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Clang, the DJ >> The return of Martin Tétrault, Montreal's most extreme turntablist by CHRIS YURKIW
In fact, you wonder if Martin Tétrault even considers himself a DJ, given that his C.V. lists his occupation as "turntable manipulator, sonic conceptualist, musician," and member of Montreal's musique actuelle collective and label Ambiances magnétiques. "Yes, I do," says Tétrault, "but people ask me to play with them as they would any other musician. They don't think so much of my instrument being turntables as the sounds I get." The last time Tétrault's sounds were showcased on an album under his own names goes way back to 1990, when he released the remarkable Des pas et des mois, wherein his skipping, scratching and scraping was fleshed out with contributions from fellow actuelle stars guitarist René Lussier and percussionist Michel F. Côté. But as of late '97, Tétrault's been getting out more--not only as a guest with various actuelle crews in Montreal clubs but also in Japan, where his brut attack fits in quite nicely with that country's rich noise scene. And in 1998 Tétrault plans on making up for lost time ("No money, no grants" is his explanation for why a follow-up album has taken so long). He's got no less than six albums in the works, two of which are in the can and soon to be let loose. One is La diva et le vinyl, an Ambiances magnétiques release culled from the recorded work of opera superstar Maria Callas ("subversive but respectful," says Tétrault). But even before that, a release on the Belgian Audioview/Lowlands label titled La nuit où j'ai dit non should be out by February. Tétrault describes La nuit as a calmer "cosmic lounge album with lots of fade-in/fade-out, as opposed to harsh skipping. And it's done with 100-per-cent vinyl!" And before his solo performance at this year's Victoriaville Festival in October, Tétrault hopes to have yet another Ambiances magnétiques album out, La faune du Califone, on which he indulges his current interest in those "prepared surfaces" and altered needles. It's at this point that Tétrault's past in visual art merges with his revitalized career as a turntablist, experimentation he calls more "un travail d'objet" than quoting from records. "Everything you don't want to hear on a record," says Tétrault, "I'm interested in." Martin Tétrault performs live on the Radio-Canada FM program Le Navire Night (100.7) on Feb. 22 at 9:30pm with Christof Migone, Michel F. Côté, Diane Labrosse & Jean-Pierre Gauthier
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Lots of DJs scratch, but Martin Tétrault scrapes. Lots of DJs refer to their trade as mechanical sampling, but Martin Tétrault takes the cut-up technique quite literally--by sawing records into halves or thirds, and then gluing the pieces of different albums together to make new one. And lots of DJs play exclusive acetates, but those things aren't nearly as exclusive as the "prepared plastic surfaces" that Tétrault slaps on his turntables these days.