It is said that Juan Atkins is the key figure in the creation of what we now call techno ( he was the first person to use the word) providing a template that countless producers have tried to emulate.

Hailing from Detroit in the early 80’s, Atkins created entirely electronic synthesizer songs at a time when doing so was rarely heard of in the US. A fair amount of work has been written about his music under the alias of Model 500, but very little as Cybotron with partner Rick Davis. 

Influenced by the robotic grooves of Kraftwerk and the cosmic funk of George Clinton’s Parliament/Funkadelic, the duo released their first single “Alleys of Your Mind,” considered by many to be the world's first techno song.

After The Electrifying Mojo began playing "Alleys of Your Mind" on Detroit airwaves, it sold more than 15,000 copies in 1981, and they then released three more singles: 1982's "Cosmic Cars" (which bumped Prince's "Little Red Corvette" down to No. 2 on a Detroit chart), the iconic hit "Clear" (later sampled by Missy Elliott), and 1984's classic, "Techno City.

Atkins went on to make solo records under the Model 500 alias and created Metroplex Records in order the release his techno sound, a continuation of the more funk and bass heavy electro tracks.

It is during this time that he laid down the blueprint for techno, coming up with the name for the style in 1988. Many purists might remember his first single on the label, “No UFO’s” which was hugely influential in Europe but largely ignored in the Motor City.