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the KLF, EON and the Orb during my electronic music
class. I didn't quite know what techno was, per se, but I did hear
the music being passed off as such. It hadn't quite hit me yet as my
thing, but that was the first time I had ever heard of 'techno'. A
couple of other factors came into play, like a KRON Channel 4 report
(being the tech-savvy station they are) that made an unbiased
documentation of the scene, which was the hook that drew me in; the
multimedia aspect, the smart drinks, the flier artwork, people having
fun... there was something I saw that was unlike anything else... it
was all very futuristic. Jam & Spoon's 'Stella' and Tranformer 2's
'Pacific Symphony' drove it home. I was really into Japanese
Animation at the time as well. There was a store down the street from
my house called Diva that sold gear from Anarchic Adjustment and
posted fliers; that was my door to the scene. There were sessions by
Charlotte, 3P and Tara on KFJC that clued me into DJing, and there was
also a show by Richard Hester (aka Mr. Goodwrench) on there that
showcased Detroit techno and ambient music. All the funky DJ names.
XLR8R, Urb and Clublife.
Mattski Growing up in the Eastside San Jo' in the hood, we were always exposed to DJing. Way before Djing got popular. I'm talking early 80s. Early 80s Latino DJs where mixing shit like Planet Rock, Cybotron, New Order, Kraftwerk etc, in to shit that would later become freestyle. They would play at our school dances, lunches and parks.
My biggest influence was meeting Dereck Scott in the early nintees. This brother was so fuckin advanced and new everthing thing about Detroit, He was the first minority I met besides my brown ass that new Techno. My biggest influences and what made me start producing Techno was the 2nd wave of Techno out of Detroit. Cats like Robert Hood, Claud Young, Dknox Kenny Larkin etc.
I was always a house producer, but with house music you still have to stay in the boundaries. With techno we could really work the fuck out of our hardware and really experiment with dirty ass beats and crazy electronic noises. There were no boundaries in Techno.
DEFsf: Derek the Rhythmist was saying he was influenced a lot by industrial and darkwave as
well as acid house. Does that have any bearing on where you come from?
Mattski:As far as Techno influences I would say early electro hip hop: Man Parrish,
Paul Hardcastle, New Order, [Afrika] Bambaataa, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Acid House etc...
DEFsf: Why is it that techno became the sound that San Jose was known for? I'm sure trance, breaks, and
house had their infuence and had come and left, but how is it that
techno has remained so strong over the years in San Jo'?
Chris Jackson: I never really noticed that San Jose was known for the techno. House, sure. Techno, not really. In fact, it was pretty difficult to
get the masses into what we were doing. But now that you mention it, there have been quite a few amazing producers that have
come from this area. EBE, Mattski, Derek Scott [The Rhythmist], Qorser, Mutor [Andy W], Alonso Ordonez...and the lists goes on.
Lucas Rodenbush: I would say that San Jose has a great preference for house music on
the large scale. People like to go out dancing and most of the time
would rather hear house music than banging or heady techno. The
techno collective in San Jose is actually rather small; I would say
that a handful of people are really down for it. I think that the
buyers from Solid Grooves had a huge part in reinforcing
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