Carl Craig

A popular figure on the influential Detroit techno scene in the 1980s and '90s, Carl Craig's boundary-pushing approach to dance music always looked to the future, while absorbing sounds from all genres and walks of life.

Starting out as a funk guitarist, Craig was introduced to electronic grooves by his cousin, a lighting technician for some of Detroit's seminal nightclubs, and Craig began experimenting with synthesizers and four-track cassette decks. He went on to work as an assistant to the pioneering producer Derrick May and spent time DJ-ing in London, where he heard industrial and hardcore sounds, before setting up his own label Planet E Communications in 1991 and releasing his early recordings under the alias 69.

His wide range of influences came together on the landmark EP '4 Jazz Funk Greats' (named as a nod to post-punk noise merchants Throbbing Gristle) and his albums 'The Sound of Music' and 'Landcruising' made a big impact with the early drum & bass producers.

In 1992 he released his best-known track 'Bug in the Bassbin'. Always futuristic and industrial in his outlook, Craig's label became a home for Detroit's experimental techno artists and, as a remixer, he produced a masterful club hit with a re-working of Tori Amos's track 'God'. Under the name Innerzone Orchestra he toured with a jazz trio and he recorded more glitchy, ambient work as Paperclip People, but continued to be a leading part of the Detroit techno scene with mix albums 'The Workout' in 2002 and 'Sessions' in 2008.