Techno In New Mexico

It’s a strange thing saying there’s Techno in New Mexico coming up, but that isn’t to say that we don’t love it here. It’s just simply that it comes and goes.

There have been some great techno DJ’s to come through this city. Juan Atkins, Joey Beltram, Frankie Bones, Richie Hawtin, Sian. All talented and unique in their own way. All belting out their own style and sound of techno that has taken them and so many other DJ’s all around the world.

New Mexico loves techno. But with that said, we just don’t get it very often, and the techno heads know that. Which is why most are committed to traveling around the world to get the best forms of it, and I don’t feel there’s anything wrong with that.

That is the true nature of techno. If house music is your home, techno is what you find once you leave it. It encourages you to go out there and find it. Whether it be in some dark warehouse, or at some festival, or even here in your own city.

Every step you take with techno takes you to the darkest corners of this planet and back again. Back here, where you want to hear it the most. At home, which is why I’m very happy to know that Techno is coming to New Mexico Again.

On June Saturday, June 18th at Insideout, Octopus Records’ own Juheun is coming to town and with him he is bringing a quality and proper form of Techno that, to me, represents the next step for the sound and culture.

As I sit here listening to him now I am reminded that Techno has many different forms and styles. Juheun chooses a style that still has the driving and high tempo energy of Techno, but also has the second layer of progressive moodiness. It’s Techno with emotion and I can feel it from the first beat drop.

To the generation that Juheun belongs to it’s a chance to use Techno to tell you a story while still getting you to the end of the night with unrelenting energy and power. I wouldn’t call this Industrial, and yet I can tell he formed this sound by hearing where techno is and wanting to move it forward into the future. A more modern sound for a crowd that has seen the places that techno will take you.

I have seen Juheun once in my life, and yet I’ll admit to you, I don’t really remember it. And that isn’t to say that he wasn’t amazing, it’s just simply that it was in Detroit, for Movement Music Festival, and there’s this thing that happens when you get off the plane.

You hear the music from somewhere and you just catch the rhythm and the beat, and you just keep moving and shaking, and from there it just starts. Everywhere you go you’re dancing to that hypnotic beat that the City seems to make naturally without even trying.

Then you go to the festival, and an after party, then back to the festival, and then another after party, and so on and so on, and before you know it, you’re back at the airport, getting back on the plane. Still Moving.

I saw Juheun at my first after party my first year of movement as part of the Octopus showcase at Club Bleu where he played alongside somebody I heard is also coming to New Mexico soon, a personal favorite of mine, Carlo Lio.

It was an amazing night where we danced nonstop even though we were beyond exhausted, we ran around looking for a spot to sit in one of the many secret rooms they had there, and just enjoyed the moment. The moment made better by the music of Juheun. He is one small connection to Detroit for me, and now he is coming to share that energy with the people here. Helping them feel what Techno is trying to tell us.

Along with him this time Juheun brings fellow Arizona Techno DJ Mullen to help keep the tempo going, and along with them one of the best Techno DJ’s in New Mexico XKOTA will be starting the night off bringing the style and power on the decks only she has.

Aside from the DJ’s playing this show represents a positive step for the New Mexico Electronic Music Scene. Mr. Afterhours Presents is right in the middle of a very impressive run as a promoter, bringing talents this city has never had the chance to see. Tara Brooks, Gene Ferris, Second City, and as previously mentioned, my guy Carlo Lio have all been brought here due to the efforts of Ata Bahadir, and he should be given love for that.

I look forward to seeing who he brings next, and also where this next show helps our techno scene go from here. I know Ata has been to the Techno Mecca known as Detroit, and I know he understands where it comes from and where it hopes to go. I am excited to know this is the beginning of something that may become more consistent and correct. This city deserves it.

We love techno and we are very knowledgeable about it as well. Showcasing a night with a next generation talent like Juheun is making the statement that this city is ready to have a steady flow of techno coming to our town, and we don’t need to be obsessed with the headliners playing the massive festivals every weekend.

If the techno heads want to go see them we’ll go see them, and yet still, we will always be grateful to come home and listen to real talent like Juheun, underneath the beautiful New Mexico stars surrounded by friends who are now our Techno family.

So please, go early, stay late, support the culture. A culture made stronger by shows like this.

Also wear black, but remember, you don’t have to. And maybe next time can we get Drumcell? Maybe?

See you on the Techno dancefloor.

Event page for A Techno Affair