Scan 7 is a mysterious techno collective in Detroit founded by Trackmasta Lou. Always masked when performing.
Of undeniable motor city vintage Scan 7 have long been a rotating cast of veiled producers deeply rooted in the underground culture of America’s midwest and the rich musical heritage of Detroit. With close ties to, and allies with Underground Resistance, Scan 7 have canvassed the word of techno worldwide, and the collective are to be counted as a force within the transgressional wave of Detroit artists that navigated the US-European divide to create a historical axis with Berlin.
Delivering Tresor two influential albums in Dark Territory (1996) and Resurfaced (1999) Scan 7 concurrently remain a vital proponent in maintaining techno music’s core values, representing the genre’s formation, foundation and Afro-American origins. Balaclava-clad and armed with Yamaha rhythm machines, MPCs and mounted mixing desk, Trackmaster Lou and Mr. Hooper helm the project in 2018 with a live show of original, improvised and alternate variations of their music, sequential to unreleased wares and newer cuts most recently given rites of passage through German label Solar One Music, Brussels-based Elypsia and Derrick May’s impenetrable Transmat.
With the likes of Laurent Garnier’s F Communications supporting the collective in the past alongside a slew of territorial releases for Detroit Underground, the late Aaron Carl’s Wallshaker label and Cratesavers Muzik, Scan 7’s militaristic and political philosophies will forever remain definitively techno and wholeheartedly Detroit.
