Imagine a secret nocturnal paradise with all the hidden pleasures to stimulate and satisfy the senses. In this strange haven there’s no such thing as breakfast as the sun never rises or sets, leaving a world submerged in sinful darkness. Admittedly you only need the right attitude to survive. However keep in mind this is no ordinary after-hour’s playground. Here, the term ‘genre’ doesn’t exist and the word ‘fashion’ is highly offensive. Individuality is a practised religion and the only established language is music. Moreover it doesn’t matter if your native tongue is acid house, electro, techno, 80s synth pop, 70s garage rock or whatever – in this eccentric realm, music is the only form of communication that binds everyone together with that all too familiar electronic heartbeat. Interested? Do you want to come and play? There is a dress code though. Simply put on your sunglasses and enter the world of Tiga.
Once you’ve got your sunglasses on you may see things a little differently. Notice that the Teutonic world of Tiga is built on a strong foundation of eastern influences, inherited from Tiga’s father who raised him on the spicy Goa flavours of the gritty 80’s Indian club scene. As a result, the young bright eyed artists-to-be discovered a whole new world in his father’s record box, which evidently forged his future. Clearly Tiga senior was the first source of inspiration. “My father’s taste in music definitely rubbed off on me.” Tiga admits, “I mean I guess I’ll admit it more now then when I was a kid. Because when you’re a kid I guess you’d want to differentiate your taste from your parents. But he had good taste, a lot of the stuff he liked, I also like now. He had a fundamental appreciation for stuff that was a little more alternative. So I kind of developed my own taste from there.”
Although his roots can be traced back to the Eastern world, Montreal was in fact the base of all Tiga’s success. Unsatisfied with the Montreal nightlife in the early 90s, Tiga took on an active role in promoting various events, refining his skills in haggling as well as exposing others to new and exciting sounds. Around the same time, he also set up Turbo recordings, and was DJing regularly at several hot spots in the area. Surprisingly, Tiga has only very recently dabbled in the realms of music production. The anthemic ‘Sunglasses at Night’ he co-produced with Zyntherius at the turn of the millennium, was his first ever fling with music production. Why the wait? “I was more of a scenester and more into organizing a lot of things and because that took up so much time I think I got a bit insecure and bit intimidated by the thought of just getting down to making music.” Tiga sincerely confesses, “Because I felt like I had so much to learn about the equipment, I felt like I was already kind of behind. I put too much pressure on myself really. I mean I thought about producing a lot but I never did anything about it and it just kind of reached a breaking point where I was fortunate enough to realize that these other things weren’t making me particularly happy. I want to be an artist, that’s what I want to do and at the point with a bunch of things happening at the same time, personally and professionally with a bit of good fortune, it kind of turned things around. I was really lucky because the first thing I ever really worked on was Sunglasses at night and because it was such a success, it gave me a lot of momentum.”
Evidently “Sunglasses at Night” blew up to become one of the more memorable pseudo-electro tinged hits at the turn of the millennium. At a time when 80s electro and synth pop was being continually resurrected, recycled, drawn and quartered and then clumsily put back together again in the new vogue form of electroclash, Tiga found himself conveniently slotted into a cozy niche. Once again, the heavy eyeliner and fishnet stockings made an appearance along with the nostalgic sounds showing hints of a time when musical creativity was at its peak. Those who lived the 80s sneer at the polished cheap replica, but for the new generation of music lovers, electroclash was something foreign and quite exciting. The success followed along with the tidal wave of fashion and fads and it was clear that this was a classification Tiga will find very hard to shake off. Funnily enough Tiga admits he doesn’t really play electroclash but doesn’t mind being put into that category. After all it was his entry point into music production and more importantly his ticket to success. Remember though, that in the world of Tiga, genres don’t exist.
“As far as fashion and general market trends go, I’m pretty much oblivious to it all. If anything I’m kind of out of touch in a good way. I don’t really pay attention to that sort of stuff.” Tiga points out, “Musically I get a bit bored of things really easily. Take electro as an example. Just at the time when the rest of the world has taken an interest in it and its reached a big point where you can make a lot of money out of it, I’m back to listening to my acid house records. I wouldn’t say I set trends and I wouldn’t say I follow trends. If something interests me then I’ll go for it. The people who do follow trends, in the short term it might work but in the long term, you’ll be entering a whole world of hurt.”
Although Tiga is not really an ambassador for the electroclash sound, he does admit that the 80s is his favourite era, having grown up listening to the groundbreaking music of David Bowie, Depeche Mode and Cabaret Voltaire “I was too young in the 70s to make much of the music. I guess the era I loved the most was the 80s just because of age and it was kind of the first music I was falling in love with. I also think it happens to be a very creative period which obviously has had a lasting effect on me.” He reminisces, “But in terms of my actual life, and my career as a DJ and the direction my life took, I would say that techno, from late 80s to the mid 90s really shaped my future. And from there, I fell in love with the music and the culture.”
Fast-forward to his current days, and it is clear that Tiga is still very much in love with the music and the culture. With several remixes under his belt, collaborations with City Rockers and production work galore, Tiga has decided to take the next step and produce an artist album “I’m working quite a lot on new tracks and I’m probably halfway through the album.” He shares, “On the album you can expect a fusion of all my influences so I’d say it’s a mix between my acid house and techno roots with my pop and 80s sensibility. Hopefully its something new that people will dig. It’s kind of a post acid house dance pop kind of thing. Just emotional dance music, stuff with a raw gritty edge to it, there’s a bit of sex in there, and a bit of mystery but at the same time has a solid techno and club foundation. I’ve been told a lot of the stuff sounds a lot like INXS, so you be the judge.”
So now you’ve heard the story, the question is are you ready to assume your position in the breach? Put on your sunglasses and take a step forward into the nocturnal world of Tiga where things are little darker but a lot more interesting. Tiga shares what you can expect from a tour of his nocturnal paradise. “I try to play stuff people have never heard before. There’ll definitely be a lot of my own production. It’ll be very eclectic with an acid house sensibility that’ll work on the dance floor, with a lot of bootlegs, rock stuff, pop stuff, acid stuff. And since its new years eve I want people to have fun and go home and go ‘wow I haven’t heard that in a long time’”
Don your sunnies and catch Tiga at:
2004 Leagues under the sea @ Slip Inn, Sydney, 31st December
Sunshine people @ Atlantic South Wharf, Melbourne, 1st January
Sunshine people @ Mulberry farm, Perth, 1st January
