5 questions for... Tigerskin

Tigerskin is the kind of musical beats that needs no introduction. If you've been partying in the last 5 years and never heard any of his tracks in a set, then you must be deaf. Prior to his Montreal gig, we had a chat with the man.



Q - In an age where it's real trendy to have an animal in your music project name, what do you think a name like Tigerskin projects on people ?

Tigerskin - I have no idea... When we put out the first Tigerskin 12" in early 2004 I needed a name and I needed it fast, overnight. So I didn't even think much about what people would put into it. The release turned out to be a good one, an album followed, so here I am now...

Q - You are said to have one of the best studios in Berlin. Is that so ?

T - No, I don't think so. My studio has some crappy sound, and I didn't care much for building it up properly - I just recently started to go for good quality speakers and some backend gear like good hardware equalizers... but I have some vintage gear, modular synth towers and stuff. So for most people it looks impressive at first...



Q - Have you ever played in Canada ? And what can we expect from your Montreal live performance ?

T - I played in Toronto and Montreal a couple of years ago, and a while back at Soundwave (BC). What I'm going to play will depend on the people and the general spirit of the night - it could be deep techhouse or something else, I'm prepared for quite some styles.

Q - If we put you in a cage with Tiger Stripes, who do you think will win ?

T - I don't know the man. I'm not a DJ, so I don't buy much tracks, but for a while I remember we had certain similarities in taste... BUT I WAS FIRST TO USE THE TIGER IN MY NAME! :D



Q - What's next for you, music-wise ?

T - Quite a lot. There will be a new Phonique album soon, which I produced, and lots of Tigerskin stuff on Dessous, Audiomatique and Dirt Crew, just to name a few. I have also recently finished some Dub Taylor dub tracks, which probably will be released this year, don't know yet. And I just finished working on some new tracks with Jens Bond...

Tigerskin plays live at Salon Daomé on Feb. 13th alongside the Fizz Factory Crew and ROUX Soundsystem.

PHEEK @ Microzoo ce mardi 5 janvier

You read right - Pheek will be at Daomé (141, Mont-Royal Est) for the Microzoo night on Jan. 5th.



Clifford Brown will be opening & closing, and it's the first part of his ongoing trio of birthday celebrations. Check out the Facebook event here and don't hesitate to contact us for a guest list!

5 questions for... Simon Baker

Brits know what good house is. And Leeds resident Simon Baker knows it particularly well. He has been releasing music since 2005 on labels as diverse as Infant, 20:20 Vision, Playhouse, Connaisseur, Get Physical, Leftroom and Murmur, and has surprised many montrealers with a solid and groovy DJ set at Piknic Électronik in 2008.



Q – You’ve been in Montreal before, for Piknic in 2008. How was that experience, overall?

Simon Baker: Yeah, I loved the gig and the people were great. Unfortunately, I didn't get much of a chance to see any of the city. Maybe this time I will! I hear it's amazing.

Q – What’s your current favorite city to play in?

SB: You may think this is weird, but its my hometown of Leeds in the UK, at the moment. The people are very into the music here, very switched on, no one is afraid to have it BIG, it's my home crowd. I love it! Other favorites are L.A. on the Standard Hotel rooftop... amazing! And Romania is always a good one.



Q – You’ve released your productions on lots of different labels from the start. Why can’t you stick to just one?

SB: I like to keep things varied in my life, with everything. I don't see the point in sticking with one thing. Explore new avenues and new doors opened is the way I see it. It's worked for me so far.

Q – How did you like your Miami experience at WMC last year? Are you planning on going again this year?

SB: Miami was in the middle of a month of touring in the US. If I am honest, I was a ruined man before I even got there, but I still had fun. I am debating this, next year, whether to go or not - I say this now, but I will no doubt be there! I've liked the vibe over the past 2 or 3 years.



Q – What are your plans for the near future?

SB: I am working hard in the studio on my album, at the moment. It will be released in 2010 on 20:20 Vision. Other than this, I am busy with tours of Central America and the U.S again in January, Australia in March, and the usual European gigs - and hopefully throw in a few dance floor bangers in between!

Simon will be performing a DJ set at Salon Daomé on December 15th for the Microzoo night, with opening sets by Nathan Burns & Clifford Brown.

6 questions pour... Seuil

Alexis Bernard est un parisien plutôt habile de ses mains qui concocte une musique envoûtante et housy, et qui grave une cicatrice de plus en plus profonde sur la scène électronique européenne sous le nom de Seuil. Il a récemment remixé Ray Okpara, Mirco Violi, Jan Driver, Anthony Collins, Dyed Soundorom et Delete, et ses productions ont trouvé refuge sur des labels tels que Einmaleins, Eklo, Raum... Musik, Moon Harbour et Freak n' Chic.



