Detroit Honours Techno Pioneers

Detroit city officials announced this week that they're to offer Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson their annual International Achievement Award this November, elevating the techno innovators alongside previous local heroes and winners Aretha Franklin, the Four Tops and Smokey Robinson.

The award is a belated recognition for the contribution the duo, and techno in general, has brought to Detroit and is likely to prove particularly satisfying for Derrick May, who spent his childhood years pounding the city's streets as a Jehovah's Witness. Chatting to Skrufff this week (before the award was announced) Derrick revealed he attributes his drive and energy to his childhood experiences as a Witness and also suggested they'd kept him from ever dabbling with drugs.

"The Jehovah's Witnesses build up some serious backbone in people because that's all they teach the kids, every single day; to stand your ground," Derrick recalled.

"From the very beginning you find yourself knocking on doors at 9 o'clock on Saturday mornings and you're walking round your neighbourhood seeing kids you're going to school with. That builds up some serious character in you because you get laughed at the moment you back to school; 'that weirdo was out knocking on my door'," he said.

"By the time I became a young man of 20/ 21 years old and shit was in my face, I didn't have any problems watching my friends doing coke or smoking weed, I just didn't do it myself," Derrick added.

"Some of my friends used to call me square; L7, and laugh at me but they loved me anyway. We'd ride out and have a good time but I never did drugs. Nowadays people just know not to offer me a drug and it's never crossed my mind to want to try them. That's the reason that I've stood my ground, I'm not fighting against doing drugs, I'm just very confident with who I am and how I feel," he added.

Derrick and Kevin will be receiving their awards at a lavish ceremony at the
Henry Ford in Dearborn on November 18.http://www.artservemichigan.org ('ArtServe Michigan's Board of Directors congratulates the men and women who have won the 2004 ArtServe Michigan Governor's Awards for Arts & Culture. Through their passion for excellence and their commitment to arts & culture, they have achieved extraordinary results. They represent the proud artistic spirit of Michigan and our strong resolve to excel', Artserve President Kratchman)

(Practises That God Hates: 'Servants of God love what is good. But they must also learn to hate what is bad . . .')

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