Ciao! This is the real Tiga.

Ciao! This is the real Tiga.

10 June, 2009 | 5.05AM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: tiga, turbo recordings

Tiga struts through the concrete jungle of dance music proudly. A rare peacock in a scene not known for recognisable personas, Tiga exudes vibrant eccentricity, and his occasional dabbles in make-up give him a doll-like appearance. He’s not your standard faceless techno DJ. Everyone knows Tiga.

Yet behind the image, the bizarre video appearances, and sarcastic soliloquies, Tiga James Sontag is a highly successful DJ, producer, and label owner. There is much more to him than meets the fluttering eye. His Turbo Recordings is one of the most popular labels in dance music, despite the fact it doesn’t have a hint of consistency about it (except perhaps, its artwork).

Beatportal decided to meet Tiga in his home in Montreal, far away from the spotlight, to talk about the importance of personality in electronic music, how to run a successful record label, and to find out more about the Tiga we all think we know.

Your label Turbo has been running for over 10 years now. What was the original aim of your label and have those goals been met?

The original goal was quite modest. I just wanted to be closer to the music and artists that I enjoy. I just wanted to work closer with the actual music.

Why a record label? Aren’t there other ways to get close to the music?

At the time of launching Turbo Recordings, I owned a record store and a nightclub in Montreal. The record store was a lot of work as anyone who runs a record store will tell you. It’s a labour of love.

The club was super successful but not what I wanted. It was all about business and staff, taxes and politics. Launching a label just seemed like the best way to get closer to the music.

We started Turbo by putting out mix CDs. It seemed like the perfect training wheel as it was a step up from booking club talent, but it was not nearly as hard as releasing singles.

The first mix was from me, then a guy called DJ Lafleche did one. Two drum & bass guys from Montreal called Dune did one. Then Jesper Dahlback did one, and that was our breakthrough mix CD release. We also had Adam Beyer, Jori Hulkkonen and Kenny Glasgow do mixes.

So from the start, you guys were really eclectic then. Drum & bass, techno, electro. Turbo did it all?

We’ve always been a bit of a mess. It comes with the territory of working with me. We’ve flirted with real house, real techno, real electro, but we’ve never been a purist label.

It’s a blessing sometimes as it means we can be free and experiment. Sometimes it’s difficult though, as we’re not really anything specific.

Where does your eclecticism come from?

My tastes span many different styles. Maybe also sometimes it’s pragmatism. In recent years as we’ve pushed further down the eclectic road it’s become more of a reality and genuine. My philosophy is, if it excites me it will also excite somebody else.

I am sure there are times when we piss people off. They might love Proxy but the next Turbo release they listen to is a Kolombo EP and they think ‘What the fuck are they doing now?’.

Isn’t the danger though, that people will get confused by the label’s constantly changing sound?

I am sure there are times when we piss people off. They might love Proxy but the next Turbo release they listen to is a Kolombo EP and they think ‘What the fuck are they doing now?’.

I know from having worked at a record store and as a longtime record buyer consistency is important. Labels should be an indicator. So Turbo isn’t for everyone. I’m sure there have been times when people have been disappointed with a Turbo release.

How involved are you in the day-to-day operations of the label?

Fortunately now, after 11 years, the label runs perfectly fine day-to-day without me. I don’t miss it. My brother has taken over the reins. I’m still doing A&R, planning concepts and design, and signing music. Anything that people see or hear, goes through me first.

Do you still write the press releases?

I’ve actually stopped writing them, for the same reasons that I stop doing anything, like I stopped throwing raves. When I don’t have a desire to do something any more I just stop.

I thought the humorous, sarcastic approach was done. You have to know when to stop doing stuff sometimes. But I might actually get back into it again, as I’ve got some new ideas.

How does Turbo discover and sign new artists? Last year was huge for the label with Proxy and Popof in particular blowing up.

My brother has been brought through the ranks and the A&R bit is now done 50/50 by him and myself. Only music that both of us like will get released.

