L J 19c;
Jewish techno fans
take part in
the Motor City's
SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
ason Steingold: "Bn into melodic, bouncing beats that make people feel gooch" says the West Bloomfield native, who moved to L.A. in December
jr
ason Steingold and Tovah Feinberg soon
will have an upbeat reunion of sorts. The
two, former religion classmates at the syna-
gogue now known as Congregation Beth
Ahm, went their separate ways but developed
strong interests in techno music and will meet again
at "Movement: Detroit's Electronic Music Festival
'04," a free Memorial Day Weekend event at Hart
Plaza.
Steingold, who plays guitar and appears as a DJ
under the stage name Goldfinger, plans to leave his
acoustic instrument in California and use two
turntables and a mixer to come up with creative
danceable beats noon-2 p.m. Saturday, May 30, on
the High-Tech Soul Stage.
Feinberg, an interior designer, is planning the
VIP Tent, an attraction that includes performers,
sponsors and guests for parties to enhance and sup-
port what is becoming an annual event.
Detroit, a pioneer in techno music, is expected to
draw up to 1 million people from around the world
as it showcases some 60 acts with a mastery of con-
temporary equipment that creates new sounds.
Performers, divided among four main stages and
many smaller stages, will show various approaches
— synchronizing more than one recording, often
with different styles; working with synthesizers that
can replicate instruments; and using laptop corn-
puters with sound-enhancing software.
"I'm into melodic, bouncing beats that make peo-
ple feel good," says Steingold, 25, who grew up in
West Bloomfield and moved to Los Angeles in
December to develop his entertainment career. "I
think of my turntables as instruments and mix hip-
hop, acid jazz and reggae."
Steingold, still deciding between appearing solo
or in a group, became interested in techno by lis-
tening to it on radio as a teen and then trying his
own DJ projects. The equipment enthusiast, a busi-
ness-finance graduate of Michigan State University,
also went into producing music projects for local
clubs and setting up background music for cable
programming.
"Techno music is in my blood," Steingold says. "I
want to perform and do more production work."
This style of music also seems to be in the blood
of David Mash, who explores it as an academic and
performer. Mash, who also grew up in Michigan, is
vice president for information technology at the
Berklee School of Music in Boston, where students
master traditional talents as well as contemporary
skills.
"There are big markets for techno music in the
United Kingdom and Germany," says Mash, 51,
whose recent bookings have placed him on stages in
Argentina, Finland and Japan to present his original
compositions. "All Berklee students learn about
techno and have laptops with sound-generating
equipment.
"The biggest attraction of techno music is the
mechanical rhythm, and it has become multi-cul-
tural. It's often geared toward the club scene."
Mash, who has been called the "industry's leading
evangelist for the marriage of music and technolo-
gy" by Rolling Stone magazine, reports that using
techno equipment has become considerably easier
GETTING IN THE GROOVE on page 36
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