Hi friends,

The passing of Juan Atkins felt seismic. His influence runs through so much of the electronic music we hear today, and I immediately thought of John Tejada as someone who could put that legacy into perspective.

I asked John to reflect on what Juan changed, what he made possible, and the personal impact his music had on John’s own life.

I’ll let John take it from here.

– Ale

On October 31, 2026, we learned that Juan Atkins, the Godfather of Techno, had passed away at 64. For decades, he inspired countless creative minds to make electronic music. His loss sent shockwaves through the music community worldwide.

Atkins is widely credited with helping invent techno in his hometown of Detroit in the early '80s. He began with Cybotron, his collaboration with Rick Davis, releasing Alleys of Your Mind, a record championed on Detroit radio by the legendary Electrifying Mojo. His influence soon spread far beyond the city, helping establish Detroit techno as a new musical language, crystallized for a wider audience by the 1988 compilation Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit.

Juan was part of the Belleville Three alongside Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, but he was the one who really got things started. He taught Derrick and Kevin how to make records, from arranging and recording to sound design and drum programming. Together, they changed the musical landscape forever.

His influence went far beyond techno, reaching house, electro, hip-hop, and generations of electronic artists around the world. Even if you’re unfamiliar with his name, there’s a good chance you’ve heard his work. Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” features a loop from his Channel One track “Technicolor,” while Missy Elliott’s “Lose Control” is built around a sample from Cybotron’s “Clear.”

In the early '90s, Juan began performing in Berlin and releasing music through Tresor, the club and label spearheaded by Dimitri Hegemann. In my view, that connection played a major role in carrying Detroit techno throughout Europe.

It’s difficult to overstate Juan’s importance to modern electronic music. Beyond the records themselves, he inspired thousands of young producers to make music and, just as importantly, showed them they could release it themselves. Metroplex, the label he launched in 1985, made independence feel possible.

I had many moments when an Atkins production changed my understanding of what electronic music could be. Hearing “Clear” or “R9” for the first time felt impossibly futuristic. Then records like I Wanna Be There and The Passage showed me how soul and vulnerability could live inside the sound of machines.

Once, in the '90s, I was watching Juan DJ at a club when I heard him play one of my tracks. It had been released under an anonymous alias, without my name credited. I went up afterward and said, “Hey, you played my track!” He said, “I did? Which one?” When I told him, he looked at me and said, “You need to put your name on the good ones.”

I later had the honor of sharing the stage with him a couple of times. While putting together a two-hour retrospective for my November 7 KCRW show, I was overwhelmed by just how many times Juan’s music had changed my life.

- John Tejada

Now Spinning On My Turntable
Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts – Second Song

Neil Young has always treated change as part of the process, and Second Song feels very much in that spirit. Recorded in analog at Shangri-La with The Chrome Hearts, it’s a mostly acoustic, reflective record that looks backward without getting stuck there. Seven songs, five previously unreleased, and Young still sounds like he’s searching.

It also arrives during a particularly interesting Neil Young moment. KCRW’s Robin Estrin recently spoke with Edie Brickell, Jim James, and King Princess about reinterpreting his work for the new Heart of Gold companion albums, digging into what these songs mean to them and how to approach music with this much history behind it. Listen here.

More Music Moments

Must Listen with Jakob Nowell (Sublime)

KCRW continues weekly with its new Must Listen series, where we bring someone through the expansive CD library with two instructions: find something that is a “must listen” record, and leave a note in the CD case for the next individual who picks it. Our newest episode features Jakob Nowell of Sublime. Hear him talk about Barrington Levy, Gorillaz, Beck, and more.

Boys Noize in conversation with SiLVA

Joy Oladokun Live on KCRW and in conversation with Novena Carmel!

Joy Oladokun is "one of the greatest songwriters of our era" according to Morning Becomes Eclectic host Novena Carmel. She recently sat down with Joy for a conversation on radical hope, and discussed the influences behind her new album, Hope Is a Heavy Thing, which has been in heavy rotation this year at KCRW. She also played an acoustic Live on KCRW set, where every strum speaks directly to the soul, prompting you to bear witness to Joy’s brilliance.

Upcoming Music Events

On Monday, November 16, 2026, at 6 PM, Marciano Art Foundation x AKP Recordings x KCRW presents a Quadraphonic Vinyl Deep Listening Session of CIANI/ORKEST, the landmark live album which pairs electronic music pioneer and five-time Grammy nominee Suzanne Ciani with the internationally acclaimed Metropole Orkest, conducted by Simon Dobson.

🎶 More Great Shows, More KCRW Picks 🎶
Discover more live music in the KCRW App.

Sat, Nov 14th — Darker Waves Festival at Huntington Beach

Sat, Nov 14th — L7 at the Wiltern

Sat, Nov 14th & Sun, Nov 15th — KCRW Presents Tank and the Bangas at Blue Note

Sun, Nov 15th — Jon Spencer at the Troubadour

Sun, Nov 15th — Rawayana at the Kia Forum

Sun, Nov 15th — KCRW & VLSF Present After Latin Grammys: Brazil in LA at the Virgil

Tues, Nov 17th — KCRW & Hologram Teen Opera Present First Ever Hologram Teen Concert (with Fred Armisen on Drums) at Zebulon

Tues, Nov 17th — KCRW Presents Internet Girl at The Echo

Weds, Nov 18th — KCRW Presents Manic Street Preachers at the Belasco

Thurs, Nov 19th — KCRW Presents Brennan Wedl at Sid The Cat Auditorium