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Kevin Saunderson
From New York City to Motor City...
Everyone associates me with Detroit - and I am known for being one of the founding godfathers of techno - but I was, in fact, born in Brooklyn in New York in 1964 and moved to Detroit - aka The Motor City and the birthplace of techno - at the tender age of nine.
It was while attending Bellevill High School that I met a couple of guys that are now instantly recognizable to fans of dance music, namely Juan Atkins and Derrick May, but it wasn't until I went to Eastern Michigan University, where I studied telecommunications and played football, that I diverted my attentions to making music. Derrick had been spurred on by Juan, who was putting out what would later become future classics like Cybertron, and that in turn rubbed off on me.
In 1985 Derrick made his first record, Let's Go, and I was there throughout the whole process, initially just watching him create music - at that time I was more intent on concentrating on becoming a DJ. However, after six months watching Derrick create his music, he inspired me to create my own music.
Juan was the one who pointed me in the right direction as far as showing me around my technical equipment, and the fruit of those early sessions was a track called Triangle Of Love. I used to wake up in the middle of the night, go into my studio - which was in the next room - and lay down the ideas as they came to me. At the time it was all about experimentation and being a college kid. The equipment was pretty basic, but it was a lot easier to work from my home studio than to worry about paying for the use of a proper studio. Juan was heavily influenced by European electronic artists such as Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode and Human League, etc, etc, and their electronic sound had a big impact on us.
...To The Inner City
Everyone thinks of Inner City when they think of Kevin Saunderson , but what most people don't know is that Inner City was, in fact, initially called Inter City and that I have recorded under numerous guises such as Kreem, Tronik House, Es'Ray, Reese & Santonio, The Reese Project and of course my latest guise, E-Dancer. However, my biggest achievement (to date) and my most commercially recognized project has been Inner City.
Inner City happened by accident when In 1987 I recorded a backing track in my makeshift studio, but I needed a girl vocalist who could also supply lyrics and a friend - Chicago house producer Terry ‘Housemaster’ Baldwin - suggested Paris Grey. Paris agreed, flew into Detroit, came up with lyrics and Big Fun was born.
Amazingly I filed the tape away and had almost forgotten about it, until months later a UK dance aficionado, Neil Rushton, came to Detroit to put together a compilation album called Techno - The New Dance Sound Of Detroit for Virgin Records. Neil flipped out when he heard the song and made sure Big Fun was on the album. Soon afterwards, it was released as a single and went on to become a worldwide smash. Throughout the sudden success of Big Fun Paris held on to her job as a sales assistant in a Chicago store, and only quit when our follow up single, Good Life, outsold Big Fun.
Our third single Ain't Nobody Better was also a huge success and paved the way for the release of our debut album, Paradise, which cemented the prosperity and highlighted the Detroit techno blueprint. With Inner City I have had a healthy career spanning more than 13 years starting with early pioneering hits like Big Fun, Good Life and Ain't Nobody Better through to Hallelujah, Pennies From Heaven, “Till We Meet Again, Your Love and, most recently, our 1999 Spanish re-recording of Good Life which was a number one club hit all over Europe and entered the Top Ten in the UK pop charts.
We’ve had around 12 Top 40 hits in the UK, as well as having had two Top 20 albums, with combined sales of more than six million. I would like to think that with Inner City, Paris and I make music that inspires people and makes them happy.
With the E-Dancer project I have the opportunity to create music which is more underground. My first E-Dancer album, Heavenly, was released in 1998 to critical acclaim. Here in the US it was named by Spin magazine as “one of the ten best albums you’ve never heard”. I have also heard it said that Heavenly is a ‘must have’ in any Detroit techno collection - you see, “it is what it is”.
A Whole New Ball Game
Right now apart from developing my record label KMS - where the aim is to help and develop new talent and more importantly to continue to create and release great music - I have also been out in Arizona, where I have been coaching the baseball team that I manage (the Detroit Dodgers), but that’s another story.
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