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Play it by earTiga is unfettered, unabashed,
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by JACK OATMON There’s too damn much introduction to be made for Tiga James Sontag, between running lauded Turbo Recordings, throwing parties for 17 years, having cofounded Neon and the legendary Sona afterhours as well as DNA Records, scoring a Juno with his debut LP Sexor and 1,000 other things. But all that hustle and accomplishment is concealed behind the sleek, casual, quirky and fascinating veneer which is ultimately his greatest talent— his distinct personality. It’s the force he channels to make techno without precious pretense, pop without populist pandering, engaging yet unforced videos, fantastic A&R decisions and, to the delight of the dance music press at large, the most hilarious and clever press releases anywhere. Mirror: As a self-professed nonmusician, do you ever find it intimidating being in the studio with guys like Soulwax, James Murphy or Gonzales? What kind of dynamic does that create? Tiga: I used to be more nervous about it. Like all artists, you have your moments where you feel like, “What do I do or what am I good at? Am I a fraud?” You think those things, but there’s something I quickly realized. You step into a studio with James Murphy, who has done all this stuff on his own, and he himself is impressed with your ideas. He’s saying, “Well, this is amazing, we’ve gotta do that.” Or he loves your demos or whatever. And if the product is something good and special and has my identity, and you don’t let yourself get bullied around, you realize, “I belong here.” M: I suppose, at some point, you have to stop forcing yourself to be humble about it. You just say, well, I can produce records with the best producers around. T: That’s been, I think, my forte in a way. I’ve never been afraid about it. I’ll step in a room with anybody. Anybody. I don’t give a shit anymore. I’ve been with Bryan Ferry or Duran Duran, and I’ll walk in and say, “This sucks, I like this, I think we can…” Bad idea, good idea, you can be an idiot, my ideas might be horrible. But what you realize in music is that what matters is conviction. If you have something in your head and you actually believe in it, that alone has so much value. M: When you talk about conviction, I wonder, because you project such a particular pretense or aesthetic in your work. There’s something very fun and flashy and campy about it. Do you think about that a lot or does it just come out? T: I think it just happens. I would say, whether it be videos, artwork, press releases or interviews—then there’s the actual music—of everything I do, the one that’s the most natural and the least thought-out is the music. I’ve worked really hard to protect that environment from any artifice. I really don’t plan it out. It’s kind of childlike. We’re all really just having fun and I don’t think about what will work as a single, or, “Is this au courant?” For artwork or photos, you obviously think a little bit about image, so there’s some manipulation. But for me, I actually still consider it all pretty sincere. CD LAUNCH WITH THOMAS VON |
