Inspired by European electronic sounds and black American dance music, May set up Transmat to explore his futuristic visions of music. May’s early recordings in the 1980s set the blueprint for the what is known today as Techno. Three decades later Transmat releases such as ‘Nude Photo’, ‘The Dance’, ‘It Is What It Is’, ‘Illusion’ and ‘Strings of Life’ remain iconic and are considered the roots of the genre.
Transmat later became a breeding ground that nurtures the next generation of Detroit techno producers. May mentored a second generation of Detroit electronic musicians such as Stacey Pullen (Silent Phase), Carl Craig (Psyche), Kenny Larkin (Dark Comedy) and James Pennington (Suburban Knight), among others. Releases on Transmat and it’s sub-label Fragile records, fueled the Techno boom we witness today all over the world.
Over 30 years later, Transmat continues to be an outlet for adventurous electronic music with the same mission at its core “Trying to save the world from bad music”.
The Transmat catalog code MS pays homage to his dear friend and mentor Juan Atkins, as it stands for Metroplex Subsidiary.