Tyler first came to people’s attention after securing a residency at acclaimed UK club Fabric, but by then he was already a veteran of the international music scene. “I’d probably been playing in London six or seven years by the time that came about. I’d played in Italy and France and Mexico and the States. It’s just that when that happened everyone suddenly recognised me because the club had so much notoriety.” Juggling international residencies and touring is something Tyler has always made a point of doing. “I definitely have the travel bug – it’s definitely in my system. And also just the music and playing to new people, seeing new things. I’m pretty addicted to it. The plane rides have never been great. I like staying in hotels, though.” Unsurprising, really, considering he spent the early part of his childhood travelling around different cities with his folks. He was steeped in big-name jazz kings who were all part of his father’s record collection, “Lots of soul and funk and disco. Fats Domino, Ray Charles, James Brown – just everything, the whole gamut.” His tastes ran, like most X-gen teenage boys, to quite a different sound. “Of course I had my own stuff which was the normal wacky kid collection from Kiss and Foreigner and all kinds of rock and punk rock, depending on my age.” This led him to a stint as the lead singer of a punk band, a worthy venture if only because it led to greater things. He discovered house music while “going out to clubs which basically had punk bands. If it was a Wednesday night, it would have alternative/ punk / left-punk and more kind of goth and kind of early house (music). The same nights would turn more and more into house. You’d keep going to the same club, and the next thing you know, you’re at a full-blown house night, really. Early house, you know.” Never one to sit in the back seat, Tyler grew up to become a real mover and shaker on the local music scene. While living in Toronto, he decided to remake his home into a performance venue. “I lived in a nice warehouse there and used to hire DJs. I built a stage and stuff and I had bands play sometimes and a DJ set-up and whatnot.” It was his dissatisfaction with hire DJs that encouraged him to have a go himself. “Instead of begging them to play this or that, I might as well do it, right? Mainly one guy showed me, actually – a guy named Adam Cleveland. I think his name’s , from Detroit.” He moved to Vancouver in 1991, and with much the same go-getting attitude, opened Sonar, the first strictly dance music club in the area. “I figured on that night every week I can bring in the DJs I want to hear. We brought in loads of people for their first time ever to the city and now they’re here on a regular basis. We lost money on a lot of their early shows, bringing in people who are quite big now. We weren’t really thinking like businessmen. But it wasn’t our money. We had a backer.” While Tyler might insist he opened the club “for purely selfish reasons”, he still demonstrates a palpable sense of frustration with the club scene in his corner of the world, both then and now. “I think a lot of club owners are quite complacent – just lazy – because they’re making money, so they just do the bare minimum. It’s a real kind of epidemic. A club can be really busy and making loads of money and the sound system is barely working or they don’t have proper turntables. That was one of the things that prompted us into getting a proper sound system and getting it right.” Aside from the club, Tyler also founded and managed record store Bassix in Vancouver. He sold his half a year ago, however, having done his stint in the industry. “That’s one of the reasons I got out of there. Retail in general is kind of hell.” Any specific customer quirks come to mind? “Oh, yeah, loads. You know, for example, someone coming up and saying, ‘Do you have this record?’ You go, ‘Er…no, it’s not out yet’, and then they’ll pull it out of their bag and go, ‘Well, I got it in the mail’. I mean, come on.” But he’s still a man with a lot of balls. In the air, that is. Aside from holding down a hefty tour schedule, he and frequent collaborator Jay Tripwire also do a show on Proton Radio, an Internet broadcaster, every second Saturday of the month. Tyler is positive about the impact of the Net on music production and circulation. “I’m daily – almost by the hour – sending and receiving unreleased music from people, then editing it and sending it back. I’m sending two files to a label in Denver while I’m getting another file from London as we speak. It’s incredible. Without the Internet you’d have to burn a CD and put it in a package, and all that.” So with less on his plate, one wonders if he’s ever able to get to clubs these days, just as a punter. “Usually I’m busy. I’m never just, like, chilling out at home, doing nothing. But if I do have a night off and I’m not playing, yeah, for sure. I’d probably rather do that than watch television. If the music’s good, I’m into it for sure – have a little dance, you know. I can be pretty picky, but that can all change after a few drinks.” Still, once a DJ, always a DJ. “To hear something completely new at a club that I’ve never heard before is always pretty exciting too, because then you get on the chase. All day, all next week, you’re hunting it. I’m a bit of a fiend.” Tyler has recently finished several projects with some collaborators, which hopefully should hit our shores soon. “Last month was quite productive. I finished a couple of tracks with Daniel Poli from Swag (Records) and two with Dave Mothersole and two with Grant Dell and a remix with Gideon. That’s what I’m doing now, just kinda sending these files out and seeing what label wants them.” There’s also a new release with Jay Tripwire, out on Deepen Discs, a follow-up to their 2003 EP ‘The Spirit’. While Tyler’s brand of deep house may have been slow to catch on in Canada, it seems we can’t get enough of it here. “Here it’s really not too popular. Hip-hop/ R&B is the mainstay. You’re coming from an Australian perspective. That’s one of the things I like about Australia.” You can catch Tyler Stadius at the following gigs in June and July: Sat June 5, Sunny – Melbourne
Fri June 11, Glitch @ Club 77 – Sydney
Sat June 12, Renaissance @ Space – Sydney
Sun June 13, Phreakin @ Seven – Melbourne
Fri June 18, Likuid – Melbourne
Sat June 26, Baja Bar – Gold Coast
Sat July 3, Good Vibrations – Sydney
