Richie Hawtin talks about when he thought his career ended

Even the most minimal of techno fans know the name Richie Hawtin, also known as Plastikman, who has been around the scene for over two decades. Hawtin began his career in Detroit, where techno was founded, although he was not an official resident of the United States as he was living across the border in Canada. In a recent interview with BBC, he opened up about the moment in his career when he saw it all flash before his eyes.

Following the tragic Oklahoma City bombing that occurred in April of 1995, taking the lives of 168 people and sending nearly 600 to the hospital, Hawtin was set to play in New York. His very first show under the Plastikman moniker was in jeopardy as U.S. border patrol were suspicious of the production equipment in the back of Hawtin’s car as major precautions were taken following the attack.

“I crossed the border that day, my brother and I were both skinheads. We had a huge trunk full of equipment and they were like ‘no, pull over’ and asked what we were doing. I didn’t have working papers for the States then. I didn’t have anything I was supposed to.”

Hawtin and his brother were not allowed into the states and the show was cancelled. As a result, he was unable to travel back across the border for over a year until he obtained the proper documents and forced him to put his career on halt until he could figure it out. He ended up relocating to Ibiza where he continued to pursue his dream and it maybe worked out for the best as he is one of the biggest names in the techno scene today.

“It was like my career was over. My girlfriend was living in Detroit, all the parties we were doing were in Detroit, everything that Plastikman was or had become. It was like cutting the umbilical cord. It changed everything for me.”

Listen to the full 13-minute interview here and let us know what you think.