It’s now been over three years since the occasional 60-year-old DJ Derrick May did any kind of meaningful interview. The man who was previously a journalist’s dream to talk to – May was never afraid to upset the apple cart – was rendered silent in 2020 after multiple allegations of sexual abuse were made against him.

Detroit sources tell us that May “isn’t allowed to do interviews” these days, on the grounds his manager Hagi Craig and investor Michael Weston “worry what could happen if he goes off-script.”. Hence Ears To The House isn’t remotely surprised to report that even with all these precautions in place, his first interview in three years still didn’t go that well.

Speaking to self-described content creator Sara Schietroma Ferrazza at Italy’s Ribbon Club – where May did a rare set in April – he came across as his usual bold and brash self. The last three years might have apparently encouraged May to “remove all traces of negativity from his life” – but have also failed to teach him anything about things like, say, humility, and self-awareness.

The interview – whose length at 9 minutes and 9 seconds is obviously a reference to the Roland TR-909 – begins with May plucking a snack out of a plastic bag. He then starts to talk to the interviewer, apparently unaware that it’s rude to speak with your mouth full of food.

Ferrazza quickly proceeds to set the tone for the interview by asking a truly probing question. Was she going to be the first person to publicly ask Derrick May about the numerous allegations of sexual abuse made against him in the past three years?

Not a bit of it. Instead, she asked what it was like to be “one of the inventors of techno music”. May does his best to hide his bravado by talking about some kind of sense of “responsibility to show people what it’s all about” – whilst simultaneously failing to point out he’s barely done this since early 2020.

Now, to be fair to Ferrazza – who’s almost certainly been told not to ask certain questions before May agreed to do this interview – she does ask some interesting questions. For instance, she asks about whether the relationship between drugs and dance music has changed over the years – to which May is adamant that he has not.

He also reveals that himself, Jeff Mills and “several others in Detroit” don’t use drugs – something which our sources from the city have also repeatedly told us in the past. However, most of the interview was spent telling us everything that May has said before – and we really can’t get over the disrespect shown to Ferrazza by spending almost the entire nine minutes of the interview eating.

There’s something else for the man himself to pretend he hasn’t read…