My brother scans the web in search of new artists all the time, whereas I’m the one who asks producers to do remixes and source music from artists that I know personally. We go back and forth with new ideas.

Popof was totally my brother’s idea and he deserves respect for that. I kind of liked his sound, but my brother really pushed hard for it. It was his first big A&R move and Popof was solely his gig.

Proxy actually sent us a link to his Myspace. I listened to his music and fell in love with it. I called him, but he didn’t speak English so we kept exchanging emails back and forth, and eventually got him out to Montreal to play some parties.

Turbo seems to get more than its fair share of blog attention. The label is huge on the blogosphere and mp3 blogs.

I think that’s because the label crosses so many genres that it we get a big cross section of people interested in it.

Our music also seems to be played a lot at indie dance and electro parties, and that crowd have embraced blog culture a lot.

Also, maybe because of my solo career, we also get a bit more attention. We have a really popular podcast and embrace a couple of forums too, like Erol Alkan’s forum, so all those channels add up to some sort of critical mass, maybe.

What do you think of all this piracy?

I would never in a million years start a label now, but I’m optimistic still. It’s an exciting time. It may not be an easy time, but it’s exciting.

Labels are in a tough spot though. Maybe I have blinkers on, but if you have great talent, great artwork and do great releases eventually there might be a pay off.

Maybe not in record sales, but perhaps from touring or merchandise or other avenues. That could be my blind optimism though [laughs].

Do you guys at Turbo plan on developing the careers of your new artists?

We don’t really have the manpower to do that. We did that for Chromeo though. We signed those guys eight years ago and we had a real management plan for them, and even came up with the name for the band.

Because I’ve done so much in the last five years I have real experience that I want to use to help develop guys like Proxy. That’s what a good label should do. Proxy is perfect for it too. His next LP could be great, or it could be exceptional depending on whether the right decisions are made.

I’ve been in this business for 17 years and I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. What labels to work with, which ones to avoid. What’s bullshit. It’s important to be able to avoid expensive mistakes. But at the end of the day, we’re not creating boy bands.

You’re one of the few producers in dance music to have put their face to their music. Why did you do it, and why don’t more DJs and producers do it?

When I made the decision to put myself on the cover of a CD - I was a faceless techno DJ for years - I did it because I wanted to attach some personality to my music. It think it helps.

I grew up listening to Prince and Depeche Mode, and I could see their faces and their image when listening to their music. It added something extra to the music.

Not everyone is comfortable putting themselves in that position as it opens them up for ridicule. The more behind the scenes you are, the less chance you have for criticism. Some might rather the spend time in the studio making music than thinking about concepts or image. Some probably think it’s ego driven, or that it should only ever be about the music.

I personally was bored at the idea of putting some nondescript record box on the cover of the CD, or some other object. I didn’t know what to do, so I thought ‘hey, wouldn’t it be fun to dress up like the guy I always dreamt I could be?’.

Your image is quirky and eccentric, perhaps even bizarre. Is that really you on the cover of the CDs and in the off-beat video interviews, or is it all an act? A façade?

My image is who I really am. It wasn’t a business decision or anything like that, it was a far more innocent thing. The first time I had my picture taken it was for my second mix CD for Turbo.

I personally was bored at the idea of putting some nondescript record box on the cover of the CD, or some other object. I didn’t know what to do, so I thought ‘hey, wouldn’t it be fun to dress up like the guy I always dreamt I could be?’.

I had a friend who could take pictures so we just did it in an afternoon and we created this image. But it was always me.

The quirky, piss taking guy - I’ve always been like that. Obviously the video interview I did for ‘Ciao!’ is slightly exaggerated - I wanted to come across as an arrogant fool totally detached from reality - and we had fun with it.

At some points, we couldn’t stop laughing. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers thing was really hard as we kept laughing. Having fun and taking the piss with my friends is just what I do.

My music isn’t funny, but my life is one big laugh. I think it’s important not to take things too seriously. There are some people in techno who takes things really seriously and it works for them. I just can’t help but take the piss.

