DJ and producer Jeff Mills on musical freedom, his love of France and embracing AI • FRANCE 24

[Music] [Music] Hello and welcome to France 24’s weekly music show. I’m Audrey Hash and I’m delighted to welcome one of Detroit’s most acclaimed DJs and producers. Not only did he found Techno Collective, Underground Resistance in the late 80s in his native city, he also created extensively in Chicago, Berlin, and here in France, where he was awarded the prestigious cultural title of Deslet in 2017. From residencies in clubs and museums to film soundtracks, he’s never been afraid to break down molds and boundaries. and he just literally landed in Paris and will be taking part this week in the Jazz Eleviet Festival alongside Sunra Orchestra. Jeff Mills, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you very much. It’s really great to have you um to talk about the show that’s going to be taking place this week at at Jeza Levlet because this is going to be uh with Tomorrow Comes the Harvest which is a project you you started over several years ago with Afrobe drummer drummer Tony Allen and since his passing the project has evolved inevitably and uh I believe for uh for this um set you’ll be having um the tabas player Prabu Edward uh with you on stage. Can you tell us a little bit more about what we can expect? Uh yeah. Yeah. I mean uh the uh project uh started with with Tony Allen and myself and well the the the the essential element uh is to put ourselves in a situation to be as free as possible. Um so so there’s no pre-planning, there’s no pre-thought, there’s no there’s no discussion. Uh we just take we just take the stage and we play based on how we feel in that moment. Um and uh we connect together uh to create uh a much larger objective uh and so the performance is is is is really the the demonstration of us connecting and and and reaching that higher level of consciousness. Wow, that sounds incredible. and it’s something that I think the audience will be able to partake in as well. Um, now you’ve also um got Sunra Orchestra playing alongside you. How how exciting is it to have them um you know just playing the same date because you know they’ve been around for 50 years since the 1950s and they’re very experimental. They don’t shy away from improv as well. Sure. Yeah. I mean it’s it’s uh for a project like this it’s uh I think it’s it’s vital that the musicians are great conversationalist. um that always have a lot to say and a lot a lot of opinion um because it comes out uh in in the performances and when we’re playing together and uh and so um very nice people, very respectful. All these things are related to eventually what the music will sound like and how it’s structured. Um, and they’re incredible musicians that can think very fast and and and to and to uh think uh ahead of of and uh you know masters of sexualizing and and and and categorizing uh movements and things like that. So um I you know I think it’s symbolic of what’s happening in music right now. I think the to be free um to be unrestricted uh is really connected to the freedom that we have in terms of communicating to uh you know with the internet and you know social media and things like that. That’s interesting. Um now uh tomorrow uh Comes the Harvest is set to release um a new record in the new year and uh we’re going to have a little glimpse um of this record. Here’s the teaser. This is the single the happening. [Music] [Applause] [Music] the happening which is going to be part of tomorrow comes the harvest’s new record and it’s going to be called uh the forbidden planet which is out next year. Uh Jeff, can you tell us more about the concept because forbidden planet gives sci-fi vibes already. Yes. Um yeah, it was it’s um based on the idea of exploration and and encountering things that um are unpredictable and being in a place that we’re not supposed to be uh forbidden. And so um and so there’s uh a variety of things on this album. Uh uh this you unlike the first album where it was more coincidental um it was a capture of a live performance. This one is is intentional. M so it’s uh so we we purposely explored certain type of techniques to record the music because we want the listener to to to to feel as if there’s some place where um you know it’s not you’re not used to committed. Yeah. And and so uh and so um so it’s uh yeah it’s wonderful. We recorded it in uh mostly in here in in Paris but also in Miami and and um uh and uh yeah it’s just it’s just wonderful. And uh France is a big um big inspiration for you if you’ve been able to record uh here. What what is it about France that you like? Well, yeah. I mean, this is this is a place where I I I moved to uh about 12 years ago from Berlin. And uh it’s, you know, it’s the people here are the French are very sensitive uh to to to emotion. Mhm. And so if you really have something uh substantial to say, there are uh uh people here that will give you the time to actually say it. And if it’s something that they can connect to, then you know uh it can become something more. Uh and so um and so this is the perfect place to materialize like like this album and and uh this this these type of performances. And we’ve talked