Master of stripped-back techno rhythms and champion of minimal sounds, Robert Hood is about to embark on celebrating 20 years of his much revered label - M-Plant - via a series of EP releases & special shows. We found out where he is at in 2014 and where he’s going next...
“I never thought I’d be saying it after 15 years, let alone 20, but my hunger for this music and the label has only increased.”
While you get the feeling a fair few of electronic music’s ‘original’ generation are simply going through the motions now they’re into a third decade in the game, Robert Hood isn’t just spinning us shallow DJ platitudes here.
His label isn’t the first – and won’t be the last – such imprint to hit a big milestone either, but there aren’t many that have remained quite so consistent and so singularly wedded to a vision as Hood’s M-Plant.
His dedication to minimalism, steadfastly residing at the most pared-down, looped-up, funk-infused end of the scale, has seen trends come and go over those years. It’s survived the co-opting and repositioning of what minimal dancefloor music even means, plus the inevitable backlash, yet Hood still remains firmly, unflustered, at the bleeding edge of the sound.
“Minimalism always adds a futuristic element to music that you just can’t ignore,” he says, perhaps revealing why his unswerving dedication has ensured such artistic longevity too. “It’s so sparse, yet it speaks so loudly, and I’ve seen its influence peek its head up repeatedly.
“Think of Run DMC’s ‘It’s Like That’. It was so stark, but it was loud and it spoke to you. Today, lots of commercially successful artists gravitate towards the sound too. Listen to Drake, Christina Aguilera, Natasha Beddingfield, Timbaland, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliot. And The White Stripes were very instrumental in bringing minimal to rock music, changing the landscape there.”
With an orthodoxy so firmly rooted in the future, how does Rob intend to successfully execute stepping backwards for a change, as he prepares to celebrate two decades of back catalogue?
“The thinking behind M-plant was always to create timeless music,” he says, without missing so much as a beat at the idea of any possible contradiction. “The label has always been about picking things up from our musical ancestors – in soul, gospel, Motown, whatever – and taking that linage through into the future. We always try to keep moving forward, but we must look back as part of that process. And vision looks up.”
Ah yes, pitching things heavenwards is key to the Robert Hood school of thought too. His name may be synonymous with the most intense form of thundering, lost-in-smoke dancefloor escapism, but back at home, (which hasn’t been gritty, machine music capital Detroit for years, but instead rural Alabama), Hood is famously also an ordained minister.
Faith infuses his music in a way that makes perfect sense to anyone who feels evangelical about techno, but may surprise those who view sweaty basement nightclubs as singularly immoral cesspits.
Hood however, weaves God into his minimalist mission every time he plays, always keen to narrow the gaps and blur the lines between church and club.
“It’s not a new idea,” he says. “It harks back to the days of The Clark Sisters and what was going on at Paradise Garage and Studio 54, bringing the power of gospel sounds to a wider audience.”
And though the music may be jackin’ kick drums, the parallels between DJ and preacher-man have long been drawn. “A lot of people may not make it along on Sunday mornings anymore, so I’m bringing the message to them.”
Gospel rhythms are also at the root of Floorplan, the production alias Hood uses to explore his emotive, party house grooves. Last year’s full album, ‘Paradise’, enjoyed wide critical acclaim for its ability to tease out the after-hours tensions with delicious loops and trademark tantalising, devastatingly subtle gear changes.
The follow-up EP ‘Phobia’, and last month’s release (back as Robert Hood) ‘Eleven’ are layered crescendos of relentless, ass-shaking urgency too. After 20 years, M-Plant and its chief protagonist are still generating tracks as vital and uncompromising as back in those formative Detroit years Hood spent as an intrinsic player in the mighty Underground Resistance.
The techno terrain has, of course, shifted vastly since then. America is in love with electronica and new technologies have altered every facet of how music is made, played and relayed. Does he feel the soul, that ‘message’, gets much of a look-in during the stampede?
Hood clearly feels an over-reliance on easy-to-operate new tech can be a trap for today’s artists, stealing from their creativity. “Our machines are a vital part of techno, of course,” he admits, “but we must never forget the human dimension. The God-given mind and vision – they are the greatest computer we have. My heart is my memory bank, my creative source. The machines are tools, and I won’t let them guide me.
“The ultimate example of this problem is the trend for pre-programmed DJ sets. The machines have taken over all the work. The human spirit is lost.”
With unprecedented levels of hot air and hype swirling in today’s global DJ gold rush, the continued towering presence of a veteran, resolutely underground artist like Robert Hood truly is a blessing. He’s fulfilled his deep exploration into uncharted minimalism many times over, yet it feels like he’s still just approaching the peak of his powers.
So how far can he go? And quite how far does he think mankind’s mission to pare music down to its raw essentials has actually gone?
“I think we can get so much further into minimal, so much more stripped down and diminutive that it’s just ridiculous,” he states, gleefully.
“It’s going to get even more mesmerising and neurally potent than we’ve ever seen before, to the point of being a one-note bass, not even a rhythmic bassline. Something to touch human consciousness so deeply that it’s past all current understanding. Music to get inside our souls and to evoke emotion we didn’t even know we had.”
Words: Tom Kihl
The first M-Plant release to mark the 20th anniversary will feature Mark Broom’s edits of classic Hood tracks ‘One Touch’ and ‘Moveable Parts’. Stay tuned for release date + more announcements including a series of unique ‘Grey Area’ DJ sets, where Hood will delve through his entire artistic repertoire mixing classic, new, unreleased and obscure tracks from the M-Plant catalogue.