Montreal's Tiga picked an apt name for his latest mix LP, Tiga Non Stop. The DJ/producer/Turbo Recordings boss is quick to sound off, most eloquently, on pretty much anything you throw his way. From Tiga Non Stop, the latest in his super-popular mix series, to the "techno revival" and the trouble with opinions, we got Tiga to tell us what's on his mind.
PlayStream three tracks from Tiga Non Stop, including Tiga's new single, "Plush."
You just did a few dates with the Sonar North America festival. How did it go?
I don’t want to boast, but Montreal’s really good for shows. I don’t do so many shows at home so it’s nice to just get in my car and go. I see a lot of old friends and get a good reception here.
I spoke with Azari & III before the tour and they seemed optimistic about Sonar introducing itself to North America. How do you think it went?
Just in terms of putting all kinds of people together, Azari and Die Antwoord couldn’t be more different. There was no new-school EDM, there was no big dubstep guys or big American artists. It was quite a European-based lineup. In Boston, I saw something pretty cool: it was Sunday night, there was a great turnout with a mixed crowd and they seemed really into artists they wouldn’t have seen otherwise, which is the exact feeling Sonar is going for. So it was quite an ambitious plan and pretty positive in the end.
I've heard other artists say that sense of discovery is what's missing from a lot of these big EDM festivals, because the line-ups are so samey.
It’s hard to say what people discover at shows, but I think it’s an issue of dynamics. What's missing from a lot of things now, not just EDM shows, is the idea of variation — of putting all kinds of things together that maybe at first don’t match up so well, and that being part of the appeal. Azari and Die Antwoord is a perfect example. It’s cool when you can make that work.
Variation is clearly what you're going for on this new mix, Tiga Non Stop. It starts with a Kindness record.
I think people are complex in their tastes and choices and it doesn’t always add up. I like super campy disco and I like dancehall and I don’t waste much time questioning why. As a DJ I like the purist route — “I’m going deep techno for two hours, layer by layer, and taking a subtle approach” — and I also love the feeling of “Hey these are all records I love and I’m going to find a way to put them together.” Sometimes I'm in the first camp and for this one it was the second. There’s some of my new stuff, there’s some new Turbo, there’s techno and electro-pop. It’s just an hour of music.
It's not geared toward people who "prefer" certain tempos, either.
My friend Gonzalez, the piano player, always makes fun of me. He's like, “What is it with you DJs and tempo? Are you idiots? You talk about tempo as if its chords or notes. It’s just the speed of the song!” From a musician’s angle it’s such an oversimplification. For DJs I think it’s just that our vocabulary is more limited when it comes to describing music and it just becomes a notation for different styles.
It also must hinder creativity to say "I only make music at this tempo."
Everything is potentially restrictive. The really creative people, the original people, are the ones that ignore it. It’s always the same: something seems inconceivable and then someone does it and it’s obvious. Tempo restrictions apply to people who want to follow the rules.
You just talked about being in two camps: the more linear "purist" and something less defined. Non Stop falls in the latter, but June's New Jack Techno is obviously more in line with the first idea. Can you talk a bit about the current quote-unquote techno revival?
I’ve always loved techno. It’s the foundation of what I like and play, and it really got me started with my career. In the past couple of years there’s been really good new techno producers making new stuff, so yeah you are getting a bit of a revival. There are reasons for it. All the styles move in a bit of a cycle, you know?
But you have a lot of producers and DJs now rediscovering a section of music that’s a bit forgotten. Like everyone knows the house classics, but there’s a section of '90s techno that was a bit forgotten. Also that period was very much a vinyl period. So the one area of cache for these kids who've grown up on the internet is these lost vinyl records. They’re not as easy to get or find.
And definitely I think it’s a reaction to the massive stadium, EDM-type thing. I don't think it's on purpose but there are probably people [who] start looking in a different direction and, in some ways, I think that’s part of the techno revival.
Right, it follows aesthetically too — big rooms, barely any light.
Exactly. But there’s some fundamental differences. I think now experiencing electronic music follows a rock concert template than an acid house or club template: short sets with big, multimedia light shows and the crowd facing an artist who is elevated on this giant stage. I’m up for both, but when one becomes so big and so popular and dominant it’s normal for people to look at the other options.
So aside from those artists on the compilation, who is exciting you musically right now?
All the Turbo guys: Gingy and Bordello, Nautiluss, Sei A, Locked Groove. We have a nice little roster now and half of them are Canadian. Gingy just did a record with Alphonse from Azari & III: he’s really good. Definitely for me this year, Blawan was my favourite. I’ve talked about it so much now! For me he summed up that new techno sound and made stand-out records that were just inspiring. Even guys like Jamie xx and Four Tet. I gotta admit I like a lot of Baauer. I do.
Some people would screwface you so hard for saying that.
The best thing about having a long career is that you get to watch all the people with their opinions disappear. I’m not some crazy purist; sometimes you like a track because it’s stupid or funny or got a good beat. I just don’t care. There’s always somebody who says, “My god, how can you like that shit when it’s just old Atlanta hip-hop? You should’ve been there six years ago!” and it’s like “OK, I should’ve been there, so what?”
I think the internet exacerbates that kind of know-it-all culture, too.
I got no problem with player hating but I do have a problem with dishonesty. Ninety per cent of haters, people who bitch about things, are just not honest with themselves. If they were honest about being so desperate to have something for themselves or to identify with something of their own, that’s cool. That’s just ego shit. But they don’t. They hide it in some cloak of integrity and that’s aggravating.
Let’s say you read a lot of biographies, like Keith Richards, Quincy Jones, etc. ... the thing you hit upon is that they love music. If you love music you hear something and you either like it or you don’t. The more you f--k with analyzing why you do, should or shouldn't, you’re only screwing up your own freedom to enjoy things.
But that's a good point: the internet does accelerate it. It’s easier to do the forensic work now. That used to be more mysterious.
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