Underground Resistance
Underground Resistance (UR for short) is an American label and music project from Detroit .
biography
Underground Resistance was founded on November 2, 1989 by Jeff Mills and Mike Banks ("Mad Mike"). Before that, Mills was working on a project called "The Final Cut," a group that produced techno and industrial rock . After he met “Mad Mike”, they both discovered preferences and similarities in their music and production technique and began to produce together. Commenting on the founding of Underground Resistance, Mike Banks says: “ UR was created from the power of Public Enemy and from the love for the German precision of Kraftwerk . "
The first release "Your Time Is Up" can be classified as a garage house release, it is characterized by synth pianos and the singing of the Detroit singer Yolanda. Catalog number 7, the makers added later EP by the "Living For The Nite" is and went in a similar direction.
The cult of underground resistance arose more or less through their actions and demeanor, which differed significantly from the more hedonistic techno scene. Small political messages and comic images on the records confused record bosses and ordinary record buyers. Most of the actors (Mills, Banks and Robert Hood , who supported UR as an MC and later became a member) appeared masked. Their militant demeanor (camouflage pants, black T-shirts ) also caused confusion. Live performances are called assaults (German attacks, storms). Records were released (sometimes only available in Detroit) that were turned upside down and could not be played by conventional automatic record players.
Through contacts in the reunified Berlin , UR found a lobby for their music. So the "X-10x" series appeared, which was published exclusively on the Tresor Records label.
At the end of 1992 Mills separated from the association, which now includes many "fighters", in order to become resident DJ in the New York Limeclub. Robert Hood followed him a little later. Since then, Mike Banks has been running UR alone, but the Underground Resistance project has several members.
concept
According to its own statement, the concept of UR is essentially directed against the desperation in the ghettos , the major record companies (“majors”), the segregationist American system and the so-called programming . “Programming means that the system - and by that the entire complex of state , public and economy is meant - programs the citizens to its advantage. School education, upbringing , advertising and also laws transform the people into a functioning machine. The human being is indoctrinated by the influences that affect him , so that he follows the guidelines of society and thus keeps it alive. "
Underground Resistance is also committed to raising awareness of Detroit's economic disaster and protecting young people from drug abuse and crime . UR often spread their philosophy in the form of messages (e.g. the Unknown Writer , a pseudonym of UR member Cornelius Harris) on their phonograms (e.g. Message To The Majors , Black Moon Rising or Revenge Of The Jaguar - The Mixes ) as well as in the lyrics and titles of some tracks such as B. Fuck The Majors , Electronic Warfare ("Do not allow yourself to be programmed") or Transition . Often times, the views of the Underground Resistance have been misinterpreted, leading to Mike Banks receiving fraternity letters from Libyan extremists and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) suspecting obvious kinship. Underground Resistance themselves distance themselves from militarism and terrorism.
Condition red
In 1999 the track "Jaguar" by DJ Rolando aka The Aztec Mystic was released, which initially developed into an underground hit and ultimately into a classic of the techno scene . Major label Sony (and BMG , who licensed the piece) were interested in releasing the track “Jaguar” on a large scale. Underground Resistance rejected this out of conviction, but a cover version including a video clip was released without approval. As a result, many emails from underground resistance sympathizers around the world flooded the Sony mail server and paralyzed it. The most famous DJs in the world supported the original in the so-called condition red (German: red alert). Sony ultimately withdrew the European publication meekly, but continued to publish the "Jaguar" cover in South America .
Mike Banks commented on this matter in the book Elektroschock - The History of Electronic Dance Music by Laurent Garnier and David Brun-Lambert: “It was dirty business! But beyond the legal issues, it was a spiritual desecration for us. I pray for the souls of the people who did this. Because that was like raping an angel . "
The French DJ and producer Laurent Garnier wrote this: "Jaguar was, in a way that the Trojan horse of the Techno, which recalled the soul , the soul of this music is not for sale and that it in malicious attacks and chess moves of the gangsters to from Music business could not reach an amicable agreement. "
Other members
- Andre Holland
- Cornelius Harris
- DJ Dex
- Drexciya
- Frankie Fultz
- Galaxy 2 Galaxy
- Gerald Mitchell
- Ghetto tech
- James Pennington (aka Suburban Knight )
- Marc Floyd
- Mark Taylor
- Milton Baldwin
- Perception
- Raphael Merriweathers Jr.
- Santiago Salazar
- timeline
former members
- DJ Rolando (aka The Aztec Mystic)
- Jeff Mills
- Robert Hood
Important publications
- UR001 UR & Yolanda - Your Time Is Up
- UR002 Sonic
- UR003 Final Frontier
- UR007 UR & Yolanda - Living for the night
- UR010 riot
- UR011 Suburban Knight - By Night
- UR012 The Seawolf
- UR013.5 X101 - Sonic Destroyer
- UR017 Punisher
- UR020 World 2 World
- UR022 Death Star
- UR023 Message to the majors (Fuck the majors)
- UR024 Acid Rain II
- UR025 Galaxy 2 Galaxy
- UR033 Electronic Warfare (Album)
- UR042 Turning Point
- UR044 Hard Life
- UR047 Mark Taylor - Vintage Future
- UR049 The Aztec Mystic ( DJ Rolando ) - Knights Of The Jaguar
- UR-2001 Millennium 2 Millennium
- UR-3000 Inspiration / Transition
Web links
- Underground Resistance at Discogs (English)
- The dark side of the Jaguar - Underground Resistance against the rest. In: Intro.de , January 31, 2000
- Underground Resistance vs. BMG - Who Owns the Beat? In: Intro.de , February 8, 2000