Anyone who loves techno owes Kevin Saunderson for three things: co-inventing techno, coming up with the anthems, Big Fun and The Good Life, and being the unsung hero of Movement, stepping in at considerable cost to save the festival when its future was bleak.
The year was 2004, and the festival, which had been free to the public for the first four years, was in deep trouble. The city approached Saunderson, a well-liked presence in the Detroit community, and begged him to come in and take charge. “I had never run a festival before, but I knew how much time it would take to do it right. So I agreed on the condition that they officially back the festival by September,” he says.
Despite their promise, it took them until early 2005 to commit. Saunderson told them it wasn’t enough time, and that they should take the year off, regroup and do it right in 2006. But they were insistent and gave their word that he would protected from any exposure if things were to sour. “Having never dealt with politicians before,” laughs Saunderson, “I believed them.”
He shouldn’t have. He didn’t have the time or organization to land sponsorships, and his plan to charge for the first time ($15 for three days) met with massive community resistance. The festival itself went off without a hitch; the city took their cut off the top as the money was coming in the ticket sale window, and Saunderson and the festival were left out to dry.
No one would have blamed him for becoming bitter, but Saunderson, who’s equally at home coaching one of his kid’s little league baseball teams as he is in front of thousands of screaming clubbers at festivals all over the world, took the high road.
“I am a happy person and have a great life,” he says. “Yes, I was mad but after a few months, I got over it. I had had enough, and gave Jason [Huvaere, owner of Paxahau], who I had been working with anyway, my full support.” Since then, the festival, under the Paxahau banner, has successfully implemented many of Saunderson’s ideas and last year won Urb Magazine’s Festival of the Year award.
As he looks over the main stage, filling up to see him this Monday, he’s just happy that the festival is “so good.” He knows what he’s talking about when he says, “Go with your heart and with all your drive. Let no one stop your vision, because if you let them, you’ll never know what impact you might have had.”
