Mills would also drive as far as Toronto or Chicago in order to purchase newly released music. For his radio DJ spots, Mills had a music spending budget to use for his sets. Mills played The Necto where he began incorporating concepts such as different equipment setups, including positioning himself on the dance floor with the people. He credits The Necto as the residency where he was able to experiment with new ideas in techno music. In his early career, Mills managed numerous residencies in the Detroit area. He would highlight local techno artists, giving light to artists such as Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins. He had a nightly show called The Wizard at WDRQ and later at WJLB under the same name. Early career and radio DJ Ī 1981 graduate of Mackenzie High School, Mills started his career in the early 1980s using the name "The Wizard." He performed DJ tricks like beat juggling and scratching during his sets, some of which were pre-recorded. Jeff Mills performing in Detroit in 2007. In 2017 the president of the Arab World Institute and former French Minister of Culture Jack Lang awarded Mills the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his services to the arts. He continued working in film, releasing Life to Death and Back, a film he shot in the Egyptian wing of the Louvre Museum where he also had a four-month residency.
Mills was also featured in Man From Tomorrow, a documentary about techno music that he produced along with French filmmaker Jacqueline Caux. Mills has received international recognition for his work both as a DJ and producer.
The label is based in Chicago, Illinois and is responsible for the release of much of his solo work. In the late 1980s Mills founded the techno collective Underground Resistance with fellow Detroit techno producers 'Mad' Mike Banks and Robert Hood but left the group to pursue a career as a solo artist in the early 90s. Thanks to his technical abilities as a DJ, Mills became known as The Wizard in the early to mid 1980s. Jeff Mills (born June 18, 1963, in Detroit, Michigan) is an American DJ, record producer and composer.