Richie Hawtin

Better known as Plastikman, Richie Hawtin has been one of minimal techno’s key architects since the early ‘90s. Born in the UK in 1970, Hawtin moved with his family to a suburb of Windsor, Ontario as a boy; he discovered Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream through his father, and in his teenage years, he soaked up the influence of nearby Detroit’s techno scene. Plastikman’s 1993 album, Sheet One, established his signature sound with a skeletal blend of drum machines and acid squelch; his music continued to thin out in the coming years, and 1998’s Consumed and 2003’s even starker Closer are considered landmarks of the era’s minimal techno. Beyond Plastikman’s output, Hawtin has remained active on multiple fronts, whether innovating technologies for digital performance or overseeing his Plus 8 label, whose catalog includes landmark albums by Speedy J and Kenny Larkin. Hawtin’s recorded work under his own name reflects the diversity of his interests: 1994’s From Within, with ambient pioneer Pete Namlook, is a cornerstone of the era’s chill-out culture, while 2020’s Time Warps is a pandemic-era effort to find meaning in stasis.