| Underground Resistance | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genre: | Detroit techno, electro, acid techno |
| Years Active: | 1989–present |
| Label: | Underground Resistance, Somewhere in Detroit (SID) |
| Website: | www.undergroundresistance.com |
| Current Members: | Mike Banks, Andre Holland, Billebob, Chuck Gibson, Cornelius Harris, Dan Caballero, Buzz Goree, Frankie Fultz, Gerald Mitchell, Ghetto Tech, ISH, James Pennington, Marc Floyd, Mark Flash, Mark Taylor, Mike Clark, Milton Baldwin, Raphael Merriweathers Jr., Santiago Salazar, De'Sean Jones, Jon Dixon, Esteban Adame |
| Past Members: | Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, DJ Rolando, Gerald Donald, James Stinson |
Underground Resistance (commonly abbreviated to UR) are an American musical collective from Detroit, Michigan. Producing primarily Detroit techno since 1990 with a grungy four-track musical aesthetic, they are also renowned for their militant political and anti-corporate ethos.
First formed in 1989 by "Mad" Mike Banks and Jeff Mills, UR related the aesthetics of early Detroit Techno to the social, political, and economic circumstances which followed on from Reagan-era inner-city economic recession, producing uncompromising music geared toward promoting awareness and facilitating political change. In contrast to techno that preceded UR, UR tried to appeal to lower class African Americans in Detroit. UR's tracks created a sense of self-exploration, experimentation and the ability to change yourself and circumstances. Additionally, UR wanted to establish a means of identification beyond traditional lines of race and ethnicity. By targeting lower class African Americans, UR intended to inspire black men to get out of the poverty cycle in the city. Their mission was to return techno music to the underground: underground not meaning experimental and unpopular music, but rather a deliberate effort to create sonic communities on the periphery of mainstream culture as resistance against the socio-economic racial hierarchies. It was about providing new ways for lower class African Americans to form their identities. The Underground Resistance's politics extended to providing alternative identities to inner city African American youth, other than the hyper-masculine, hard and violent identities existing within the city. This was a gendered group, however, and the UR focused their attention on young black men. Another form of UR's rebellion concerns the rejection of the commercialization of techno. This is evident in the messages scratched in UR vinyl, lyrics and sounds expressing economic independence from major record labels.[1] [2] [3] [4]
Jeff Mills was already an established technical DJ who came from a background of "industrial music", which was punchy, rigid, and influenced by European rock n roll with hubs in Belgium and Chicago. Mills was heavily influenced by the sound of groups like Belgium-based Front 242, and formed the group Final Cut in 1989 with Tony Srock for Paragon Records. After a falling out with producer Jerry Capaldi involving unequal power dynamics between the white suburban executives and the Black musicians, Final Cut left the label. Mills also left Final Cut in 1990, after which he joined Banks, whom he knew from early sessions at Paragon. Banks was also working on funk and house-inspired projects with the group "Members of the House." At this time, Robert Hood was going by Robert Noise,[5] and created artwork for the group’s 1987 LP. Banks had also previously been a part of a group called "the Mechanics," which sometimes covered Kraftwerk's songs live, again demonstrating the shift in the popularity of electric music from the house scene in Chicago to white artists and the European market. The goal of Underground Resistance would be to bring these sounds back to the communities that created them.[6]
As Underground Resistance, Banks and Mills tried to get Juan Atkins of The Belleville Three and Cybotron to release their first record on his Metroplex label but he did not end up getting to the record quickly enough. The duo ended up releasing the record themselves, establishing their ethos for independent music releases, describing their sound as a "rumor in the music." The group attempted to merge the sounds of both Final Cut and Members of the House on their first track The Theory, but really came into their sound by the fourth release, Waveform (1991). Their sound was informed by their lived realities as well as the music scene at the time, namely the "Reagan era of inner-city economic recession" that particularly affected Detroit, along with the longstanding racial relations of the country that led to the rise and collapse of the Black Panther Party. Their ethos consists of Afro-futurist and anti-corporate sentiments that center the self-fashioning of their own image and control of their production and distribution.[7] [8]
Their move against forces destroying their communities included a rejection of hedonism and the image of techno as drug music. They also have a persona that emphasizes anonymity to push back against the profiling of Black DJs, performing wearing balaclavas and touting the nondescript "UR" logo. This move was meant to work against the idea of the "superstar DJ,"[9] emphasizing the mission of the music as a communal project. This anonymity is emphasized by the legion of artists that cycle through the collective, notably including Gerald Mitchell,[10] DJ Rolando,[11] and James Stinson of Drexciya.[12]
In response to the economic reality of Black Detroitians at the time, Underground Resistance became involved with Submerge, a "supportive economic community" of labels and musicians but also lawyers and financial experts that allowed musicians to experiment with a financial safety net.
