Juan 'Magic' Atkins: "Every track I dropped, people cheered"

“We’ve revamped the recordings; we’ve pitched up a couple of the tracks, beefed up the drums a little bit, so it’s different sounding from the previous show. I’m now spending time making it more of an event.”

Ahead of his appearance at our first Stop Making Sense festival this September, the Detroit originator and techno pioneer talks to Dominic Cools-Lartigue about the early days, getting back onto the scene, his recent illness and new live set up. Read the full piece here.

And talking of new Juan Atkins, you can stream his first new track as Model 500 in 11 years, an EP called 'OFI', over at Dummy.

SMS mix 17 - Juan Atkins

Our latest exclusive SMS mix is a biggie, courtesy of Detroit techno legend Juan Atkins, the guest star at our Stop Making Sense party this Saturday at Cable (details below) and certain-to-be highlight of our very first festival in Croatia this September. Download below. Oh yes...

Download: SMS mix 17 - Juan Atkins

Friendly Fires: life's a beach

Following last week's hugely popular SMS mix (stream below!) we caught up with Friendly Fires' drummer and resident DJ Jack Savidge to find out how channeling the spirit of Carl Craig, Justin Timberlake and Black Sabbath is going on the recording of their new LP and why wet wipes are this season's essential festival must-have...

Summer's coming, what's on the agenda?
"Playing music in a few fields, and more work on our forthcoming second album."

Tell us about your latest projects?
"Our new album is perhaps just over half done, and sounding great. We've got a few other exciting things in the FF factory pipeline which I'd love to tell you about, but you'll have to wait for the official announcements. Apologies."

What current artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
"Personally, Tony Allen. As for the whole band, so far on our new recordings we've been channeling Depeche Mode, Carl Craig, Black Sabbath and Justin Timberlake."

What are you favourite/biggest tunes of the moment?
BDI - City & Industry
Wild Geese - Labyrinth
Omar S - Feeling You (Henrik Schwarz mix)

What can we expect from your show at Stop Making Sense?
"Disco, House and Techno from 3 and a bit decades, probably a Friendly Fires remix or two if we're in the mood, and at least one howling error which I will attempt to laugh off and/or blame the equipment for."

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play at the festival?
"Juan Atkins, Carl Craig, Robelledo and Optimo."

Any unusual festival tips?
"Wet wipes."

Where will we find you at sunrise on Sunday morning?
"Having a quiet word with myself in the bathroom."

SMS festival madness: the people, the parties, revealed in full glory!

Win tix to see Juan Atkins, Francois K + Benji B @ Need2Soul's 6th birthday party!

That's right, we're offering you lucky lot a chance to see Detroit legend and Stop Making Sense festival headliner Juan Atkins play at Ministry of Sound next weekend as part of Need2Soul's mammoth sixth birthday party celebrations.

Atkins will be joined on Saturday April 17th by fellow club legend Francois K and Jerome Sydenham, plus London's very own rising star Benji B and more.

And you could win a pair of tickets for absolutely nowt. How? Easy...just answer this simple question: Where does the name Stop Making Sense originate from?

Email your answer to: info@sms-2010.com

Good luck!

(Comp closing date: 6pm, Weds April 14th)

The Very Best + Carl Craig + Friendly Fires + Theo Parrish + Nathan Fake + Django Django + many more to play our first festival!

The sun is shining and we're beyond super-excited to say that after months of juggling and pondering, musing and arm wrestling, we've come up with a stonking line up for our first Stop Making Sense festival that fires are collective imaginations and sets our pulses racing on hyper-speed. Oh yes! From the live tropical Malawi-via-Dalston sounds of Friday headliners The Very Best to the classic emotive Detroit techno of Carl Craig topping the bill on Sunday, we reckon we've nailed it!

Joining such musical royalty for three days and nights of genre-shredding anarchy in Croatia this September are a truly global crew of party-starting pioneers and musical revolutionaries, including the brilliant new breed post-everything Django Django, Crown Prince of UK electronica Nathan Fake, revered Detroit techno pioneers Juan Atkins, Theo Parrish and new-school protege Kyle Hall, loose-limbed future pop party-starters Friendly Fires, South American house hero Matias Aguayo, one-man band master of twisted blues Son of Dave, MIA-acolytes and global beat makers Radioclit, legendary Scottish club originals Optimo, teenage flamenco troubadours Fran and Josh and Vampire Weekend-remixer and Mexican mash-up king Toy Selectah, plus many, many more...

Combine this mighty lot with the know-how of our esteemed club promoters plus the promise of sun, sand, boat parties, beautiful beaches, open-air clubs and bars and a real sense of reveling in a new environment and we reckon you have the recipe for a legendary festival in the making.

Stop Making Sense 2010, see you there....

LIVE: THE VERY BEST / DJANGO DJANGO / NATHAN FAKE / MATIAS AGUAYO / SON OF DAVE / WBEEZA / THE WORM / JOANA & THE WOLF / FRAN AND JOSH / LATIN DUB SOUND SYSTEM / LONGJON LA FLECHA / THE LOOSE FIT

DJ’S: CARL CRAIG / JUAN ATKINS / THEO PARRISH / FRIENDLY FIRES (DJ SET) / RADIOCLIT / TOY SELECTAH / OPTIMO / BENJI B / PATRICE SCOTT / KEITH WORTHY / KYLE HALL / ALLEZ ALLEZ / ISA GT / MARK E / REBOLLEDO / CHRIS COCO / RICHARD NORRIS / TAMA SUMO / JAMES PRIESTLEY / GILES SMITH / RUSS JONES / CAL JADER / SENSU / LAKUTI / GIRLCORE / FACT DJS / ALI TILLETT / ROB SUMMERHAYES / GRINGO DA PARADA / COUNT CHOCULA / TCHICKY AL DENTE / LEON LACE