Person · 1989 · Detroit [42.33, -83.05]
"Mad" Mike Banks
Co-founder and guiding spirit of Underground Resistance, which the cited sources date to 1989, Banks built the collective as a deliberately faceless, militant answer to the music industry. Working largely anonymously as Mad Mike, he framed techno as Black resistance music and kept the operation rooted in Detroit. His refusal of publicity became as much a part of the legend as the records themselves.
Evidence3
- MusicBrainz: Mad MikeMusicBrainz
musicbrainz.org/artist/581013cc-d16f-4791-bb5b-652448ae22d5
accessed 2026-06-04
- MusicBrainz: Underground ResistanceMusicBrainz
musicbrainz.org/artist/8dcd24c7-bf87-4f32-8e3f-7a79b3f25a85
accessed 2026-06-04
- Wikidata: Mike BanksWikidata
www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1388121
accessed 2026-06-04
Connections1
collaborates with → Founding of Underground Resistance
Mike Banks and Jeff Mills founded Underground Resistance in 1989, building a faceless collective that framed techno as militant Black resistance. Their founding opened the genre's harder, explicitly political second wave.