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Remember your first kiss? That sweetly awkward pounce in the shadows of the roller rink, timing your approach and nervously wiping your sweaty palms against your adolescent denim? It makes for fond memories and hilarious fodder — how your teeth accidentally slammed against each other’s, how you just couldn’t figure out where to put your hands. Believe it or not, all people go through this awesome awkwardness — even those super cool musicians you see on ten-foot high stages, covered in fog and professional lighting. But when you translate that romantic teenage fondling into, say, visiting and also performing in the United States for the very first time, you’ve got Krazy Baldhead — suitcases in tow — soaking up the sights of the country via Detroit, performing live on the Red Bull Music Academy stage and planting that first sloppy kiss with the land of fast food and big flag dreams.

With more glitch then a vintage computer and more sonic subtleties than a flirtatious librarian, Krazy Baldhead tore into his dominating, genre-defying set fast and hard (the man was already set up before the previous act completely cleared the stage) and while not the most charismatic to the crowd, was certainly focused on bringing a non-stop freight train of thick and massive sounds to the Red Bull Music Academy stage.

And while the rest of the acts are caught up in Detroit’s legendary status as the birthplace of techno and house, Krazy Baldhead is just kind of pissed off (or perhaps rejected by that roller skate lover of yore) that the Hitsville USA, the Motown museum located a mile or two north of all the Movement madness, is closed on his only day off here in the States. “It’s funny,” says Krazy Baldhead, speaking through a very strong French accent, “because I am more Motown. The only thing I wanted to do was visit [Hitsville USA] … and it’s closed on Sundays,” which, truly, is a shame for anyone who does appreciate the sweet, sweet sounds of Motown but can also shatter your spine with some of the grimiest beats you’ve ever heard. But on a cultural level, considering Krazy Baldhead’s rookie season in the United States, was the DJ shocked by any means? Were his preconceptions on American culture horribly right or wrong? Did we already break his heart? “What I didn’t expect was for people to be so friendly,” says Krazy Baldhead. “Everybody is speaking to you and saying hello. The thing I did expect? All the rest.” True love.

Words by Ryan Patrick Hooper, photos by Joe Gall

 

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