On one side of the planet, the sun is rising as a multitude of people are jammed into an heaving, sweaty club – their bodies bouncing and jacking to the jerky, uber-synth sounds pouring out of the speakers. The DJ drops a track and the crowd morphs into a singular sexual beast – Tiga’s ‘Hot in Here’, his stripped down, jacked-up version of Nelly’s saucy little number from 2002.
On the other side of the planet, it’s evening time in Montreal, Canada, and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Tiga Sontag has only this week returned from the South American Music Conference, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after a solid 2 months touring and playing in Brazil, Spain, Belfast, Greece and the somewhat infamous ‘All DJ’s are Idiots’ party in Copenhagen, Denmark. He’s home, he’s comfy, he’s most pleased with himself – and he’s in a very chatty mood…
“Well, this is my first interview for tonight. I have a lot of interviews to do tonight and you’re my first so you’re lucky you’ve got me nice and fresh. Sometimes I can get real bored, talking for hours about the same stuff, but then I can talk a lot so please interrupt me if you need to.
“Right now I’m at home in Montreal. It’s evening and this is pretty exotic for me because I’ve been traveling so much, so a big week at home – I’m pretty excited. It’s snowing, like really snowing thick and it’s Christmas… that’s it really. Oh! I’m reading the new Bob Dylan book. I just started it. I’m living the life of a 70-year-old man. I’ve made myself a pot of tea, Special Earl Grey – I don’t know what makes it special. I got it from this shop in Paris; they have like, a million types of tea… it’s like China in the 1400’s… I’ve got my two dogs with me and I’m reading. It’s like, you know, the grass is greener. When I’m doing clubs all the time, the most romantic thing is living like a normal person.
In 2002, a staid and mundane dance music industry did a grandiose double take when Tiga & Zyntherius (Jori Hulkonnen) unleashed onto the populous their version of fellow Canadian Corey Harts ‘Sunglasses at Night’ – a 21st Century remake of an eternal 80’s classic which has appeared on over 35 compilations thus far. A new sub-genre was born and some might suggest, incorrectly labeled ‘ElectroClash’, with the likes of Tiga seeming to spearhead the assault with a barrage of release after release, all seeming to follow the ‘ElectroClash’ principal. Is Tiga concerned that he may have been pigeon-holed?
“I don’t know – I guess the best way to describe it is, I don’t think about it. I have no real feeling on it either way. Not positive or negative – I don’t think about it. I’ve always had a tough time with purists. I don’t understand them I don’t know what ‘purist’ means.
“If I were purist I’d still be listening to the Hank Williams records I bought when I was 8 years old – such a big gap between people who make music and people who talk about it and people who are actively working on music… well, you borrow from different things at different times and it comes out different all the time. Sometimes it fits neatly into a label and you move onto the next thing. I mean, I have nothing against the whole ‘ElectroClash’ thing – it benefited me and I considered myself a part of the whole.
“Around the time I was with Gigolo and doing stuff with Gigolo – at that time I wasn’t the jaded old professional I am now… DJ Hell signed me and came to Montreal and it was exciting to me. I was blown away that first year, two years 2001 – 2002. They were incredible, kinda like a fairytale you know? Really, really exciting, kinda like when I first got into rave culture. It feels nice to get recognized by your peers. It’s just a lot of fun.”
Tiga Sontag is far from a lazy punk, with more spunk and spark than a 100w globe, being tied up in his running his own Labels since 1994. Beginning with DNA Records and progressing to the current Turbo Recordings, where artists such as Martini Bros, Jesper Dahlback and Chromeo have found a suitable home.
“I think my favourite things on my own label, well; I like all of the Martini Bros stuff. I really like that kinda thing. I’m always like that; I find it kinda difficult…The Blackstrobe remix of ‘Biggest Fan’ and Peter Benisch stuff. It was a bit disappointing that it never did take off and same with David Michael Cross, which came out on a sub label.
”(Jesper Dahlback, Adam Beyer & Jori Hulkonnen) Those guys… well, you know, Jesper is one of my best friends and Jori and Adam, that started a long time ago, I think in ‘98 when I was starting Turbo. I was a great fan of their records and called them up when I had to start licensing their records. I met Jesper in Miami, and I met Jori through him. I met Jesper first, and then I met Jori through Jesper and Adam through Jesper. We just hit it off – we’re more friends now. Me and Jesper do almost everything together. We spend a lot more time as friends than in the studio. Especially Jori and Adam and I go to Stockholm a lot so it’s become like a second home too. I always felt the connection. I’m always interested in things, which are, like, you know, off the beaten path. I’m not interested in signing Roger Sanchez or someone, it’s been done. I like the underdog, you know, things, which are a little bit under-rated. I think that Jesper and Jori are two of the best producers in the world and have been for so long – they make great, interesting music. I kinda like it. Everyone I work with, all the music we make, it all has to follow a few simple rules, you know – we have to be friends. You have to be friends to lock yourselves in one room for a week and have fun.”
