Carl Craig - 2020 Biography Short version Carl Craig is described as a creative visionary, an electronic music icon, an esteemed Grammy-nominated composer, a world-class DJ and an ambassador for his native Detroit. Yet the common thread that runs through Craig’s broad musical canon and creative projects is a fascination with futurism. The prolific producer has cultivated a unique path as an artist, guided by his tendency toward forward thinking. Craig released his first track in 1989 and launched his label Planet E in 1991. He's fortunate to serve as an inspiration to countless artists in the underground electronic music scene, exerting an influence that extends beyond techno - his 1992 Innerzone Orchestra cut “Bug in the Bassbin” was the spark that inspired the evolution of drum‘n’bass. Craig’s prolific nature is reflected in the many recording projects he has used throughout his career including 69, BFC, C2, Innerzone Orchestra, No Boundaries, Psyche, Paperclip People and Tres Demented. This rotating cast of aliases has enabled him to continually explore new directions, including his recent fusion of techno and classical music on 2017’s ‘Versus’ LP. In 2012, Rolling Stone named Craig one of the top DJs that rule the earth and the same year he also featured on the cover of Mixmag magazine. In 2015, Craig was named in the top 100 DJs of the year for Resident Advisor. Craig acknowledges, “Touring has always been the most important aspect of the music industry for artists. There will always be that desire for human interaction.” Craig’s relationship with his hometown of Detroit is equally personal. In 2000 he founded a festival to rival that of any in Europe with the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (now known as Movement). “My commitment to the city is like a commitment to your family. I’ve been here all my life and I’ve seen great things happen elsewhere, why not be involved in making my home great?” In 2014, Carl Craig launched a new event concept called ‘Detroit Love’, designed to bring together and support the sounds of Detroit in clubs and festivals the world over. Applying this in a new context Carl launched the Detroit Love label in 2018 with a compilation mixed by Stacey Pullen. In 2019 Carl assembled the second entry, followed by Waajeed that same year. Moving forward the beloved mix series will keep on releasing authentic entries. Continuing to explore new scopes of what he can achieve with his music, Carl will present ‘Party/ Afterparty' at Dia:Beacon in New York, his first commission at an Art Institution. The installation will reimagine the art foundation’s lower level, creating a sonic environment that is anchored to the site’s manufacturing history as an old Nabisco packaging factory and recalling a techno tradition of reclaiming industrial spaces for radical experimentation. With showcases scheduled in venues across the globe, a residency on Worldwide FM, an immersive sound installation at a leading art institution and more releases and compilations due in 2020 on his labels, he continues to deliver impassioned tributes to his hometown with unparalleled dedication. Extended version Carl Craig is described as a creative visionary, an electronic music icon, an esteemed Grammy-nominated composer, a world-class DJ and an ambassador for his native Detroit. Yet the common thread that runs through Craig’s broad musical canon and creative projects is a resounding fascination with futurism. The prolific producer has cultivated a unique path as an artist, entrepreneur and civic leader, guided by his tendency toward forward thinking. “My livelihood is making music that I can perform, whether I’m doing orchestral production or modular strangeness or generating club music. I don’t restrict myself,” said Craig. “I defined myself by being who I am. The ultimate self respect is when you say you’re going to do something and you go and do it to the best of your ability.” Craig released his first track in 1989 on a Virgin UK compilation album, two singles followed on labels run by his first collaborator, Derrick May. After a series of ambitious releases for his co-owned Retroactive imprint, in 1991 Craig launched his record label Planet E, with the groundbreaking EP “4 Jazz Funk Classics”, under his alias 69. Planet E turned 20 in 2011 and Craig celebrated the label’s history by taking Planet-E and its artists and collaborators on a world tour for the first time in the label’s history. As well as this, Planet E invited friends of the label – including Luciano, Kirk Degiorgio, Loco Dice and more - to pick their favorite Planet E track to remix and re-release. Reflecting a year that was packed with events and releases, Craig readily admits that when he started the label he was hoping “it would last forever.” He cites artistic freedom as the highlight of running the label and adds, “It was never a struggle for the label to be an