We were honored to learn about his early inspirations, all-time favorite Detroit records, thoughts on the current state of Detroit and much more.
So, without further ado, read on for our full conversation with Craig Gonzalez.
MOTORMOUTH: What influences inspired you to initially start DJing? How did you crack onto the scene?
CRAIG GONZALEZ: I got really into hip hop when I was basically a kid and would watch Yo! MTV Raps pretty much every day and the DJs in the vids always fascinated me. To the point where we had one of those stereos at home that had a receiver with a belt drive turntable on top of it. So I might have recorded myself once or twice trying to scratch a record without knowing how to do it.
However, I didn’t really think DJing was a reality until I got into techno and realized I could buy cheap Technics belt drive turntables and a mixer from Best Buy. I think a lot of us from my generation started on similar turntables as they had a little dial for the pitch controls. Then shortly after I started a friend of mine was throwing a party and booked me. The lineup was Tim Baker (RIP), Twonz and myself. I’ll admit that I had no idea how to mix at that point, but I thought I was pretty sweet though hahaha.
What was Detroit's scene like when you first started getting into it?
The Detroit scene wasn’t super huge at the time but then just grew over time. The parties weren’t quite every weekend yet, and we really did have to call info lines to get directions to parties and map points. It was always fun to hear which tracks people would play in the background of the voicemail message. I also look back fondly on that period because the scene and music wasn’t nearly as structured as they are today. I feel like it was a time when producers were still in a bit of a discovery mode as far as what they made and we got just a wide variety of really cool music. Those also made DJ sets more interesting.
You played Movement back in 2009, and you're playing the fest again this year. How has the festival changed in those 16 years? What's your feeling about this year's Movement set, and what are you bringing to play?
One thing that has changed since then is the production of the festival; it has constantly gotten better over the years. I also like the new Underground Stage. It was such a challenge to play down there during the early years, and when I played down there back in 2009, the setup was in the middle of the pit with speakers pointing outwards from there on all 4 sides. It was elevated, so there was a catwalk from the side to get to the DJ booth. It was neat but a little bit of a challenge. Paxahau figured out that room since then, but I’m into the new location. I know techno is supposed to be dark and cavernous, but we deal with dark and gloomy winters, so it’s nice to get a bit of sun down there now and feel like a part of the festival.
I will say the biggest change isn’t related to just Movement but festival culture in the US overall. When the festival started here, festivals weren’t as much of a thing nor was electronic music as socially acceptable as it is today. Now there’s a whole culture around festivals. We basically went from nothing to a grassroots sort of festival to a large one that competes with all other US festivals. It’s been fun to watch it grow.
As far as my set goes, I have some ideas and a couple of paths in mind, but I haven’t really decided on what that’s going to look like. At the very least, I want to play some things that I find interesting and unique to the festival. I think I pretty much go into playing the festival nowadays wanting to show folks what I’ve been up to. That could be by playing an unexpected style of music or maybe some new mixing techniques I’ve picked up over time. So I’m not really sure yet. We’re all about to find out soon enough
What are your feelings about Detroit currently?
The Detroit scene is as lively as I’ve ever seen it. We’ve got more venues than I can remember ever having, small underground events and just more things to attend on any given weekend and throughout the week.
You've been cultivating a DJ style that is all your own, with your recent podcast for I.T. earning recognition in Resident Advisor's Mix of the Day column. How would you describe your DJ style and sound?
From a technical standpoint I can say that it’s actually quite simplistic and relies heavily on the fundamentals. I also have a general philosophy that I don’t want anyone to know what I’m doing unless I want them to. So pretty much any little nuance I add via the EQs or layering is generally in support of that. That’s not to say that there’s not some times to show a little razzle dazzle, but that would all depend on the situation, and even then, I would like it to be cohesive.
I don’t know if I can accurately describe my sound because I change it based on where/what I’m playing, and like to be contextually appropriate. I like to be a complimentary piece of the party and really just try to play what I think is appropriate for whatever slot I have and at least maybe stick out a little bit in an appropriate way. I also buy a lot of music and will squirrel tracks away until I have a use for them. I like being versatile and not predictable. I do like challenging myself, however. I like to take some tracks that might not sound like they do much on their own and put them together in a way that keeps the energy flowing in a positive direction. I also believe in crafting a path throughout a set that has peaks and valleys but where I create said peaks and valleys with the tracks themselves, over having a track do it for me. You won’t hear many breakdowns in my sets, if I can help it, but I will instead create those moments more organically with different tracks throughout it. It keeps people engaged for far longer than playing breakdown after breakdown. Plus, breakdowns make people stop dancing, which is kind of the antithesis of what we’re supposed to be doing here.
Close Encounters is going pretty well. It’s been running for almost two and a half years now, which includes the time when it was Spkrbox. I started it because I wanted to provide a place where people can stretch out and play all sorts of techno without the pressure of a dance floor. I feel that things have gotten so dancefloor-oriented nowadays that a lot of what techno is and can be have been maybe overlooked. Techno isn’t just dance floor bangers, it can really be anything it wants to be. We know it can be dark but it can also be beautiful and emotional. It can be very pleasant to sit back and listen to. We used to have nights like EXAT and rooms like The Study at Motor to experience those things, yet I felt like we were missing such a thing nowadays. I also really try to book a blend of younger and maybe some older DJs that have great taste in music that maybe don’t play out as much anymore.
