Originators — James Stinson
His name may not share the familiarity of his Detroit techno peers, yet James Marcel Stinson anonymously produced some of the city's most celebrated recordings during the '90s as the primary member of Drexciya. For nearly a decade, he quietly produced numerous recordings as a loose affiliate of the Underground Resistance collective and also as part of the Tresor roster.
Like many Detroit techno artists from the '90s, Stinson took much inspiration from Juan Atkins' groundbreaking electro releases in the early to mid-'80s as Cybotron, and he also took substantial inspiration from The Electrifying Mojo, an eccentric radio DJ in Detroit known as much for his charisma as his genre-bending musical mix. In the early '90s, Stinson began recording neo-electro tracks as Drexciya and became close with Mike Banks of Underground Resistance. At the time, electro hadn't yet undergone a revival, however, Stinson championed the style regardless. Underground Resistance embraced the neo-electro sound and, in turn, released the first Drexciya EPs.
Deep See Dweller on Discogs
Aquatic Invasion on Discogs
The Unknown Aquazone on Discogs
Bubble Metropolis on Discogs
Molecular Enhancement on Discogs
The Return of Drexciya on Discogs
Drexciya, which eschewed media attention and its attendant focus on personality, developed a nautical afrofuturist myth. The group revealed in the sleeve notes to their 1997 album The Quest that "Drexciya" was an underwater country populated by the unborn children of pregnant African women who were thrown off of slave ships; the babies had adapted to breathe underwater in their mothers' wombs. The myth was built partly on Paul Gilroy's The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness.
During his incredible run as part of Drexciya, Stinson remained almost completely anonymous to his fans. None of the Drexciya releases listed any participants, and thus endless rumors circulated in e-mail chat rooms about the responsible party. The producer never gave interviews nor did he reveal in the praise showered upon his music, instead he modestly worked for his living as a truck driver and fathering seven children with his wife, Andrea Clementson Stinson. Nonetheless, he worked incredibly hard at making music, laboring for many years in the basement of his mother's house. His music was hugely influential. Futuristic, dark, textured and compelling, Drexciya were one of the keys to the resurgence of electro music in the '90s, But Stinson himself goes onder many aliases and is one of the bedrocks of the Detroit electro bass style.
On September 5 Tresor announced the 32-year-old artist's passing with a brief and fittingly cryptic email sent via Rooftop Promotion: "James Marcel Stinson died the 3rd of September from a heart complication. The project Drexciya lost one of its masterminds. The (electronic) music world lost one of the most innovative musicians and more important, one of the greatest persons. While we suffer, his wife and children are suffering more from this tragic loss. He would have wanted it so that his fans are informed. Please treat his memory with the same respect you would with any friend. We will miss him greatly."
James Stinson (1969–2002)
Discography on Discogs
