by SCOTT C

Since their humble beginnings as the five-man group Traumaturges, back in 1998, Atach Tatuq have evolved into a monster crew of 12 members, representing Montreal’s different areas and cultures through rap joual. With the entire outfit set to appear for one last time this weekend, you know that Toast Dawg, DJ Ephiks, Virus, R.U., l’Intrus, Casco, Arnak, Khyro, Haika, Dee, Rass and Egypto plan to leave an impression, if they haven’t already. If you still haven’t managed to catch the insane, theatrical spectacle that is an Atach Tatuq live show, I suggest you make your way down to Club Soda this Saturday night for their farewell performance.

Mirror: Why does it have to end, man? Why is the group calling it quits after all this time?

Egypto: There’s two things to answer this question. First, the logistics of organizing 12 people in a group that is not able to pay the rent with the music is hard. Most of us are working 35 hours a week, so it’s complicated when it comes time to practise at least once a week. The second is that we’re 12 big personalities. It’s interesting to work on a collective album, but it’s also hard to push the artistic direction really far. Originally, we wanted to start with the crew, and then push everybody individually, but after eight years of working on crew projects, people want to work on their own ideas.

M: How many solo projects are we talking about?

E: Dee is doing a solo album, while l’Intrus, Rass and Casco, and some others outside of the crew, formed a collective called DéZèD. Me, R.U., DJ Naes and DJ Ephiks are working on a project called Payz Play, and Khyro has been doing spoken word shows for about two years, over free jazz and more experimental music.

M: What’s the most memorable show you can remember doing with the entire crew?

E: The most memorable show was the Francofolies this year. We split the stage with Saian Supa Crew, and it was totally amazing. We had the whole set with backdrops, costumes and a couple of musicians. It was the tightest show we ever did, and there was a lot of energy in the crowd. I have it on video and it’s fucking sick, man. Easily the best show we’ve ever done.

M: What about releasing a DVD, with live stuff you’ve recorded from shows, along with all the videos?

E: I don’t think we’re gonna release a DVD because it costs a lot of money.

M: Start uploading bits and pieces to YouTube, man!

E: Yeah! We’ll probably do that before dropping a DVD. I wanted to take all the footage I have and work track by track, and put some of those moments online for everybody to see.

M: What’s up for the show this Saturday?

E: We’re pushing the show a bit further. New backdrops and colours—it’s gonna be really funky. We also have some new versions of songs from the album and we’re working with a guy on the Rhodes keyboard, some electric guitar, and R.U. on the drums! I’m really, really happy about the results.

With Omnikrom at Club Soda on
Saturday, Dec. 16, 9 p.m., $15, all ages

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