Techno Pioneer
Jeff Mills
The Wizard
born June 18, 1963
Jeff Mills is a DJ, record producer, and composer from the United States. As a DJ, Mills became known as The Wizard in the early to mid-1980s for his technical abilities. While working with fellow Detroit techno producers 'Mad' Mike Banks and Robert Hood, Mills founded the techno collective Underground Resistance in the late 1980s. A brand new scene and a brand new ball game.
"The Wizard," a 1981 Mackenzie High School graduate, began his career in the early 1980s by performing DJ tricks like beat juggling and scratching during his sets, some of which were pre-recorded. In addition to his WDRQ show, The Wizard later aired at WJLB. He highlights individuals by featuring local techno artists such as Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, and Juan Atkins. I don't think that there are many wizards around like that anymore!
Both as a DJ and a producer, Mills has received international acclaim. Along with French filmmaker Jacqueline Caux, Mills produced a documentary about techno music called Man From Tomorrow. Continuing his work in film, he released Life to Death and Back, a film he shot in the Egyptian wing of the Louvre Museum, where he also resided for four months. Who else could say that they have lived a crazy life like this?
Mills met fellow producer Mike Banks through a garage group Members of the House, with whom Banks was working in the late 1980s after Mills remixed a track for a Members 12-inch. His and Banks' shared love of Chicago soul and Detroit techno spawned Underground Resistance as a combined business and creative enterprise.
Mills is also an artist who has shown his works at international exhibits. As part of "Le Futurisme à Paris - une avant-garde explosive," he exhibited "Man of Tomorrow," a portrait of Mills that reflects on his perceptions of the future, and "Critical Arrangements," an installation of Mills's. In 2015, he exhibited one of his most notable works. An artistic man that dabbles everywhere - who would have thought?
When interviewed, Mills stated that he believes that our future won't be here on Earth, but out there, in Space! He believes that our future will consist of struggling to understand the unbelievable. And that technology will make many things possible, but re-calibrating the human mind is more complex, and education needs to start now. A spiritual and open mind was always rare and now unique. His way of thinking was centuries ahead.
DJs playing Mills' music made him happy. When Mills released these tracks, many of them didn't know how and what they should do, so we did what felt good. They didn't know what the reward would be other than high sales. When a track was successful, it was not directly connected to booking more DJs or magazine interviews, etc. They took a leap of faith, and not many would back then, making him unique and brave.