Midwest Techno Originals

Mike Dearborn - Rubberband Man (1994)

Sometime in 1995, I called Mike Dearborn and his mother answered the phone. She told me he was at school (college). Since this was in the days prior to cell phones being cheap, his mother had to take a message and have him call me back. She then grilled me, asking me how we know each other. It was all very friendly, of course.

Mike was raised in Chicago and grew up exposed to a lot of House music. He had a lot of success being a midwest hard techno guy in the nineties with a number of bangin’ tracks including an Acid scorcher called Birds On E and a number of releases on the DJax and Majesty labels. However, because of that phone call, I have always thought of Mike as a grounded conservative person who probably decided to pursue a normal life as opposed to the rock star kind of life he could have chosen to pursue. All this without knowing if he actually continued his education or received a degree of any kind. I’m just demonstrating how my mind works. Also, Rubberband Man bangs on a big system.