Moods 69: purefastmoods
The Detroit-based artist, advisor, and guide threads their sonic history before, through, and after techno.
purefastmoods (Devon P.) is simply un-summarize-able. Whether they are acting as a guide, advisor, artist, musician, dancer, or curator, their work has that unmistakeable, tactile craft of care for the people, places, and identities of the Midwest. Some have said purefastmoods is their favorite DJ’s favorite artist; others call them the patron saint of the dancefloor.
For their Moods mix, purefastmoods condensed their sonic journey toward, in, and past techno. So, in a soft break of tradition (because what’s tradition anyway), you’ll hear techno tucked between punk, house, acid, and Madonna. Open the windows, turn on the surround sound, and let the spring rains come.
This mix is a semi-chronological auto-biography tracing 20 years of going out in Detroit. Although the tracks were all produced and published in different years, the mix is mostly chronological or representative of various periods of my life. The exception is the Section 25 track, which calls back to my punk roots. I think I first heard this track at an IT party when I was 17 or 18 and was like, “Oh wait, punk and electronic music can coexist!” In my experience, there was, and still is, little overlap between the punk and electronic music scenes in Detroit. But, it was an “aha” moment that took a long time to sink in, and I realized that I was primed for electronic music because I always found myself more interested in bands that incorporated synths and other electronic elements than the bands my friends would listen to when I was younger. Always within the group, yet outside.
I often find myself listening to so many different things that I can get lost. Going back to punk always seems to ground me, even if it isn’t necessarily where I’m at in life. Even if I depart, it never departs me. The mix starts with my family, moves into my need to create space and freedom for myself through punk, my baby steps into electronic music, my early raving years, my movement into house music and other genres, and ends on what I call “metaphysical tracks.” Music, in general, but electronic music specifically, has had a profound impact on my spiritual sensibilities and capabilities. I find myself leaning more and more into the energy of things, which has deeply expanded my intuitive abilities. These tracks symbolize where I’m currently at in my journey.
-purefastmoods
Where, geographically, did you grow up? Was it a single place or many places?
I grew up in a Detroit suburb. My parents built their house in the early 90s and still live there today. I moved to Detroit when I was 17 and have lived in the city ever since.
Can you pick one song in the mix and explain where you first listened to it?
Yes and no… I vividly remember hearing some of the tracks for the first time, and others seem to have always been around me. Some of them my dad used to play (King Crimson), and, at the time, I hated them. Another example of this would be the Stooges track. My older punk friends, who were my introduction to nightlife in Detroit, would play the Stooges when they would DJ, but my dad also probably played it for me.
The Crass song is the very first song of theirs I ever heard, and it is still so important to me that it is literally inked on my body. I was introduced to them by friends I made online in middle school. I remember listening to it in my childhood bedroom for the first time and being blown away. I also very clearly remember hearing Carlos Suffront play “Electroclash” at a party in 2009 or 2010. It’s a track that’s always stuck with me. He remains one of two people I have ever heard play it. I’ve been seeing Carlos play since I was 16 or 17 and his DJing permanently rewired my brain chemistry.
Who "introduced" you to these songs? Was it a person, a radio station, a CD?
It’s a mix. Growing up in metro Detroit with an audiophile for a dad, Electrifying Mojo was drilled into my brain from an early age. The following two tracks are songs my dad would play, and represent his influence on me musically. He’s ultimately where I got my love of music from and why I have turned to music throughout my life.
The Stooges and Crass tracks represent my time in the punk scene in Detroit. I was introduced to punk and ska via a mix CD my babysitter’s boyfriend (now husband) made for me when I was 6 or 7, which I still have. My dad started taking me to all ages shows when I was 11 or 12 and I eventually became friends with the bands, who worked out deals with the bar owners that I could come to the 18/21+ shows if I brought my dad. They introduced me to a lot of the punk I still listen to, but it was the friends I made online who introduced me to Crass that got me into bands like Tamion 12 Inch and Adult., which then got me into going to raves around 16 or 17. The rest of the tracks I was introduced to overtime while going out to raves and parties. For the most part, there wasn’t one person who introduced me to them, but there are a couple I associate with specific people like I associate the Section 25 track with BMG and going to Interdimensional Transmission parties.
Where and when did you first hear techno? Who did it sound like it was for?
I don’t remember, honestly. Growing up in metro Detroit, techno was just always around. I remember when “Ass and Titties” came out, and everyone I knew was going nuts for it; same with “Sandwiches.” Like, it didn’t matter who you were or what scene you were in; you were blasting those tracks. And, no matter what weird DIY venue I found myself in, techno and electro were always in the mix. Despite making fun of it, even my punk friends would end up at some kind of techno or electronic music event every once in a while or would put on a track at a party.
I started going to raves when I was 16; it’s been a part of me for half my life at this point. The raves and parties I went to were definitely more inclusive than the punk or DIY shows I would go to, at least in terms of race. The punk and DIY shows leaned more white, but there were some queer people at these events. My friend Jeff used to bartend in drag as Penny Tration at the 2500 Club (R.I.P.), for example. But the electronic shows and raves were always way more diverse and expansive. I always felt more at home in these environments than I did in my earlier years of going out, and these spaces had a lot to do with me coming to terms with my gender.
You've got the microphone. What do you want to say to the techno community?
Music is energy — don’t ever forget it.
Tracklist
Electrifying Mojo Intro from December 1981
Parliament - Unfunky UFO
King Crimson - I Talk To The Wind
The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog
Crass - Shaved Women
Tamion 12” - Fuck You, Tami
I-F (ft. Helga La Blaque) - Playstation No. 2
Björk - It’s In Our Hands (Soft Pink Truth Edit)
Arpanet - Wireframe Images
U.R. - Interstellar Crime Report
Justin Cudmore - Real Shock
States of Mind - You Like That?
Aaron Carl - The Answer
Raheem Hershel - Electroclash
A Guy Called Gerald - Blow Your House Down
K-Hand - Fallin in Love
Wildchild - Yes! This is My House
L.B. Bad - Just Let Your Body Ride Unreleased Mix
Section 25 - Looking From a Hilltop Megamix
Fred Giannelli - 1st Premonition (DBX Remix)
Underworld - Dark & Long
Madonna - Bedtime Story Junior’s Sound Factory Mix
We have paired purefastmoods’ mix with a bloodletting diagram from the 1500s. Spirituality, the occult, and ancient forms of healing are mainstays across purefastmoods’ work, and this diagram on view at the Getty’s Blood: Medieval/Modern is a no-brainer match.
Read more about the exhibition here, and keep in touch with purefastmoods on Soundcloud or Instagram.
purefastmoods donated their commission to Progressive Art Studio Collective, an art and design studio and exhibition dedicated to supporting adults with developmental disabilities and/or mental health differences to advance individual career paths in the art and design fields. To learn more about their work, head to their website here.
Love,
Moods