Over the last decade and a half, DJ/producer Jeff Mills has been called many things: elusive, articulate, complex, self-indulgent, a visionary, a genius and a hero. While Mills has yet to prove that he can leap tall buildings in a single bound, there's no doubt that he is one of the most important and influential DJs in the history of the world. In the early '80s, at the tender age of 20, Mills (known then as the Wizard) changed the sound of Detroit radio and influenced thousands of young wannabe DJs with his highly technical, breakneck, record-a-minute mixes of new wave, early electro and dance music.

In the '90s, he spearheaded the second wave of Detroit techno producers when he co-founded seminal Detroit collective Underground Resistance. Since then, Mills - owner of the Axis, Purpose Maker, Tomorrow and 6277 labels - has produced some of the most conceptually challenging and beautiful techno records ever committed to wax. The Mirror recently caught up with Mills at his offices in Chicago to discuss his new DVD Exhibitionist and what it's like touring around the world - and beyond.

Mirror: Put simply, Exhibitionist is a video capturing you doing your thing - mixing records. What made you think people would need a 70-minute DVD of a guy DJing?

Jeff Mills: It's something that I've been doing for most of my adult life. If I think about all the people I've been playing music for every year for over 10 years, I would think that a project like this is something we would have in common, even though we don't know each other. At one point they came to a party, and that's what they'd seen. For a lot of people, it's a large part of their youth and to have a very simple example of a DJ just DJing is quite nice, I think. When I was younger, I was into jazz and rock 'n' roll - if I could've had Ace Frehley from Kiss just playing a guitar right in front of me, I would understand how or why things sound the way they did. That would have been great.

M: After almost 15 years, you're still one of the most in-demand DJs in the world. What keeps you going?

JM: I think, for where I would like to go with electronic music - like very far away from this planet - I need to first experience all the things that are on this planet first, to know if I can kind of leave that behind. So as a result of travelling so long, around the world numerous times, I'm coming to have a really good idea of what Earth is like, and the different cultures, and understanding the make-up of this planet. Understanding that, it should be easier to then move on much further out into the universe.

Transcendental talk

M: Do you mean as an abstract term or a very real term?

JM: Both, actually. Most people are so occupied with what is happening around them here, they don't think about what's happening outside, off Earth. So most people unfortunately don't care. I have the opportunity to travel and I see and I learn and I watch, I take notes and things like that. At some point I'm going to sum up what it's all about and then feel that it's time for me to move on.

M: You mean, move on... to other planets?

JM: Yeah.

M: Okaaaay. So music is your ticket off this planet.

JM: Absolutely.

M: So wait, you're in the middle of a DJ set and suddenly it's all, "Beam me up, Scotty?"

JM: Not in DJ sets, but in music, yes. I use that to create certain things. In fact, it's the most valuable piece of equipment that I have. It goes back a long, long way, even with Underground Resistance. To make the Rings of Saturn and Atlantis records, you have to be able to move beyond what is around you and put yourself in that situation. It's not something that comes overnight, it takes - I don't want to say practice. A certain amount of realization. You have to feel at peace with yourself. We call it transcending, actually. I've been trying to get to that point for years. It really started around 1994 or 1995.

M: When did you first realize that you could, y'know... bzzzzzzp?

JM: There have been certain tracks that I've made where I think I have experienced a certain type of situation.

M: I see, "travelling without moving," to cop a crappy Jamiroquai album title. So, what kind of things have you learned in your travels?

JM: You generally realize that we're not all that different. At the end of the day, everyone would like to go home to a nice warm place with hot food, surrounded by his or her family. What makes a difference is that people have different views on how to do that. Democrats, Republicans, nationalists, socialists, in the end no matter what culture, the objective is the same. So if it's the same on this planet, it's the same on others as well.

Starbucks on Mars

M: I noticed you have a label called Mars 6277. I know you've been following the Mars landing. What do you think life would be like up there?

JM: It depends on who's creating the life. If it were to be humans, I would think humans would try to create life like it's here on Earth. We would try and adapt Mars like Earth, so we would have Starbucks.

M: Wait a second, you're one of the most visionary thinkers in modern techno and all you can come up with is Starbucks? What about squid people with huge brains and jet packs?

JM: No, I'm sure it would be a Gap on every corner.

M: That's depressing but probably true. Do you think everyday man will be able to visit other planets in your lifetime?

JM: No, but I have a feeling that I'm going to see things not from here in my lifetime. I don't think it's possible that we could be literally floating in cold space with things flying around us, but at some point something is going to happen.

M: Are you talking about an invasion?

JM: No, an occurrence, I suppose. This planet is very fragile. Something could come close enough to set us off our axis and we could find ourselves drifting into a bad situation. It's inevitable that an occurrence is going to happen or we'll discover something that they won't be able to hide.

M: When you say "they," do you mean like, "the Man?" Do you think the Man has already found things?

JM: I think so. They try hard to discredit things. I think something will happen that is not possible to hide. It will be beyond their control. And I think everybody else kind of knows that too. It's kind of part of this - not conspiracy, but a large understanding that many different people in many different cultures and art forms - they feel compelled to prepare the people for certain situations to happen, so you see movies like E.T. and things like that. Certain creative people constantly work to try to put things out there to prepare people for the unexpected or unexplained.

M: Are you one of those people?

JM: Somewhat. By using music to go beyond the norm, I try to interject that question. What does he mean, or what is he trying to say, why does it sound like that and not like everything else I'm listening to? In a way, I try to get them to think of change, drastic change.

M: Are you ready for the change?

JM: Yes, it's inevitable. I mean, for all those millions of years we were lucky enough. I just hope that the right people will be in the right place at the right time to do the right thing. I'm not talking about Armageddon. It could be a wonderful thing, we could discover something that could give us more purpose in our own lives.

M: You mean, like Alf?

JM: No, not exactly.

With Yaz and Mateo Murphy at Aria on Friday, March 19, 2am, $40

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