outlet for my or other people's music. It was always a struggle to stay in business, actually a war to stay in business.” Further releases on the iconic label include entries from Waajeed, the late Marcus Belgrave, Terrence Parker, Martin Buttrich and Jon Dixon, all laying testament to Carl’s tried-and-tested curatorial skills. Looking back now to Craig's early releases from 1989-1992, one can see how much the wild variety found in his early music set the groundwork for his diverse career. He's fortunate to serve as an inspiration and influence to countless artists in the underground electronic music scene, as well as crossover acts like Caribou, Underworld, Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem. His 1992 Innerzone Orchestra cut “Bug in the Bassbin” was credited as the spark that inspired the evolution of drum‘n’bass. In typical Craig fashion, “Bug...” continued to develop, morphing into a live jazz composition in 1996. In turn, those experiments laid the ground for Craig to incorporate Jazz elements onto his 1999 I.O. album “Programmed.” Then in the 00's Craig explored jazz further still as producer on the albums “The Detroit Experiment” and “Rebirth” (2009) for legendary Detroit Jazz collective, Tribe. This is but one example of Craig's continually evolving exploration of sound. Craig’s prolific nature is reflected in the many recording projects he has used throughout his career including 69, BFC, C2, Innerzone Orchestra, No Boundaries, Psyche, Paperclip People and Tres Demented. This rotating cast of aliases has enabled him to continually explore new directions through a long succession of full length albums, mix CDs and singles including “Throw” (1994), “Landcruising” (1995), “The Secret Tapes of Dr Eich” (1996), “More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art” (1997), “Programmed” (1999), “The Detroit Experiment” (2002), “The Workout” (2002), “Just Another Day” (2004), “Fabric 25” (2005), “The Album Formerly Known As” (2005), “Paris Live” (2007), “Sessions” (2008), “Recomposed” (with Moritz Von Oswald) (2008), “The Legendary Adventures of a Filter King” (2009), “Modular Pursuits” (2010), “Last Decade” (2012), “Masterpiece” (2013), Green Velvet collaborative album “Unity” (2015), Versus (2017) and Momentum (with Argentinian synth group Klauss) (2018). Craig’s interest in collaboration continually grows and is realized in full with ‘Versus’, one of his boldest endeavors to date. For ‘Versus’, Craig merges techno and classical music, opening himself up to working in a new format by collaborating with pianist Francesco Tristano, French orchestra Les Siècles, conductor Francois Xavier Roth and Moritz Von Oswald. Inspired by well-received performances in concerts halls in Paris, Milan and Germany in 2008, Craig started the process of developing the project into an album, which features eight of his techno masterpieces recomposed into classical pieces. Versus the album was released in the summer of 2017, followed by a tour as the Versus Synthesizer Ensemble where Carl Craig is joined on stage by five musicians, together interpreting the music from the album onto a synthesizer wall. Following the success of the Versus album and tour, he continued to explore the boundaries between techno and classical music with a series of innovative sonic experiments. Highlights of these include a 2018 performance in Krakowice alongside the Polish National Symphony Orchestra featuring select pieces from Versus, as well as a historic 2019 show at The Royal Albert Hall alongside the Chineke! Orchestra - Europe's first BME majority orchestra - amongst many others. Craig also performs as a Trio alongside Von Oswald and Tristano. His occasional appearances with the electronic collective jam band Narod Niki, alongside Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano, Richie Hawtin, Zip and others, led to him appearing in part live / part DJ gigs with Luciano. Additionally, he’s taken to bringing keyboardists like Mike Banks (UR), Amp Fiddler and Francesco Tristano into the DJ booth with him for special one-off gigs. As well as performing select international live shows as Modular Pursuits – playing live modular synthesizers, where people never know what to expect. These mixed performances add some variety in a non-stop DJ schedule that finds him spinning at top clubs worldwide. In 2012, Rolling Stone named Craig one of the top DJs that rule the earth and the same year he also featured on the cover of Mixmag magazine. In 2015, Craig was named in the top 100 DJs of the year for Resident Advisor. Craig acknowledges, “Touring has always been the most important aspect of the music industry for artists. There will always be that desire for human interaction.” Let’s also mention that he recently performed live soundtracks to films, first in Amsterdam then in New York, where he improvised live to an Andy Warhol film at Unsound Festival.