about freedom being, you know, the the the the freedom in in creating is such an important um factor. Uh you’ve um not shied away from playing with analog um uh or um technical like digital. you’re you’re happy to play with all sorts of instruments and I wondered where you sat with when it came to artificial intelligence. Is it a tool that you’re willing to play with or you’re interested in playing with? Yeah. I mean I mean well when we were when we uh perform we’re not connected together. It’s completely free. Even my setup electronic uh electronically it’s not connected to either one of the musicians. And so um so uh um but yet I’ve found a way to speak to other musicians that that play just as freely uh and and we found a way to connect and I think that’s kind of symbolic as to you know the type of freedom that any musician of any genre would would like to explore you know and so um so considering a you know AI and uh the ability to be able to uh re-imagine uh is very important to I think to the future of of this project. So I’ve I’ve worked with it. Uh we’ll probably use it it more um uh as as it develops uh and becomes more intelligent. um uh where it will lead to in terms of music, I’m not I’m not quite sure. But, um but I I definitely think it’s uh something that we should uh consider more on a positive sense than actually negative. Okay. Well, how about we check out some other music news? Um avanguard pop artist David Burn, who rose to fame in the 70s as part of uh punk band Talking Heads, is releasing a new album, Who Is the Sky? The 73-year-old are once again called on New York’s Ghost Train Orchestra and the record features the likes of St. Vincent and Haley Williams from Paramore. Here’s the very cool video for Everybody Laughs. One, two, three. And [Music] everybody laughs and everybody cries. Everybody lives and everybody dies. Everybody eats and everybody loves. Everybody knows what everybody does. Everybody’s going through the changes, every complication. Oh, David Burn there. Um, now he’s quite an inspiring artist who plays with orchestrations particularly in this his last few albums. Um, do you think completely differently when you’re uh creating or composing with machines or like a filmonic orchestra? Yeah. Uh, yes. It’s it’s um it’s uh quite quite quite different, but the objective uh is typically the same. Mhm. Um so uh there is always this uh level that one would like to reach where you uh give so much to the listener that they uh become detached, untethered to what it was that they that they were connected to at you know at the beginning that they kind of lose themselves based on what they’re hearing. Mh. uh and as a result become begin to feel more of of of who they are. That’s that’s what runs through every every genre. Well, how about we do a bit of rock and roll now because it’s time to uh meet with the Hives. Uh the Hives who are uh returning uh with a new album. It’s their seventh and it’s called The Hives Forever. Forever the Hives. High energy rock and roll at its finest. It was recorded in Benny Anderson from ABBA’s studio in Stockholm with Mike D from the Beasty Boys on production and Josh Homie from the Queens of the Stone Age as consultant. Here’s the video for Legalized Living. [Music] See them singing their songs, but you won’t see me singing along. They say it can’t be done, but I said they’re all wrong. See me riding into the sunset. See me in the sea. I’m doing my That’s all we have time for. Jeff Mills, it’s been an absolute honor to have you on the show. Um have fun at Jazz Levlet this week and we look forward to your next album coming out in the start of 2026. Now we’re going to play out with some British indie rock. Suede are back on full form. Anti-depressants. That’s the name of their new album with an incredible sleeve, which illustrates perfectly the Gothic and postpunk feel of the album. And this is the track Dancing with the Europeans. Oh, like a river. Like a river will run like a river. I run back to

This week, arts24 welcomes one of Detroit’s finest: DJ and producer Jeff Mills, who is taking part in the latest edition of Paris’s “Jazz à la Villette” festival as part of Tomorrow Comes The Harvest, a collective he created with the late Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen. He tells Marjorie Hache about performing live alongside the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra and their future album “The Forbidden Planet” that will be out in 2026. They also look at new releases by David Byrne, The Hives and Suede.
#JeffMills #JazzALaVillette #TomorrowComesTheHarvest

Read more about this story in our article: https://f24.my/BOyK.y

🔔 Subscribe to France 24 now: https://f24.my/YTen
🔴 LIVE – Watch FRANCE 24 English 24/7 here: https://f24.my/YTliveEN

🌍 Read the latest International News and Top Stories: https://www.france24.com/en/

Like us on Facebook: https://f24.my/FBen
Follow us on X: https://f24.my/Xen
Bluesky: https://f24.my/BSen and Threads: https://f24.my/THen
Browse the news in pictures on Instagram: https://f24.my/IGen
Discover our TikTok videos: https://f24.my/TKen
Get the latest top stories on Telegram: https://f24.my/TGen

1 comment

Comments are closed.