The Canadian producer and dj, a key figure in techno over the last two decades, joins the Sonar Galicia line-up with one of his sets featuring the utmost in rhythmic and technological precision.

His eagerly awaited show at Sonar Galicia will be scheduled for Saturday 18th June.

Richie Hawtin, one of the most important investigators of electronic music of our time, will be restating his increasingly radical commitment to technology applied to the mix, in a session in which music, light and video converge in a striking show.


Richie Hawtin at Sonar Galicia

Richie Hawtin will be presenting an audiovisual show in which he will be mixing his own productions with other artists' tracks using the latest hardware and effects applications for djs. In a set that goes far beyond a mere dj session, Hawtin includes audiovisual elements as inseparable pieces of his live show and as a natural extension to his musical discourse.

A living legend of contemporary techno

Richie Hawtin's charisma and talent were obvious in the early nineties, when he produced his first releases as Cybersonik, F.U.S.E. and Plastikman, and his stature has not diminished with the passing of the years. He is now a consolidated living legend of contemporary techno and one of the most important artists of our time.

Artists who take things "one step further" -such as groups like Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk and Daft Punk- are a special breed who gain acceptance from mainstream audiences as well as changing the rules of their own genre in order to take it to a new level. Hawtin is undoubtedly one of these. The recent release of "Arkives", a de luxe box set containing all his releases and audiovisual works as Plastikman, only confirms Hawtin as what he is: an essential figure for understanding the evolution and the future of techno music.


Back to the future of techno

Hawtin was born in Banbury (Oxfordshire, England) in 1970, and when he was nine years old he moved with his family to Windsor (Ontario, Canada), just across the border from Detroit, the birthplace of techno as we know it today. He was interested from a very young age in cutting edge art and technology, and the influence of Detroit was paramount in his first steps as a producer and dj, which were distinguished by a forceful acid sound. However, he very soon started to smooth the rough edges and to find a much more personal aesthetic and sonic discourse, in which minimalism (the famous motto of "less is more" applied to its logical conclusion) and an image free of any sophistry played a key role.
 
With the arrival of the new century, Richie Hawtin entered a second phase of creative ambition. With a perfectly moulded minimalist aesthetic (based on his new label, M_nus which he founded in 1998), he focused on the technology sector. He was one of the first to use a laptop computer in his sets, to investigate the possibilities of the mp3 format and to perfect and use new programmes for mixing and creating sound like Final Scratch and Ableton Live. In recent years, with the explosion of German minimal techno and his new residence in Berlin, Hawtin has alternated between massive party sessions and his tireless research into new technologies; he has explored the possibilities of the Twitter social network as a tool for communication between djs and audiences; and has created a new live concept for his return to the stage as Plastikman, with a tour on which Sónar 2010 was one of the high points.

Richie Hawtin :: SonarClub :: Sonar Galicia :: Saturday 18th June