At its core, since its birth in the ’80s Detroit underground, techno has always been about freedom, self-sufficiency and experimentation—creating sounds of the future to get people moving. In that sense, Luke Slater has always been techno. In his early DJ days in the late ’80s and early ’90s, he was part of the U.K. dance contingent popularizing Detroit-inspired techno across the pond.

In 1989 he dropped his debut single, “Momentary Vision” (under the name Translucent) as a white label on his own Jelly Jam Records, a grooving breakbeat techno number. It would be two years before he dropped more tracks to shake up the U.K. techno scene, but he’s been on roll ever since.

To him, techno is best defined by its Detroit roots that first inspired him to produce it himself.

“For me, as an artist, it goes right back to the origin of house and techno, especially people like Juan Atkins,” Slater explained. “[In] 1983, he did ‘Clear’ by Cybotron, which really didn’t fit in with hip-hop [or] electro at the time. That was probably the first techno record I ever heard. And there was this kind of melancholy thing about it, but it had a lot of rhythm.”

“And then when house came along at the end of the ’80s, that was really the connection for me, that rhythm can come from machines,” he continued. “I loved that. That really bore into my soul.”

The British DJ and producer has kept himself busy exploring and expanding the nuance and range of techno with a prolific output over the past three decades. He has done so under a handful of aliases including Planetary Assault Systems, Clementine, Morganisitic, and The 7th Plain, to name a few.

As clubs remained shuttered with COVID-19 running wild, he was understandably uninspired to make dance music. In the first months of the pandemic he savored time at home with his family and worked on an experimental collaborative project with Anthony Child (a.k.a. Surgeon), KMRU, Lady Starlight, Speedy J and Tom Moth (Florence + The Machine‘s harpist) called DIALOGUE.

The project is composed of four spacious ambient musical dialogues (15-24 minutes long) between the artists that reflect the distance and uncertainty we all felt in 2020. “It was kind of really fitting for the time, but after that was done, there had to be more,” Slater shared.

He went on, “It was a hunger I haven’t experienced since I first started… I was just dying to get back to the events, to play, just to be out there again. And so that’s really how the [latest] Planetary album came about.”

After vaccines were rolled out to the public in 2021 and the possibility of DJing finally appeared on the horizon again, the creative flame within Slater was reignited. “When things looked like they were opening up, I wanted to go back to the roots and just write,” he said.

Yet he didn’t know where to start. His wife Heidy Slater reminded him that people really liked his track “Give It Up” from his 2019 Planetary Assault System double EP, Straight Shooting. So, he started with that as an inspiration, building around that style and the TR-909, with a heavy sprinkling of rebellious energy.

In a sense, Slater made Straight Shooting as much for himself as for his fans. He crafted it “purely for imagining that things were gonna open, the festivals, everything. It was like, ‘When I play again, this is what I want to play. I want to be around this.'”

The result was his latest album (released October 2021) as Planetary Assault Systems, Sky Scraping, which he describes as “straight off the shovel.”

Planetary Assault Systems is one of his most active aliases and home to some of his hardest techno. For Slater, aliases offer a way to organize his music after he makes it, as he finds himself working on music much of the time, and multiple things at once.

“I think if I was just working on one thing, I’d overthink it too much,” he said. The aliases also represent different parts of him and offer more outlets for his creativity, keeping his sense of freedom in music alive, as he feels less limited by fans’ expectations for one specific sound.

“When I go out and play, people know me. And people have got a lot in their minds [lately], they’ve been through a lot, Slater explained. “They’ve had to deal with exactly the same kind of anxieties and changes in their life as me and everyone else. So if I’m going to do a gig, I’m not going to try and be teaching right now. They want to hear the records I make, so that’s exactly what I’m going to be playing. It’s not so much giving people what they want, but just being true to what you’re really good at and what you’re known for.”

Huge huge thanks to all @berghain over the weekend ! ??? Wow , coming together extraordinaire , can’t put into words that feeling with all ,after such a long break from the club . ???

