Exclusive Underground Resistance interview by Jimmy Coultas

CH = Cornelius Harris aka Atlantis & MM = Mad Mike aka 038

Underground Resistance questions for Liverpool University Student Paper / www.plasticsoup.com by Jimmy Coultas

It’s really good to see the UR live show back on the road, and it’s fitting that you’re playing at Voodoo, which has been knee-deep in bringing techno to Liverpool since 1993. Are you excited about the gig and what can we expect?

A) (CH) We very much admire Voodoo for bringing us. Respect has to be given when people will not make a profit to do something they believe in! We are a big band and its NEVER cost effective to bring us! We are performing as Galaxy 2 Galaxy and Los Hermanos. Galaxy was a group that dealt with an experimental form of music that was invented by Mad Mike in 1993 called "Hi-tech Jazz" over the years many songs have been released under this style by UR. Galaxy will perform these genre defining tracks which have all been compiled on our soon to be released album entitled "Hi Tech Jazz". Los Hermanos was an electronic re-incarnation of the great Afro-Latin groups like War & Santana. So it will be playing selections from the recently released album "On Another Level" The group features keyboardists Geraldo Mitchell and Esteban Adame' and DJ S2 a.k.a Santiago Salazar.

Who or what is exciting you musically these days? And what artists

A) (MM) There's a style of music going down in Detroit at the roller skating rinks called "Slide" that shit is banging its some weird shit I've never heard anything like it! Dj Skurge, Dj Scant , S2, B. Calloway, Dj Dijital, Nomadico, Earl McKinney, Fingers and Maroon are some of the guys making it or playing it.

Outside of the electronic sphere who are showing the way forward?

A) (MM) Alicia Keys .....................she's unbreakable. Lola Valley an all girl rock group outta Detroit and the 620 soldiers also from Detroit.

Has your vision changed from the 'message to the majors' you dedicated to Malice Green to the recent 'transition' which seems to be more positive in outlook?

A) (MM) That was one record done as a result of a specific situation. Whereas both "Transition" and "Aguila" were done as an effort to help listeners thru tuff times when ones spirit may be weak. Releases 038 & 043 were coded directives to the swarm necessary movements to protect the hive. Our recordings can sometimes be reflections of necessity, imagination, environment, emotion or soundtrax to events which are far from positive.

Militancy is obviously a pretty big aspect of your philosophy, and it’s the discipline that has ploughed your music worldwide since the nineties. In an industry dominated by hedonism and excess, do you feel that many talents have been wasted simply because they’ve not been dedicated enough?

A) (CH) Militancy is a tag placed on us by fear. Some people enjoy fear or the thought of something dangerous. It is the source of many ghost stories, stereotypes and even record sales. For our purposes this weakness allows us to work in peace thus helping to keep our focus. Some artists don't have this luxury and eventually their success consumes them as they lose focus due to the success. With us the more successfull we become the darker we get. And fortunately people fear the "DARK".

The influences within techno have been cyclical over the years, with a colder European aesthetic clashing with the soul-infused sound of Detoit. On a very simplistic note it could be argued that these are the influences of black culture against the white sound of Europe, but that’d be missing the point. How important do you think Techno has been in giving young black America a voice?

A) (MM) strange you mention something in your mind then dismiss it. Our people have only had consistently music as a voice. Whether it was Field Work songs, or coded shit like "Wading in the Water", whether it was John Lee Hooker, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gay or Public Enemy music has been one of our few tools to access mainstream media with in the USA. Other than that we have no consistent voice that should be obvious look at Hurricane Katrina. If she hadn't have come the world would have never known.

Do you think Detroit can sustain its legacy of electronic pioneers?

A) Yes at UR we have an electronic music boot camp full of enviromentally evolved young sonic mutants learning how to turn their experiences, cultures and ideas into vinyl reality. And as long technology evolves the sound it makes possible will to as will the artists who sequence those possibilities into music. Technology has always given us a voice.

Whilst artists such as Omar S have come through recently, other luminaries such as Recloose who had close links with the city have shifted away from techno. Do you think this is a growing phenomenon?

A) (MM) I think that's a matter of talent and musical exploration.

There’s a saying that goes along the lines of madness and genius being pretty much intertwined, and a look back at people like George Clinton, Brian Wilson, Sun Ra and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry draws some pretty conclusive arguments to the suggestion. Having the prefix Mad in one of your names, where do you stand on this issue?

A) ha ha ha that pre-fix comes from my street racing days. My car was a raggedy but fast like the one in the movie "Mad Max" so the guys gave me that tag that's all to it.

And finally, what lies in the future for the UR movement?

A) Garbage. We'll sift thru your trash while you sleep and find some discarded technology or steal it. Re-adapt, mutate, compete and survive like we always have. Never seen always there!