People occasionally ask me why I give journalists in the dance music world a hard time. The question is even posed directly by some of those journalists. And my answer is always the same – because they’re failing to do their jobs properly. Their duty is to ask questions and scrutinise what happens within the scene.

That job sometimes means asking things which will make some people uncomfortable, but needs must. Yet the writers and journalists in dance music are often reluctant to do the job – mostly because they don’t want to upset the apple cart which pays their wages. And one time they’re especially disinclined is when they’re facing their subjects directly.

Kevin Saunderson – one of the so-called Belleville Three – gave an interview recently to Attack Magazine. They asked him about whitewashing within the world of techno, his new E-Dancer project, racism within agencies and even how he defines Detroit techno. These are all perfectly fair questions to ask, incidentally – but my issue is the one question that the weirdly nameless interviewer didn’t put forward.

Namely, what the hell does Kevin Saunderson think of the situation which surrounds his friend Derrick May? This would have been a brilliant opportunity to ask Saunderson about it, and his reply would have been big news within the scene. But the journalist in question declined to give the question to him.

Talk about ignoring the (balding, 58-year old, mostly out of work) elephant in the room…