DJ T-1000

Detroit-born producer, DJ, label owner, and graphic designer Alan D. Oldham, also known as DJ T-1000, is responsible for dozens of banging, sci-fi-influenced techno records as well as some of the most iconic record artwork in the genre's history. He began providing label graphics for releases on <a href="spotify:artist:0v6N0xV7AfHHKVcgUOjC51">Derrick May</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Transmat+Records%22">Transmat Records</a> in 1987, as he brought techno to the Detroit radio airwaves. During the early '90s, he founded <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Generator+Records%22">Generator Records</a> and began releasing music under the Terminator 2-inspired moniker DJ T-1000, additionally forming the project X-313. He launched <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Pure+Sonik+Records%22">Pure Sonik Records</a> later in the decade, and appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tresor%22">Tresor</a> with his 1999 full-length Progress. The now Berlin-based figure continues to receive acclaim for his visual art as well as his music, including the 2009 graphic novel/soundtrack Johnny Gambit 01: The Prodigal Son and exhibits at galleries in Europe. He releases music on his own imprint as well as others such as <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BPitch+Control%22">BPitch Control</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Third+Ear+Recordings%22">Third Ear Recordings</a>, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rekids%22">Rekids</a> (2023's Functionality EP).

Oldham spent time as a graphic-design specialist and comics illustrator while studying media at Detroit's Wayne State University. Hired by <a href="spotify:artist:0v6N0xV7AfHHKVcgUOjC51">Derrick May</a> to illustrate the inner labels on a few <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Transmat%22">Transmat</a> releases, Oldham became interested in Detroit's electronic scene, and gradually transformed his Fast Forward radio program on WDET from industrial (Oldham was a member of industrial group Code Assault, who later became Code Industry) and fusion into techno. During the show's run, from 1987 to 1992, Oldham introduced thousands of area listeners to Detroit techno via productions from <a href="spotify:artist:0v6N0xV7AfHHKVcgUOjC51">May</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0jS6VTFGujWxinY5TSQwOG">Kevin Saunderson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:208EQzx7RmoE2Ng9gF2edh">Juan Atkins</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0tbuVFxbrGx2oiNbpetUGc">Underground Resistance</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:17dbJyUCrxh4I7iyUrjaHU">Carl Craig</a> -- as well as other techno figures like <a href="spotify:artist:4OW0w5K2UNaWtbpRqzWqI0">Joey Beltram</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3OsRAKCvk37zwYcnzRf5XF">Moby</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7hFdUW64G4iU1tz46ITRfN">808 State</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2M0T4a1pkOC5nifN9W6e9e">LFO</a>. The show ended in 1992 when an offer to tour with <a href="spotify:artist:0tbuVFxbrGx2oiNbpetUGc">Underground Resistance</a> as the replacement DJ for <a href="spotify:artist:2eIDAcLKnWc4D350YyzvgS">Jeff Mills</a> proved too difficult to resist. Also in 1992, he formed his own <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Generator%22">Generator</a> label, the origin of seminal releases by Oldham projects like X-313 ("Interferon," "World Sonik Domination") and TXC-1 as well as tracks by <a href="spotify:artist:6Fr9aJBxyMOkTFF0b9JZrQ">Dave Clarke</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5FbxtqSn4l6W4hkhv1G3U6">Woody McBride</a>.

In 1996, Oldham closed <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Generator%22">Generator</a> and opened a new label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Pure+Sonik%22">Pure Sonik</a>. He also began DJing around the world, gaining a reputation as one of the best Detroit DJs among considerable competition. The DJ T-1000 mix albums Supercollider (a <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Generator%22">Generator</a> label retrospective) and Live Sabotage: Live in Belgium displayed his mixing genius, while his debut production full-length, Progress, appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tresor%22">Tresor</a> in 1999. Mix CD The Last DJ on Earth was issued in 2001. Full-length Neutra appeared in 2002, before Oldham went on hiatus for several years and moved to Chicago (and later Berlin). The Art of Transformation, a compilation of downtempo tracks from Oldham's various projects, appeared in 2006.

In 2009, Oldham returned with the graphic novel and original soundtrack Johnny Gambit 01: The Prodigal Son. He then released several singles and EPs, as well as Beyond Djax, a companion to a sold-out art show in Amsterdam. The full-length Drums and Weapons appeared in 2012, and a three-part mix, This Is Pure Sonik Records, was issued in 2013. "Terminator," a collaboration with d_func., was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Nachtstrom+Schallplatten%22">Nachtstrom Schallplatten</a> the following year. In 2017, Oldham surfaced on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Third+Ear+Recordings%22">Third Ear Recordings</a> (The Polymath EP) and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BPitch+Control%22">BPitch Control</a> (Ratchet Traxx). His own label issued Message Discipline and Pure Sonik Youth, while 2019's "I Told 'Em I Was from Detroit" appeared on Suspected, and he returned to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BPitch%22">BPitch</a> with 2021's The Dirrty Underground EP. Don't Complain, Don't Explain appeared in 2022, and both Spectral Fusion and Functionality were issued in 2023. ~ John Bush & Paul Simpson, Rovi