Video: Tiga talks about ‘Ciao!’ Pt1

Video: Tiga talks about ‘Ciao!’ Pt2

In the video interview you made no mistakes. There are no brain farts or gaps. Were you reading off a script? Was every word planned?

Nothing was really scripted, I was just talking and seeing where it went. I was surprised at how well I could do it. I wrote up most of what I was going to say before the shoot, so it was just a case of getting in character. I’m pretty good at doing dead pan. I talk a lot as you can see.

Would hosting a chat show on TV ever interest you?

That video got me three times as many positive emails as my album did. People were saying it was a “work of pure genius, which is obviously great. I would love to have my own talk show, yes.

What would you talk about?

I would talk about anything, I dunno. It would be like a Stephen Colbert mixed with Elvis Costello’s show. I would like to, maybe, confront musicians.

I like the idea of confronting artists and pushing them over the line. For normal people, there’s so much mystery surrounding musicians. I would like to go after them. Push them a bit, but with respect.

But put yourself in their shoes. Would you, as an artist, like to be confronted by an interviewer?

I wouldn’t mind, if it was done respectfully. That’s not a challenge by the way. But nothing is sacred. It’s the same with humour, we all know what the lines are between a dirty joke and something inappropriate.

As long as it’s done with intelligence and research has been done, then I wouldn’t care. The danger for the artist, of course, is that it’s not easy territory to navigate. If you trip up, everyone will make fun of you.

Have you ever been rediculed for your image or the things that you do publicly? Your image, some might say, is effeminate. You wear make up. You’re eccentric. Those are easy things to poke fun at.

No I never get upset about any of that. I never get upset about anything really except maybe, nasty reviews of my music. I know it’s bad, but as a musician you can’t help but read reviews of your music because you hope it will have an impact. Sometimes a nasty review gets to me. However, I must say I’ve been very fairly well treated by the press. I’ve never been unfairly criticized.

I’m not deluded. I don’t say my LP is a 10/10. Whenever there’s been criticism I’ve been able to see their point of view. I can understand why it’s an uncomfortable place for some people because a lot of people have been fucked over. The other stuff though, about my image, I couldn’t care less.

How’s the whole touring thing going? Has it been hard to balance that with your family life?

Things always change. I thought having a baby would be a lot harder than it turned out to be. The main challenge now is time. When I think back to how I used to spend a whole day listening to records, it’s crazy. I had only my own time to spend those days.

But in general, I’m so happy. You feel very alive when you start a family. It’s like, ‘ok, this is the real thing now’. I’m no longer just a kid who likes records. It’s been incredible. Except I wish I got more sleep. If I had had a kid maybe five years ago, that would have given me a nervous breakdown.

Have you calmed down since becoming a father?

I’ve always been a settled person. It’s been a long, long time since I stayed up all night doing drugs. For probably the past five to seven years I’ve been really productive. I just want to get things done. The whole dancing and DJing, and going out to clubs thing I’m still doing though.

Your DJing hasn’t seemed to calm down, your set at Detroit’s Movement festival recently was banging.

[laughs] Yeah it was banging, we were laughing about it. I have an old, old friend from Detroit who knows all those old techno guys. He used to work in my record store. In Detroit during my set I kept looking up and seeing him in the crowd laughing at how un-Detroit my set was. It was the opposite to ‘Strings of Life’. It was perverse, even. But the crowd was really into it. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

Did you deliberately plan your set to be noisy?

I never plan to play hard, but it just seems to happen. In the past 18 months I’ve had a pretty tough time DJing to be honest. People come to see me play and expect a show, and I get that.

They want to hear my classic tracks, like ‘Sunglasses At Night’ or ‘Mind Dimension’.

A few years ago I could play three hours of straight techno but now they want ‘Sunglasses At Night’. They are fans and they want to hear the classics.

The problem is, I don’t like playing my old tunes. Some of them I don’t mind playing, but I’ve noticed that my favourite sets from the past two years are the ones that contain the least number of my own tracks.

I guess I’m bored of my own music. That’s not to say I wasn’t excited about them when I first created them, but I get bored quite quickly.

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