Kevin Saunderson is one of the Belleville Three, the teenagers from suburban Michigan who invented Detroit techno, the architect behind Inner City, and one of the most influential catalogs in electronic music history. This is his full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib.
In this interview, Kevin traces his path from New York to Inkster to Belleville, where he met Derrick May and eventually Juan Atkins, and where there was nothing to do but make music. He talks about the early days at the Music Institute, driving records to Chicago to get them played alongside house music, and the night at Heaven in London when he first heard Big Fun played for a crowd that rushed the dance floor. He breaks down the origin of the word techno, why his sound went toward melody and vocals when the others went abstract, and how the Reese Bass ended up shaping not just techno but hip hop without most people knowing it.
Kevin also reflects on the racism he encountered in Belleville, the segregation that made it harder to break in America than in Europe, and what it meant to watch the city of Detroit finally embrace what he helped build decades after he built it.
This one is about invention, patience, and what it means to go full circle.
CHAPTERS
00:19 - From New York to Belleville: How Kevin Found the Music
02:50 - Meeting Derrick May and Juan Atkins
04:16 - The Light Switch: Giving Up Football for Music
07:31 - The Belleville Three and the Mythology Growing Around Them
09:44 - Driving to Chicago and Finding the First Audiences
10:57 - Big Fun in London: The First Time He Heard His Music Move a Crowd
14:32 - The Music Institute in Its Prime
17:35 - Why America Was Different: Segregation, Radio, and the Industry
20:31 - The Reese Bass, Collaboration, and Techno Boulevard
36:39 - Staying in Detroit and What Keeps Him Here
40:07 - The Future of Techno and What Full Circle Looks Like
LINKS
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267
Stay connected!
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/
TAGS / KEYWORDS
Kevin Saunderson, Kevin Saunderson interview, Belleville Three, Detroit techno history, Inner City Detroit, Reese Bass, Detroit techno origin, Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Music Institute Detroit, techno history, Big Fun Inner City, Detroit electronic music, Movement Festival Detroit, DJ Minx, Carl Craig, Techno Boulevard Detroit, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music history, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast
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