I've become a big techno-head lately. The music gets me so pumped! I just think it's so funny it evolved from Detroit, Michigan of all places. Seems random, right?
That does seem pretty random.  When did it get started?
In the mid-to-late 1980s. Word wasn't even used until 1988 to describe the genre specifically. Detroit techno is seen as the foundation, which is still kind of goofy to me, but factually correct! But when you look into it, it makes sense. It melds African American music with Chicago house/funk/electro/electric jazz with electronic music. Detroit has a lot of that.
Detroit does have a wide variety of culture for sure.  Are there any particular techno artists well known from Michigan?
Some of the more notable techno musicians are actually outside of Detroit. Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder, and Yellow Magic Orchestra were all acts/groups formed outside of the city, only taking inspiration from the music spawned from there.
Yellow Magic Orchestra is an awesome name for a group.  Can you tell me more about them
Heck yeah! They're a Japanese electronic music band, one of my favorites since I've started listening. They were formed in Tokyo way back in 1978. They themselves are considered innovators of electronic music, especially when it comes to using synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, drum machines, computers, etc. They got ahead of the electropop boom in the 1980s, and were one of the first. More impressively, the incorporate sociopolitical themes all throughout their work.
That sounds like a pretty complex musical style
The whole genre of techno in general allows for such creative and artistic freedom. It has so many influences that you can create unique things with it. Derrick May, a producer, for example, views techno as a transference of spirit from the body to the machine as kind of a central preoccupation. He views it as technological spirituality. Fascinating stuff.
I do know that techno is increasing quite a bit in popularity.  I think it is most popular in Europe