Tu fais paraître des EPs sur une base régulière depuis 2006. Y a-t-il un release en particulier qui a, selon toi, propulsé ta carrière?
Oui, c'est difficile à dire, mais un de mes premiers, sur Einmaleins, a été assez reconnu par la scène et supporté par Hawtin, Villalobos, Luciano, Magda... À cette période, c'était top d'être joué par ces DJs... Il y avait moins de musique qu'aujourd'hui il y 3 ans donc voilà, mais je pense que mes deux derniers EPs sur Moon Harbour ont poussé mon nom un peu plus...

La house effectue un fracassant retour en Europe en ce moment. L'avais-tu anticipé?
Ce retour de la house, ouais c'est sûr... Anticipé, je ne sais pas, mais je jouais déjà cette musique il y a 5 ou 6 ans, c'est juste que tout le monde copie un peu tout ce qui a déjà été fait. Faudrait s'employer à inventer et apporter un peu plus à la musique électronique... De toute façon, ce qui marche bien auprès du public et des jeunes DJs, ça n'est pas la musique complexe et "stripped down" qui mexcite aujourd'hui; je vois bien que la musique plus automatique et "loopy" se vend beaucoup plus.



Quel est ton niveau d'implication chez Eklo Music ?
Je suis le boss de Eklo, et la seule personne à m'en occuper...

Tu as récemment travaillé avec Tolga Fidan (sur le EP "The Organ, the Hope"). As-tu d'autres collaborations du genre qui s'en viennent?
Oui, plusieurs projets: une track sur Moon Harbour avec Matthias Tanzmann, un EP avec Masomenos sur leur label Welcome to Masomenos, d'autres collaborations avec mes vrais proches de la musique, tout d'abord sur mon album sur lequel je travaille avec dOP et Nôze... et aussi d'autres tracks avec des artistes parisiens comme Dyed Soundorom, Yakine, Boris Horel, et des artistes d'Eklo également.



Expliques-nous ton nom?
Seuil, c'est la "limite", threshold en anglais... et c'est français cette prononciation, "eui", c'est difficile à dire pour tout le monde, et on le dit de différentes façons dans différentes langues... c'est drôle!



À quoi peuvent s'attendre les gens qui viendront entendre ton live set?
De la musique deep, que j'espère groovy et sexy, avec un côté un peu weird pour ceux qui aiment découvrir un univers...

Seuil se produira live dans le cadre de la soirée Microzoo, le mardi 8 septembre, avec Nathan Burns et Clifford Brown, au Salon Daomé. 141, Mont-Royal Est is the place to be.

5 questions for... Till Von Sein

Till Von Sein, whose real name is Jan Till Lüdtke, has been a sure shot for deep house and tech on the German scene since he started working with Aera in 2006. With recent collaborations with Chopstick and Tigerskin, and releases on Dirt Crew and Baalsaal, you can expect to hear a lot more from him in the future.



You're constantly labeled as "the deep house guy" by the press and in the promo documents your labels send. Do you ever get tired of being strictly categorised, and do you think that an aspect of your personality drives you towards deep music?
A bit, yeah. I would love to be labeled as a simple "house" dude... but in the end it's OK. My first records are really deep, and I'm a big fan of deep music - when I'm at home and start working on new tracks, most of the time I end up doing deep stuff... That's just the stuff which comes out naturally. But from time to time I get funky and try to do work that's more "floor orientated". It really depends on my personal mood... When it comes to DJ gigs, sometimes people are a bit suprised that I also play stuff like Lauhaus or more disco stuff like Prins Thomas. I really like to keep it open minded when it comes to DJing.

You have recently completed a EP with Tigerskin - can you tell us more about this collaboration?
I met Alex (Tigerskin) because he wanted to release a track of mine for his own label 2 and a half years ago... From that point on, he always did a mixdown of all the stuff I produced. I'm a huge fan of his work, and as a person he is the coolest cat around... So down to earth... We are vibin' perfectly together. We got similar feelings on music, politics, women... For me, it was a big honor to work with him, and he is a bit of a teacher to me, with all his knowledge. He's got so much nice equipement, and I feel like a little kid when entering his studio, because I've got none at all!



You have played Salon Daomé, in Montreal, last year. How did you like the city?
It was amazing. I mean, the club was dope, the crowd perfect, really cool residents - but all the rest was fantastic as well, I'm glad I had such nice hosts, and can't wait to meet these guys again! We went to the nice park where you can overview the whole city... stunning! I'm really looking forward to my stay this time, not like last time where I only came for one night. We wanna go to Piknic, where James Holden is playing, and I hope I can visit the countryside as well...



What are your views on the important place that modern house is now taking on the electronic scene in Europe?
I'm really, really happy about it. There is a big wave of talent from all over the place, and due to Facebook, Skype and these types of social networks, it's a nice community... Sometimes I get like 5 tracks a week of friends and think: "Damn, they are all doing such good tracks, I need to work hard as well". But besides Europe, I'm also a big fan of the U.S. stuff. There are so many great producers around, pushing things forward, like the whole Wolf & Lamb clique. These are good days for house music, and it's really exciting to see things develop. It's also wonderful that in some clubs, you can play really deep stuff, around 120 Bpm, and people start dancing and love it... