Thomas Barnett

Thomas Barnett drew from Parliament funk as well as electro-pop acts including Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode, and he helped propel techno by co-establishing its landmark imprint Transmat together with Derrick May. Shortly after taking up music production, he linked up with May at Detroit’s storied venue The Music Institute. The pair cut the track “Nude Photo,” which inaugurated the label, yet Barnett soon stepped away to resume his academic studies. While still enrolled he kept creating material, and after an extended absence he surfaced again with the releases “Unconscious World” and “Liquid Poetry,” issued on Infonet under the Subterfuge name.