** "Hey why doesn't that DJ have a laptop??? Can he play some Rihanna?" No no, Becky...it's a live set. For this first edition of GEARHEADS, we met up with Swedish techno producer Tilliander, also known as TM404. He does live sets without laptops, preferring to compose live on at least three Roland TR-303s, that famous box that started the acid house revolution in the 80s. He's played everywhere from Berlin's infamous Berghain club to small spots in Detroit, and he's doing two shows in Shanghai this weekend. He plays tonight, May 8 at Yuyintang, and Saturday, May 10th at The Shelter. Tonight he performs as TM404, using slower tempos and almost exclusively Roland machines. Expect more dance floor-focused techno from his Tilliander alias at the Shelter show. You might know the Roland TR-808 drum machine from pretty much every hip hop song ever. Roland made a whole series of numbered drum machines in the 80s, but the one machine they didn't make is the 404. That's because four sounds like death in Japanese and Roland got scared that might unleash some demons in the club like that scene in Hellraiser 3. That's how Tilliander chose the name TM404. Anyway, what's in yo bag man????

Roland TB-303

"I brought three of these babies to Shanghai. This is the holy grail of acid house and I’m sure I’ll be buried with one of mine. Only 10,000 copies were released on the market back in 1982. The TB-303 was designed to be a replacement for a bass guitar but it sounds very far from it. Because of that, it was considered useless in the early days and you could buy one for lunch money." "Then some hugely talented but poor kids in Detroit got their hands on them and suddenly, they became super expensive. My TM404 album has a TB-303 in every track, and most have nothing but some 303s and some drum machines, which brings me to the next machine."

Roland TR-606

"This is the perfect companion to the 303. It's designed in the same way - small, cute, and in shiny silver. Very plastic and low budget. I have two of these machines but I brought my modded one to China. My modification means that I can make the bass drum much deeper and and can adjust the decay time of the hi-hats and the snare. This is all analog and I can NEVER get enough of the 606." "It’s been heard on so many influential records throughout the years. You can hear it everywhere in the early Autechre recordings as well as a lot of the material from Plastikman. I’ve had mine for about twenty years and it’s so simple to use that a child could come up with a great drum beat within minutes. Having said that, I actually discovered a key feature just last summer..."

Roland TR-707

"For many years, this drum machine was considered really shitty. It’s not analog but very much digital indeed. All the sounds are samples from real drums, but because of the cheap converters and the low sample rate, this drum machine sounds so much like a machine and nothing like a real drummer. Almost all of the sounds and instruments have separate volume controllers so this drummer is so easy to improvise with." "I tend to start my concerts with a blank pattern and program the drums while on stage. Because of its somewhat bigger size, I usually don’t bring the 707 when I go somewhere by plane, but I just had to this time. I brought about 35 kilos of luggage and around 32 kilos is instruments. The rest is a few t-shirts and socks. And some shampoo and cheese for my Swedish friend who is living in Shanghai at the moment (Hello Kitte!)"

Elektron Machinedrum

"I was in Shanghai five years ago and so was this drum machine. I carry it everywhere. This is a digital machine which is very hi tech compared to my Roland companions. The old Rolands are from the early eighties but this Swedish youngster is only about ten years old." "If I could keep but one piece of instrument in my studio, it may very well be this one. It was developed with percussion in mind, but I’ve used it for basslines, melodies, chords and just about everything else. I usually end my sets with around ten minutes of improvisation where the Elektron Machinedrum is the sole instrument. I hope some day to be able to make entire minimalist sets with nothing but this one and some effect boxes." *** TM404 plays tonight at Yuyintang and Saturday at The Shelter, then he's off to play a festival in Montreal with Richie Hawtin. He's in town via The Acid Pony Club, who also play live on both nights.