Plastikman – just one of Richie Hawtin’s alter egos – defined a time and place, expanding the dimensions of Detroit techno and redefining the possibilities of electronic dance music.

Oxfordshire-born, Hawtin grew up in Canada where his passions for music, technology and computers would draw together when he heard the early sounds of Detroit Techno and Chicago Acid House on Jeff Mills’ late 80’s Detroit radio show. Travelling between his home town of Windsor, Ontario (Canada) and Detroit, he helmed some of the most intense, mind-bending parties underground electronic music has ever known.

In 1989 he formed the Plus 8 label with John Acquaviva and in the years following Plastikman took form. Debut album Sheet One (1993), with its stark production, quite unlike anything else on the electronic scene at that time, and an instantly recognisable and somewhat controversial acid-blotter CD cover introduced the world to Hawtin’s unique sound. Plastikman then evolved over six albums into one of contemporary electronic music’s most distinctive voices: minimalist, psychedelic, groove-laden, and transcendent.