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>> Montreal's DJ LaflÉche hits the bullseye at Swirl 6

by KRISTA

Now a veritable, albeit reluctant, superstar, Montreal's DJ LaflÉche burst on to the afterhours club scene like an exploding gas tanker truck back in '96, when 514 Productions "discovered" him and decided to make him one of Sona's main attractions. His reputation for rocking the house has since grown to gargantuan proportions and, consequently, has taken him gigging everywhere from Victoria Island to Africa's Ivory Coast.

In 1998 LaflÉche released his first mix CD, the second volume of local label Turbo's Montreal Mix Sessions, to unforeseen accolades from devout fans. This week Turbo releases LaflÉche's second mix for the series, titled simply Vol. 4: LaflÉche. As well, this Sunday LaflÉche will be on hand for the sixth annual Swirl event, where he and DJ Sneak perform a four-hour set on four turntables. I recently sat down with LaflÉche at China Club (where he's resident for Intense every Sunday) to talk to him about Sona, dancing and his incumbent stardom.

Mirror: So you're going on tour?

LaflÉche: Yeah. Technically, it starts this Thursday in Quebec City with the launch for the CD, but then I'll be back here for Swirl on Sunday. So actually it starts next week. I'll be hitting every major city in Canada, starting on the West Coast.

M: When you did the first Turbo CD, did you ever imagine that it would become as popular as it did?

L: Never. It was so hard to do. The first one was totally about the Sona Saturday night vibe, and I didn't think it would reach as many people as it did.

M: Never underestimate the power of Sona.

L: For sure! And that made the second CD even harder to do. I wanted to keep the Saturday Sona vibe, but get the more mellow China Sundays feel in there too, so I had to work on the programming a lot more.

M: Between the Sona residency and the Turbo CDs, you've achieved local star status in a big way.

L: It makes me uncomfortable to hear people say that. The majority of people who go to Sona are going because of the hype of Sona, not LaflÉche. I'm secondary.

M: Well, do you ever just go out to a club and dance?

L: I never dance. Sometimes at the end of a night of DJing I'll put on a track and go out on the dancefloor. Other than that I just shake my ass at the bar. I know that I've got the groove, though--maybe I'm just shy.

M: What's up with you and Sneak? You two have become pretty close recently.

L: Yeah, since he moved to Toronto we've been hanging a lot. When we play together on Sunday at 6 a.m., that's when the party really starts. The four-turntable set we'll be doing is going to be sick. He doesn't do that with everyone, usually only Derrick Carter or Doc Martin. It's a big deal.

M: What's your take on this whole trance music thing?

L: It's all hype, and that's my final answer.

M: Last question. If you were in a DJ-boy-band, who would you want the other DJ members to be?

L: Well, Sneak for sure, Gene Farris from Chicago, Myka from Toronto--and definitely Chris Pronovost. :

At Swirl 6 this Sunday, May 21. Details here