Carl Craig
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Carl Craig

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1991 was the dawning of a new decade and the entrance to something new. The ’80s were being left behind and the script was yet to be written. Boundaries were shifting, politics was changing and the world was starting its evolution into our present, hyper-connected state.

 

That same year Carl Craig started Planet E. His label has gone on to earn a prized place in electronic music, to support countless artists and inspire many more.

 

Twenty years is an immense achievement for an independent music label. The seismic shifts of the last ten years have taken their toll on the label landscape.

 

As the heart of Planet E, 41 year old Craig has walked a unique path. He is a talented musician and businessman, seeming to crave change and challenge through both avenues. As a musician he has explored electronic music, jazz music and, more recently, orchestral performances. As part of the Planet E 20th anniversary celebrations, Craig is touring Australia this month. He is cooking when our phone hook-up comes through; a small personal act within an otherwise packed day of interviews and business for Planet E.

 

Contrary to the popular stereotype of ‘life as a DJ’, this year’s celebrations haven’t been ‘one big party’.

 

“Summer has been great. We’ve been doing a lot of gigs and stuff but you know there’s still the concept of putting out music and the business side of it, so you just can’t party all the time.”

 

Earlier this year Planet E released a digital compilation to celebrate their anniversary. 20 F@#&ING Years – We Ain’t Dead Yet features artists including Recloose, Martin Buttrich, Kenny Larkin and Basic Channel, as well as Craig himself. The reception to the compilation so far has been good.

 

“Yeah it has been cool. We’re still on the final stage of getting the physical boxset together – it’s taking a lot longer than what we expect but you know we got a great reaction to the digital compilation.”

 

The label created a great way to involve its fans in the process. “We had an idea what we wanted to put out digitally but we gave people an opportunity to tell us what they want to hear on the vinyl version. That has taken a bit more time.”

 

Craig started Planet E for a simple reason. “I wanted to be in control of my own music.”

 

When pressed to elaborate he confirms that sense of creative control was important. “I just didn’t like it that there was music that I felt should come out and, you know, it came down to somebody else telling me whether or not it should come out. So I decided to put it out myself. It definitely gave me creative control.”

 

So what is the secret to making it to 20 years? “I work my ass off,” he says in a matter-of-fact manner. And did he ever want to give up? “Never. Giving up is like giving up my freedom.”

 

Craig is proud of what he has achieved. “It’s grown from being an idea that could be maybe not taken so seriously by others to something that you have to pay attention to. I mean 20 years is nothing to sneeze about.”

Planet E reflects Craig’s commitment to his Detroit home. He has released tunes by local artists such as Kenny Larkin, Moodyman, Recloose and Kevin Saunderson. Not only that, it also acts as a distributor for Detroit labels such as Derrick May’s Transmat and Stacey Pullen’s Black Flag. “The reality of the business is that you have to change,” reflects Craig. “That’s a very difficult process, especially as an independent.”

 

“I made a conscious decision a few years ago to invest in what I do. It’s turning it around and putting it into the studio and the label for my music to develop. We’re fighters around here. We fight to find new ways of selling. We do manufacture vinyl and there are people who want it. We’re fighting to keep it alive. Fighting for music that we have a vision for.” Detroit is of paramount importance to Craig. “My commitment to the city is like a commitment to your family. I’ve been here all my life and I’ve seen great things happen elsewhere, why not be involved in making my home great?”

 

Recently, Craig has been involved in an orchestral performance of Versus. It is a collaboration with orchestrator and pianist Francesco Tristano, French orchestra Les Siècles, conductor Francois Xavier Roth and Moritz Von Oswald. “We had a good time doing it!” he says. It’s a different style of performance for him. “The majority of the music is mine but as a performer I’m somewhere of a soloist, I guess, in some way. I’m just another cog in the orchestra wheel because I have to watch the conductor. I’m not the leader; I’m actually a follower”.

 

Inspired by well-received performances in large concerts halls in Paris and Milan, Craig started the process of developing the project into an album. “We are continuing now and I think it will be a lot of fun.”

 

Craig is driven to break down the walls between music genres and performance spaces. “There is no higher and lower, it’s just music. This opinion that one is better than the other is wrong so I go on with the idea that’s its all music.”

 

What’s more, it’s a different crowd than the one who might come to see his Planet E anniversary performances this year. “The majority of people who would come and see Versus are people who are more interested in seeing something that has not been done so often in electronic music. So there’s not gonna be people who are coming to hear club music. They’re people who know my music, Basic Channel and they know other stuff too.”

 

“So these are people who aren’t thinking of high art and low art music. They’re just people who are interested in seeing something jump off this kind, you know, that’s going to be a new experience for them.

 

“The folks that are your typical, stodgy black tie affair fools, you know, they are not the ones with too much attention. It’s the progressive people that are playing in the orchestra that want to even play with us! It’s not a money gig for the musicians. It’s definitely about their interest – something for them to be involved and potentially make history.”

 

“I mean by them playing the same old time piece they play every year they’re not making history. It’s more interesting that they’re making statements with good music when it comes to Versus. It’s not like going to The Nutcracker’ at Christmas Time!”

 

 

BY SIMON HAMPSON


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