10 years ago Hogpath and Pilot Pictures worked on a documentary film project about the first electronic music festival in Detroit at Hart Plaza. This sliver of history comes to the big screen this Friday the 28th at Music Hall with the help of Planet E and Paxahau. The title of the work is The Drive Home.
In a few weeks Hart Plaza will be overtaken by an electronic music festival unlike any other in the world. For three days Detroit turns into a vibrant cosmopolitan city with parties all over the place and a lineup packed with talent and diversity. As Huvaere states in this interview, it’s all about the people attending the festival.
I was interested in finding out how Paxahau was able to keep this music festival going. For those of us around town the beginning had some serious growing pains and we almost lost it. I wanted to find how Paxahau had the vision and discipline to keep it alive. I asked Huvaere point-blank about the highs and lows of the festival. Here is how he responded.
In this installment of the Hogpath interview with Jason Huvaere he discusses the changes in electronic music over the years. He elucidates how the changes in technology have affected the delivery and social dynamics of the music in clubs and into headphones. It illustrates how technology has completely opened things like genres and categories, almost making those things mute.
As time goes on and mainstream radio creeps in there’s a population that’ll always stay in tune to, what I’ve heard Amy Winehouse refer to as, “what the kids are playing“. Over the past few years it seems like the kids, the airwaves, the corporate sponsors, the record label titans are blasting out Lady Gaga. For those of us raised on Grace Jones, Madonna, Miss Lady Kier along with techno/house sensibilities Lady Gaga makes me smile. A few weeks back I brought myself up to speed on all the videos via Youtube and remarked she’s a lot of fun. She even earned the right to don my headphone halo, make the head bob and there was the side of me that wanted to take part in the delicious simplicity of money, music, and some kinkiness. It’s easy good stuff and have fun with it. It’s refreshing to see a strong individual pushing the convential boundaries of art.
At the same time another woman has come into my life. One that’s not going to be pushed by any titans, nor have videos, or deal with content with the simple goal of selling records. She’s Snatam Kaur and I discovered her via last.fm. This track called Ong Namo kept coming up in my playlist. You see….. money, music, movies, the bombardment, thrown in with kinkiness internally and externally manufactured, can make a mess out of a person. One turns to yoga, prayer and the spiritual arts and can be blessed with having things come across one’s computer screen. Such is Snatam Kaur. You can read up on her on the website or Wikipedia but I offer her up as a suggestion and a observation. For decades we’ve lived in a world where graceful and righteous women like Snatam Kaur were pushed off to the fringes left to folk festivals and obscurity. And to some extent she still may be in these worlds but technology gives her a chance to disseminate her prayers of music globally and I sense there’s people listening. Her voice is that of an angel and it cleanses. Take a deep breath and come off the crack we’re constantly hit with.
Suniai = To listen to the music of feeling karma being born.
Lady Gaga Photo -http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelspencer/ / CC BY 2.0
