Over the course of a career spanning two decades, Richie Hawtin has earned his position as one of the most prominent figureheads of contemporary electronic music. Born in Banbury, England, his family moved to Windsor, Canada, in the late 1970's, where Hawtin was exposed to early techno from close-by Detroit. Together with John Acquaviva he started Plus 8 Records, a label which proved one of the most influential North-American techno imprints with early landmark releases by artists like Speedy J or Kenny Larkin. In 1993 Hawtin began to release as Plastikman for the first time, probably the most famous of his many pseudonyms (another often used one being F.U.S.E.). Following a stringent concept of reduction in design as in production, the Plastikman project became a blueprint for modern minimal techno and Hawtin one of the leading representatives of the booming style. Consequently Hawtin founded Minus in 1998, a label initially reserved for his Plastikman productions, but soon becoming a platform for like-minded artists, such as Marc Houle, Troy Pierce and Magda. Through constant innovation and re-invention, as well as his drive to embrace new technology as it becomes available, Richie Hawtin has stayed on top of his game until this day, as one of the very few artists equally at home in the field of academic audio art as in that of hedonistic club life.