Juan Atkins an American DJ and record producer often hailed as the Godfather of Techno was born September 12 1962 in Detroit Michigan He met friends Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson in junior high school after moving to Belleville Michigan The trio would come to be known as The Belleville Three Atkins joined with Richard Davis in 1980 to form Cybotron Their debut studio release the electro album Enter was released three years later Atkins later left Cybotron and released music under the monikers Model 500 and Infiniti among others and as one half of the duo Borderland Atkins along with Saunderson May and Eddie Fowlkes is credited with originating the music genre techno