Tiga makes it clear that he’s tired. He’s a tired old man who wants nothing more right now than to curl up and forget the relentless schedule he’s set for himself over the coming months. One week at home then off into the yonder again to come down under and show Australia once again what he’s made of…
“Actually I’m a stewardess, that’s my side job laughs. How long can I go away for? I think, yeah, you can go pretty far before you fall, but the problem is you start to get bored. You know, it’s dangerous because you get bored with what you do and you start to take things for granted and you get bored. A lot of people push it really far. For the same money or whatever. You can really push it far and the danger is to in not being able stay interested in what you’re doing and enjoy what you do. You have to learn to balance it all. The hardest thing with traveling… I can deal with the schedule, but you get to a place you enjoy and you have to leave the next morning and if you are into it, and you wanna sample the place a bit sometimes – you can’t. I kinda guess what it is for me, is to continually get the smallest taste of something you’d like to experience.”
“It’s if you’re… I think some people don’t mind. It depends on what you want. If you’re an observant or curious person… I don’t know, I find it aggravating, like a slap in the face. For example, I was playing in Argentina on Sunday, and I wake up to this beautiful sight and you know the whole world’s out there and you can’t help but feel torn, because on the one hand it’s incredible, but you just don’t have time to get out there. I mean, I was flattered and happy with the performance… but… yeah, I can go along time.”
“The thing about traveling is no matter how hard it gets, there are moments, and you get recharged. It’s all a balancing act.”
With society seeming to be falling into an irrefutable state of decay, and the recent situation wherein Steve Lawler was threatened in Mexico, I asked Tiga if in his worldwide travels, a booking had ever brought him into a situation where he was fearful for his life…
“That’s a good question because it just happened! A month ago I played in Copenhagen and some guy like, attacked me and bit my ass. He bit me through my jeans. He was just locked onto my leg, attached by his teeth and he didn’t let go of my ass. I was bleeding while I was DJ’ing; it was all down my leg. I wasn’t afraid for my life; I was just like “What The Fuck???” That was by far the weirdest thing that has ever happened – he had to be torn off me and dragged from club, so yah, a Danish man trying to take out a piece of my ass with his teeth. I mean, sure, you know, I’ve played at some sketchy parties in Russia where you don’t always feel safe, when I was younger – but I’ve never feared for my life. (At this point I ask him how much he thinks a Pound of Tiga’s flesh would fetch on e-bay?)
Tiga is very much looking forward to coming to Australia again and is especially pleased to be playing in Perth on New Years Eve. “I was in Perth last year for 2 weeks. I did 3 gigs over New Years. I played there last year and I loved it. Perth seems like a nice little hidden away gem. It seems like the cities are scattered across the country in Australia, and Perth’s a little off the beaten path, you know, but they get it. They really get it in Perth.”
“I really liked Australia – I mean I think it doesn’t feel that different to Canada. There are a lot of similarities with one striking difference – you guys got the weather. It’s like, it transforms everything else and everyone’s in a good mood to party – kinda like here in summer I guess. I don’t really think there’s too big a difference, culturally. You know? I mean, Australia – it’s not like it’s a big culture shock for me.”
“It’s a Tough question to answer, my favourite place to play – it changes all the time I guess. Maybe Berlin? Barcelona? It’s hard because it changes all the time. There’s always the party itself and the people and the place itself. See, I love Italy. I like everything about Italy – the cars, the clothes, the weather, the people. I guess Berlin is still number #1. I feel the most at home. I’ve always felt it from the very first time in 1992. I really fell in love with it. It’s not a passionate thing, I mean, Spain and Italy – Berlin is just a bit more like a second home.
Our interview has taken far too much time and Tiga still has so much to say. I wrap up by asking him what 2005 has in store for him and what we can expect to hear…
“Next year I have too much! I’m already tired and I haven’t even started! I had a 6 hour meeting with my Manager today – I can’t believe it. Talk about a pound of flesh – I bit off more than I can chew! I have my first album, my first artist album out in April, and of course with that will come the world tour, the Tiga t-shirts (I interject with “Anatomically correct, scale model Tiga dolls?”) – Yah! That’s a great idea! We should do that for sure… There’ll be a bunch of singles with the first being released in January. There’s gonna be a mix CD at the end of the year – Yah! Cashing in on the Christmas market. I mean, you know, I’ve been working for a very long time on this album and in the second half of the year; there’ll be a bunch of little side projects which I can’t mention (we each giggle drunkenly) and a new compilation on Turbo in March. New 12’s on Turbo and then of course there’ll be the Turbo tour.
“You know, if even half of this all happens I’ll be extremely happy, and tired.”
Tiga tour dates:
Fri 31st Dec – Salty and Delicious, Fremantle
Sat 1st Jan – Sunshine People, Melbourne
Sat 1st Jan – Field Day, Sydney