— Luke Slater (@reallukeslater) November 2, 2021

While COVID-19 variants and vaccination challenges have kept a full return of nightlife at bay, in July 2021, Slater was finally able to get back to DJing. A few months later, in November, he had his first set back at the legendary Berghain.

“It was an amazing night, and I felt that everyone there had this kind of spirit of like ‘We’ve won. Yes, we are back.’ It was quite an emotional set to do, to be honest. I was super happy,” Slater beamed. “I’m glad I got to do it right before it shut down again.”

Back in the seemingly distant pre-pandemic days of late 2019 and early 2020, Slater worked with Berghain’s label, Ostgut Ton, to create Berghain Fünfzehn, a seven-track album made up entirely of sounds and samples from their catalogue, which dates back to 2005. The arduous creative process was inspired by a Richie Hawtin album from years ago where he took tracks apart to build new ones.

“It was one of my crazier ideas. (Laughs.) Ostgut sent me every single track they’ve ever released. And then I would take samples and loops from each set of 12 [tracks] and make a new track,” Slater recounted. “And I thought, ‘Well, that sounds like a challenge.’ So that’s exactly what I did. Someone at Ostgut helped, we had a kind of a Henry Ford system going… Daniel put everything into Ableton Live for me so I could go through and choose. On the album, there’s seven tracks, but I actually wrote, like, 34 tracks. It took about six months and yeah, it was mad.”

When asked how he feels that techno and the culture around it has shifted since he started producing it 33 years ago, Slater reminded us that change is constant. “It’s always changing. I was doing this before the internet (Laughs), so I’ve seen a lot of changes,” the “Engine One” producer said with a smile.

“Back in the day, the only time people would read anything that I said was if I did an interview. That’s how close you got to someone who was writing the music unless you hung around them, he recalled. “And it’s really different now, because everyone’s speaking, everyone’s on social media. I think that’s okay. I think it’s pretty cool…Things always change, always mutate. I try and embrace that.”

Even as techno and technology constantly morphs and mutates, to Slater, the essence of a great techno track is straightforward: “Rhythm. Capturing the rhythm. I think that’s the hardest thing to get right. It’s all about the beat.”

While the techno community continues to grapple with its “business techno” shadow—the DJs, promoters and brands that put profit above all else—Slater reminds us that no one can truly kill its essence.

“The other day, someone on Twitter with a lot of followers said, ‘Rest in peace techno.’ I’ve heard that so many times over the years,” he said. “Techno, the concept of it, of what dance music is, it’s not a phase or fad or a current trend. It’s a revolution that happened a long time ago, and it’s kind of embedded in all electronic music.”

The dynamic pair offered a first taste of their expansive sound in April: a reimagining of Mills’ “Infinite Voyage.” The track will also appear on The Override Switch along with seven unreleased ones (plus two bonus tracks on the digital album). The album is a nod to John Coltrane, J Dilla, Kraftwerk and other artists “who inspire experimentation with what can be evoked through music.”

Axis Alert > Coming October 15th. Jeff Mills and Rafael Leafar debuts the much-anticipated and groundbreaking THE OVERRIDE SWITCH (album).
Formats: 2 X 12" vinyl and digital
Coming 10/15/2021 at https://t.co/F6YcqjUW7F pic.twitter.com/nim6xwV7T9

— Jeff Mills (@DJJeffMills) August 26, 2021

“The Override Switch reflects on the precise moment people decide in their minds that the only way to improve a situation is to act—to change the scenario and deal with the consequences as they develop to work for a better outcome,” Mills is quoted in a press release.

“Unrestrained and unshackled by the semiotics placed by conventional dance music, it looks to a frontier beyond what is conditioned by genre,” the release continues. “By infusing the mercurial elements of jazz, it gives electronic instruments the avenue that it always had the potential to travel down; as an unrestrictive genre, exploring the boundless possibilities in which it is capable.”

Mills’ prior electronic jazz releases have included collaborations with legendary Afrobeat artist Tony Allen and French keyboardist Jean-Phi Dary, along with his Spiral Deluxe project with Yumiko Ohno, Kenji ‘Jino’ Hino and Gerald Mitchell.

