LavenderMenace Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 May has DEMF contract in hand January 17, 2003BY BRIAN MCCOLLUMTechno star Derrick May has been offered a contract to produce the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, the Free Press has learned. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will announce May's selection at a press conference this evening. Though a Thursday news release from the mayor's office said a DEMF announcement was coming today, it did not reveal who the producer would be. May said Thursday night the contract was on his desk at his Transmat Records office in Detroit, waiting to be signed. "We've been told that our name will be announced tomorrow by the mayor," he said. The city's decision, which follows months of behind-the-scenes wrangling, puts control of the popular festival in the hands of several techno pioneers. The free event, which attracted more than 1 million fans to Hart Plaza last May, had been produced for three years by the Detroit firm Pop Culture Media, which was seeking to renew its contract. May's group includes techno stars Carl Craig and Kevin Saunderson. For some techno aficionados, this year's decision may represent a kind of poetic justice: Craig was dismissed by Pop Culture in a controversial 2001 firing that spawned a minor boycott of the festival. Pop Culture had come under fire for its financial dealings, including allegations from some DEMF vendors and artists that they had been paid late, if at all. Pop Culture president Carol Marvin could not be reached for comment Thursday night. Sources said the new DEMF contract does not involve a payment to May's group. The city had paid Pop Culture Media about $340,000 annually to produce the festival. The festival will be held Memorial Day Weekend at Hart Plaza on the Detroit riverfront. That means May and company will have just more than four months to round up sponsors, book artists and stage the three-day event. "I've got no choice," said May. "If I don't do it, we don't have a festival. My back is against the wall, because we have to do this. "But this isn't the first time I've had my back against the wall." The mayor will make his announcement during what was already shaping up to be a big night for the city's electronic music community: the ribbon-cutting ceremony to open a new techno exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum. Many of Detroit's techno luminaries are expected to attend.http://www.freep.com/entertainment/newsandreviews/dmf17_20030117.htmSWEEEEEET!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barvybe Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 NICE!!!I may actually try and go to this who needs the sandy altantic coast beach and Miami when you can have the marshy eastern shore of lake erie and Detroit in the spring!!! <--- did i just say that? who am i kidding.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charrails Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 hmmthat's my b-day weekend.....if I have any $$ I'd like to head out therebut I've been saying that for 3 years now..haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeg Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 niiiiice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glowgrlnyc Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 I think I might go...rent an RV and drive there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LavenderMenace Posted January 18 Author Report Share Posted January 18 And he's not getting any money for doing it. thats fuckin cool of him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lasix Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 4 months and counting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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