Now the room is bigger at UFO and the event goes from 9-2 instead of 7-11 like it was at Spkrbox, so things get a little more dancey but that’s okay too. It’s Thursday night and I want it to be a night where people can come hear different stuff than they hear while out at the clubs every weekend. Just coming in and playing the same stuff that’s played every weekend is boring to me and I want to provide a space where people can come hear something a little different. I guess I want it to be a night for the heads and for fans of the music. At the very least, I get to play whatever I want and try some things out on the system there.
We're massive fans of Interdimensional Transmissions. You've been in its orbit and part of that magic for years now. How did you initially link up with them? What about I.T. parties feel special to you? How have you seen them change?
I can’t really say when I linked up with IT as I’ve been friends with them for at least 25 years or so? I used to have a residency at the Blind Pig back around 99-00 and lived in A2 around that time near BMG. So we’d hang out a little bit and I’ve been friends with Erika for almost as long. They’re family to me, even outside the confines of the music scene. It just took a while to start playing their parties because there really weren’t that many slots available, as their parties had smaller lineups and both of them would open. It wasn’t until their parties grew that more spots became available.
I really like their events because they bring in a lot of the artists that I’m into. They take chances on different types of music and some of the artists probably wouldn’t ever get booked at the clubs here in Detroit. It’s not the type of music for those crowds anyway. I also think their parties are a bit of a barometer as to what’s going on elsewhere in the world. Just a different perspective than what we experience most of the time around here.
Plus who doesn’t want to play and hang out in a parachute fort?
This year, for Return to the Source, you're playing on The Bunker's Monday night of back-to-backs with Tokyo's Haruka. You played an off-the-cuff back-to-back together in 2023 at NYC's Good Room for The Bunker. Can you tell us about that set? Did you and Haruka have a relationship prior? What can we expect as you go into this year's set together, and how are you feeling?
I didn’t know Haruka before that night. In fact, the first time I met him or talked to him was at the artist dinner before the event and we were sitting at completely opposite ends of the long table. We chatted briefly after dinner but then we had to go over to the venue and then I had to open. So we didn’t even really get a chance to talk much there either. We were both in Bad Room, which is a small room inside Good Room, and it was just us two in there. I opened from 10-1 and he was due to close that room from 1-4. The main room was scheduled to go until the party ended at 5. I got done with my set and was hanging out running around the party and when I was back in Bad Room around 3 and he asked if I wanted to tag to finish out the night. Of course I accepted and the room was packed. So we just kept the energy up and we were able to keep the room going until the party ended at 5. We were communicating throughout the set and would speak up if maybe we were running out of whatever style we might have been playing at the time and would switch it up. I felt like it was one of the smoother b2b experiences I’ve had, especially a legit spur of the moment one.
We’ve been chatting a little about our set this year and we are actually opening. So it’s been about how we want to start things off and where we will eventually like to take it. I’m also not one to tell people what I’m going to play before an event. I like people to discover it as it happens but also because sometimes I don’t even know.
As a radio show that exclusively plays music from Detroit, we love to know what local music Detroiters love. What would you say are three of your absolute favorite Detroit albums/records?
What are some current DJs and producers that are inspiring your approach right now?
When it comes to DJs, I really appreciate how
Patrick Russell and
Timnah play. I could write paragraphs about them, but let’s keep it simple.
The thing that sticks out to me is the fact that it’s always hard to pin down what they are going to play before an event as they always try to bring something unique to the party. They aren’t beholden to any genre and will morph into any type of DJ they think they need to be. All things I wholeheartedly align with. Patrick can maybe go a bit deeper into the classics, while Timnah might hit the modern stuff a little harder and they also have different mixing styles and other nuances but both of them go about it like forever students and always bring the element of surprise. Plus they play cool stuff.
Also want to shout out the
NWB crew, though. All first class DJs and they each bring something different. So when you put them all together, they create like a DJ version of Voltron that can whisk you away for hours upon hours in another dimension.
As far as producers go,
Forest Drive West really makes some cool rhythmic stuff and I’d also put in a fav
DJ spot as well. His collabs with
Felix K and DB1 as
Levl are also instant buys for me.
Reeko has been making some cool stuff too. All of the ones mentioned are really pushing the boundaries of what techno and dnb are supposed to be. To the point where there really is no genre of music that accurately describes their sound and I’m all for it.
And do you have anything coming up you're excited about? Anything that you'd like to plug?
Outside of Movement and the b2b with Haruka at
The Bunker party, I have my
Close Encounters of the Third Thursday right before Movement with guests Andy Toth, Francois Dillinger and DJ Sphinx [check out our interview with Sphinx
here] but then things slow down a bit after Movement. There are some cool things on the horizon that haven’t been announced yet, so stay tuned!