Back in May 2020, Mills announced Axis would release classical, jazz and film soundtracks in addition to techno.

This initial research from NHS Test and Trace has allowed them to declare that “mass participation events can be conducted safely, but caution must still be taken around specific aspects of event participation.”

Attendees of the events—which included Download Festival and Latitude Festival, The BRIT Awards, and select venues and sports games—had to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or natural immunity, or a negative test for entry.

“We’ve shown that we can reintroduce mass sports and cultural events safely but it is important that people remain cautious when mixing in very crowded settings,” U.K. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said in the press release. “So that we can keep the football season, theaters and gigs safe with full crowds this winter, I urge sport, music and culture fans to get the vaccine as this is the safest way we can get big events firing on all cylinders once more.”

The outlier superspreader event was the UEFA EURO 2020 soccer finals held at London’s Wembley Stadium on July 7th and 11th. The report highlights the large number of ticketless fans—who thus didn’t have to provide proof of vaccination or a negative test—likely contributed to a higher infection rate during the finals.

Researchers also saw spikes across the country after the two finals games, with people testing positive reporting “participating in a variety of activities including visiting bars, pubs, other households and eating out on match days.” Other events held at Wembley, including the earlier semifinal EURO 2020 games, where not linked to higher Coronavirus infections.

“EURO 2020 was a unique occasion and it is unlikely we would see a similar impact on COVID-19 cases from future events,” wrote Deputy Medical Director of Public Health England Dr. Jenifer Smith.

“However, the data does show how easily the virus can spread when there is close contact and this should be a warning to us all as we try and return to a cautious normality once again,” she continued. “When attending large events there are actions we can all take to help reduce the risk. These include: getting both doses of the vaccine as soon as you can, wearing a face covering in enclosed spaces such as on public transport on your way, and if you are catching up with friends before an event, consider doing so outdoors to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.”

The press release also notes the ERP is continuing to monitor events and phase two and three of their research will be released at a later date.

The venues they own or partner with include Webster Hall and Brooklyn Steel in New York; The Roxy, El Rey Theatre and Staples Center in Los Angeles; The Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas, and many more. In addition to Coachella, AEG Presents also promotes All Points East in London, Buku in New Orleans, Global Dance Festival in Denver, and other large music festivals.

The date was chosen to allow time for those who have yet to be vaccinated to do so. Up through September, AEG-run events will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours.

The new policy is “limited only as required by law” and may be updated as the global fight against the coronavirus continues to shift. The corporation hopes that their pro-vaccine stance will encourage more people to get vaccinated, and inspire other venues, event organizers and promoters to implement similar safety protocols.

“Certain states’ regulations may override our mandate, or a few artists may not want to immediately get on board with the plan, but we know that using our platform to take a strong position on vaccinations can make an impact,” AEG Presents COO and General Counsel Shawn Trell said in the statement.

“The message we want to send is simple and clear: the only way to be as safe as possible is to require everyone to be vaccinated,” he went on. “And we’re confident that others who haven’t been ready to make this full commitment yet will follow our lead.”

“We have come to the conclusion that, as a market leader, it was up to us to take a real stand on vaccination status,” AEG Presents Chairman and CEO Jay Marciano explained. “Just a few weeks ago, we were optimistic about where our business, and country, were heading. The Delta variant, combined with vaccine hesitancy, is pushing us in the wrong direction again.”

He continued: We realize that some people might look at this as a dramatic step, but it’s the right one. We also are aware that there might be some initial pushback, but I’m confident and hopeful that, at the end of the day, we will be on the right side of history and doing what’s best for artists, fans, and live event workers.”

One of the other major live event companies in the U.S., Live Nation, followed AEG’s news with their own updated protocol: they will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test beginning October 4th.

Earlier this month, New York City became the first U.S. city to announce it will require proof of vaccination for those attending indoor activities, including attending nightclubs. Their vaccine requirement will be fully enforced by September 13th and has begun its roll out this week.