Richie Hawtin

Richie Hawtin is Canadian by birth, German by adoption — he grew up in Windsor, Ontario, directly across the river from Detroit, and moved to Berlin in the early 2000s. The Detroit geography explains the minimalism. The Berlin geography explains what happened to it next. He created the Plastikman project in 1993 and through it developed one of the most recognisable sounds in techno: stripped back, repetitive, and hypnotic in a way that read as a deliberate rejection of trance's melodrama. He co-founded Plus 8 Records with John Acquaviva and later M-nus, which became the label home for the minimal techno movement. The Sonus Festival 2025 set and the Boiler Room Paris session from the same year are both on the site. He also appeared at a Toronto church rave in 2025 — which tells you something about how seriously he takes the concept of the right room. He plays long, he plays minimal, and he makes it work through sustained tension rather than conventional release.