Ralf Hütter of Kraftwerk tells 'Rolling Stone' of 'spiritual connection' with Detroit

One city that really sticks out on your upcoming U.S. tour itinerary is Detroit, which has a storied alliance with Kraftwerk. You haven't played Detroit in 10 years.
We've been to Detroit several times with our friends, [Detroit techno DJs and producers] Juan Atkins and Derrick May, visiting some clubs and some locations over the past many years ago...

There's quite a techno connection, Kraftwerk to Detroit. Maybe you know that photograph of the robots in front of the theater — that's the State Theatre in Detroit. The industrial sound of Motor City and Kraftwerk on the autobahn, there's a spiritual connection. Automatic rhythms, robotic work, robotic music — all kinds of fantasies are going on.

I was struck, the first time I went to Detroit, at how much they love Kraftwerk. It's almost a religion there.
Yes, in the very early days, the [Detroit radio DJ] Electrifyin' Mojo played our music, the Computer World album, on radio. Our music wasn't always played on radio; it was not so popular, apart from Autobahn in the 1970s. In the late Seventies it started again in Detroit. So there's this spiritual connection. We feel very strongly the energy and always have tried to come back and perform there. Maybe we can arrange with our friends some after-hours locations or parties. We'll see what we can do.