How did you get into techno?
When I started listening to music, I always liked anything that had
electronic sounds to it. When I was growing up, it was kind of the end
of that Switched-On Bach era, when you could do funky versions
of things like James Brown with all synthesizers and a drummer. I think
I grew up at a time when it was the end of really looking at the
future—synth music was the future. I was always attracted to
those sounds. I was in tune with the sound of synthesizers, and by the
time I heard the stuff Juan Atkins was doing as Cybotron, those records
were huge here in Detroit.
When I first heard X-Ray’s [a project of techno originators Atkins,
Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson] “Let’s Go,” it completely blew my
mind. Then it was “Nude Photo” [by May], which was pretty much
mainstream here in Detroit, at least after six o’clock on the radio. I
had to get “Nude Photo,” and I ran to the record store to get a copy. I
saw that it was from Detroit, and I was like, “I’ve gotta meet this
Mayday guy.” So I took an electronic-music course. I didn’t pay any
attention to anything else but making demos, learning how to use
synthesizers and record and stuff. My objective was always to meet
Derrick May, and I had the opportunity through a friend at school who
had a radio show. Right around the time I met Derrick, it was the
release of the Future Sound of Detroit techno compilation. That
was the first time that “techno” was really used as a name for the
genre. So I was in there from the ground floor.
How much does jazz play a role in your music, considering
you’re now working with people like Wendell Harrison, whom you
performed with at this year’s Detroit Electronic Music
Festival?
Jazz radio was big when I was growing up. When Deodato’s 2001 album came out [in 1977], for some reason I thought that was Herbie
Hancock, but at that age I don’t even know how I knew who the hell
Herbie Hancock was—I didn’t really pay that much attention to him
until he did “Rockit.” I remember hearing these things growing up,
sitting in the back of my parents’ car. Neighbors listened to modern
jazz, which also included things like Steely Dan and went to that
lite-rock aspect of it as well as the jazz-funk things that were
happening. I heard it so much as I grew up, but it didn’t interest me
directly—it was my parents’ music. My brother listened to
Parliament, and my sister listened to Gil Scott-Heron, or we listened
to some corny-ass crap on the radio, but it was always there.
In Detroit, I think that it’s just in our souls. You can’t get away
from jazz. No matter how much you want to prove that you make your
music, and jazz has zero to do with it, at some point you do kind of
segue into jazz because it’s a part of us here. So for me to work with
Wendell or Phil [Ranelin, trombonist] or Marcus [Belgrave, trumpeter;
all members of the Tribe collective, which Craig reunited in 2007], I
know their music and became very familiar with it as an adult, but I
wouldn’t doubt that I heard their music when I was a kid.
How do you keep up with new music?
It’s a tough situation right now, because my taste has always been
unique; but, being a DJ, there are certain records that work. You don’t
always get those gigs where you can play whatever the hell you want. In
some cases you can break it down, but in general you’re playing things
that are rhythm based, trying to play modern music as well as music
that touches your soul. So I pay attention to what other DJs are
playing and to music that’s sent to me. I’m looking for futuristic
shit, stuff that’s next level.
One guy I listen to quite a lot recently is Lil Wayne. I think that
he’s got that spirit that’s a mix of Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Ghostface
Killah, two of my favorites, and the beats are very simplistic, but the
sound is inescapable. Of course with “Lollipop” it’s like, “Get that
shit out of here,” but something like “A Milli” is so simple it goes
back to the days of Run-D.M.C.’s “Peter Piper.” It’s like that kind of
shit to me, which was another influence on how I listen to music. I
really relate to that kind of minimalism in a very black-American way,
in comparison to German music or minimalism that’s trying to be
artistic.
How do you decide what remixes to do?
It’s usually if it interests me, if there are some elements I think
I can use, I’ll get involved. With doing Can, they were a major
influence on me in my early recording days. I did this remix for a
Japanese artist, and I didn’t have any clue how big she was outside of
what the record label said. Then we got this package of the remixes,
and there’s like a 10-piece vinyl remix set, a two CD set, they went
all-out. She’s this huge J-pop artist, and I had no idea.
How did you feel about the Grammy nomination?
Getting nominated for a Grammy is a big headfuck. If I’d have won,
it’d have been a bigger headfuck. I’ve done a lot of work, and I’ve
worked hard over the years, and it was really an amazing honor. Of
course I’d like to be the equivalent of Quincy Jones when I’m 70 years
old, to have that amount of work that I’ve done over the years, that
standard of quality. Who knows, maybe by the time I’m his age, I’ll
have that same type of recognition and the nominations and maybe some
wins to go with it. 
Carl Craig headlines the Decibel Festival on Sat Sept 27, Neumos,
8 pm, $20 adv/$25 DOS, 21+.