Few artists boast techno credentials like those of Robert Hood, so when he sees trouble on the horizon the rest of the community might do well to take heed. Echoing recent remarks made by Dense & Pika, the Underground Resistance alumni warned that the genre may soon grow stagnant.

During an interview with Mixmag, Hood delved into the history of the genre – far enough back that he couldn’t recall whether it was even called techno. When asked how he thought it had changed, he responded by saying:

Now, techno is very strong and very healthy but at the same time I feel it’s getting complacent much like it was in the late ’90s when the scene was just over saturated with music. We have to be careful with the direction we’re taking. Right now is a good time to break out and do something different and groundbreaking. It’s going to take new energy and young producers to be brave enough to do something extreme and radical. I remember Detroit techno being that brave creature that was not afraid to try anything, be it with acoustic instruments, horns, piano, flutes. Not just sounds coming from a synthesiser. Being brave enough to take a Martin Luther King sample and marry it with a 909 to create something spiritually unique and different. Now to me it’s really getting monotonous.

Ironically, modern techno owes much of its aesthetic to Hood. Alongside Richie Hawtin, he laid the foundation for what would become minimal techno with definitive albums like Minimal Nation and Omega.

During the interview, Robert Hood also touched on how he met Jeff Mills and got involved with Underground Resistance, as well as discussing his religious beliefs. In addition, he explained the concept behind his Floorplan project, talking in detail about its inaugural release, Paradygm Shift, on Dekmantel.

Source: Mixmag