As with Public Enemy,[13] there have been intimations that UR's subversively 'militant' approach to music was related to the activities of the Black Panthers in the 1970s. Mills in a 2006 interview responds to that claim: "All the black men you see in America today are the direct result of those actions: all the freedoms we have, as well as the restrictions, refer back to the government and the Black Panthers in the '70s". Mills continues: "So we make music. We make music about who we are and where we’re from. Of course there are going to be links – that's why we had songs with titles like Riot. Because that's indicative of the era we were born in, and the things we remember. As time goes on, naturally I think the messages will get further away from that. It's not a coincidence. There is a reason behind UR and Public Enemy and these people."[14]
Many of UR's earliest output would be the product of various experiments by Banks, Mills, and Hood – both solo and in collaboration. "The Theory" and "Eye Of The Storm" (Sonic EP) were among the two earliest UR tracks to be released in 1990, followed by a stream of EPs and singles including "Riot", "Acid Rain", and "Jupiter Jazz". From Submerge came the Underground Resistance side projects X-101 and X-102. Under the aliases X-101 and X-102, the trio released both EPs such as "Sonic Destroyer" and "Groundzero (The Planet)" and the albums "X-101" and "X-102 Discovers The Rings of Saturn".[15]
When Mills and Hood moved on from the collective in 1992 to achieve international success as solo artists and DJs, Banks continued to lead UR releasing EPs during the mid-1990s such as "Return of Acid Rain", "Message to the Majors", and excursions into Nu Jazz on "Hi-Tech Jazz" as Galaxy 2 Galaxy. Increasingly acclaimed artists such as DJ Rolando, Suburban Knight, and Drexciya also joined the collective.[16]
1992's "Message to the Majors" saw UR in full opposition to the music industry and the commercialization of Techno. In the album notes, the collective writes, "Message to all murderers on the Detroit Police Force -- We'll see you in hell." What's made clear by this oppositional rhetorics is that UR's "commitment to metropolitan politics and the criticism of its racist dimension seem to be at least equally important." In fact, URs discussion of race is an integral and distinguishing aspect of its politics and aesthetics that functions to directly oppose not only real-life systems of white supremacy, but also the media that maintains its prevalence in the mainstream.
1998's "Interstellar Fugitives", the first full album credited to Underground Resistance, saw Mike Banks redefining the collective's sound as "High-Tech Funk", reflecting a shift in emphasis from hard, minimal club Techno to breakbeats, Electro and even occasionally Drum and Bass and down-tempo Hip-Hop.
In 2014, UR took part in a lecture and discussion at New York's Museum of Modern Art.[17]
Their website proclaims the following call to action, encapsulating their attitudes towards the formal music economy:
Isn't it obvious that music and dance are the keys to the universe? So called primitive animals and tribal humans have known this for thousands of years! We urge all brothers and sisters of the underground to create and transmit their tones and frequencies no matter how so called primitive their equipment may be. Transmit these tones and wreak havoc on the programmers!Long live the underground!
- Underground Resistance[18]
In 1999, DJ Rolando released UR's most commercially successful EP, "The Knights of The Jaguar". Legal and conceptual ownership of the track became the subject of a battle between UR and Sony BMG, the details of which are contested.[19]
Sony claimed in subsequent statements that they first tried to contact UR to license the EP for release in Germany, recognizing the potential for a crossover hit.[20] [21] [22] [23] Receiving no response, they instead commissioned and released a trance cover version of the original, "tone-for-tone", which was released as a promo. For their part, UR denies that they ever received a request from Sony to license the track.[24]
Founding member "Mad" Mike denounced the release, arguing that it did not constitute a legitimate cover as it was intended to profit from rather than offer tribute to the group. When confronted, Sony justified its actions by stating they intended to credit Rolando as the composer of the work and grant him royalties on its sale.
Although the group initially suggested they might pursue legal action, they instead conducted a direct action campaign against the label. "Mad" Mike described the strategy as a conceptual rejection of the justice system and its legitimacy.[25] Fans were encouraged to boycott the release and contact record stores and the labels themselves with messages of protest. Some fans reported vandalizing or destroying copies in record stores.
Due to the negative attention directed against the label, Sony voluntarily withdrew the release, citing a desire to avoid further damaging their relationship with the musical underground. The dispute ultimately contributed to the international popularity of the original UR release, which became seen as symbolic of the group's independence and anti-corporate stance.
Rolando departed the collective in 2004.[26]
Recently, the Underground Music Academy (UMA) was launched in May 2023 by the DJ and producer Waajeed, a student and collaborator of Underground Resistance.[27] [28] The UMA Bandcamp page[29] defines it as “a Detroit-based community music hub, which aims to build the future leaders of electronic music through its distinctive educational curriculum and mentorship model, rooted in Detroit’s Black electronic music legacy.” The academy offers lessons on DJing and music production, offering scholarships to increase accessibility for marginalized youth.[30]