Carl Craig is a Detroit-based techno producer, DJ, composer and record label owner. Born in 1969 in Detroit, United States, he works across techno, Detroit techno, electronic music and house, and is associated with the labels Planet E and Planet E Communications.

Career

Craig releases his first track in 1989 on a Virgin UK compilation album. Two singles follow on labels run by his first collaborator, Derrick May. After early releases on his co-owned Retroactive imprint, he launches Planet E in 1991 with the EP 4 Jazz Funk Classics. The label continues as a major part of his work and becomes home to a wide range of Detroit artists, including Francesco Mora Catlett, Naomi Daniel, Flexitone, Jason Hogans, Kenny Larkin, Monty Luke, Moodymann, Mike Agent X, The Oliverwho Factory, Recloose, Reference, Kevin Saunderson, Big Tone, Tribe, Urban Tribe and Chaz Vincent. It also acts as a distributor for Detroit imprints including Derrick May's Transmat and Stacey Pullen's Black Flag.

Craig describes his work as extending from club music to orchestral production and modular experimentation, and he does not confine himself to one format. His early recordings from 1989 to 1992 range widely and establish the basis for his later career. He releases a succession of full-length albums, mix CDs and singles under names including 69, BFC, C2, Innerzone Orchestra, No Boundaries, Psyche, Paperclip People and Tres Demented.

Selected projects and recordings

His 1992 Innerzone Orchestra track “Bug in the Bassbin” is credited with helping inspire the development of drum and bass. He later reworks it into a live jazz composition in 1996. Jazz elements appear again on the 1999 Innerzone Orchestra album Programmed. In the 2000s he explores jazz further as producer on The Detroit Experiment and Rebirth for the Detroit jazz collective Tribe.

Other releases mentioned in his catalogue include Throw (1994), Landcruising (1995), The Secret Tapes of Dr. Eich (1996), More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art (1997), Programmed (1999), The Detroit Experiment (2002), The Workout (2002), Just Another Day (2004), Fabric 25 (2005), The Album Formerly Known As… (2005), Paris Live (2007), Sessions (2008), Recomposed with Moritz von Oswald (2008), The Legendary Adventures of a Filter King (2009), Modular Pursuits (2010) and Versus.

Collaboration and performance

Craig works extensively with other artists. For Versus he collaborates with orchestrator and pianist Francesco Tristano, French orchestra Les Siècles, conductor Francois Xavier Roth and Moritz von Oswald. He also performs in Shape with von Oswald and Tristano. He makes occasional appearances with the electronic collective Narod Niki, alongside Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano, Richie Hawtin and Zip, and sometimes brings keyboardists such as Mike Banks, Amp Fiddler and Tristano into the DJ booth for special performances.

He is a widely travelled club DJ and also performs live soundtracks to films, including an improvised soundtrack to an Andy Warhol film at Unsound Festival in New York after an earlier performance in Amsterdam.

Remixing

Craig remains an in-demand remixer with a catalogue of more than 100 remixes. His remix work includes tracks by Tori Amos, Can, Goldfrapp, UNKLE and Yello. He receives a Grammy nomination in 2008 for his remix of Junior Boys’ “Like a Child”.

Detroit and public work

Craig founds the Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2000. He also establishes the Carl Craig Foundation, a non-profit organisation focused on music education and support for young musicians in Detroit. The foundation works with other non-profits on scholarships and runs workshops, including a five-day session at the Detroit School of the Arts during Movement Festival that introduces students to sound engineering, festival production, record production and performance. It also tours high schools in and around Detroit and aims to encourage music education and new talent in the city.

His work is closely tied to Detroit throughout his career, both through his label activity and through his public projects in the city.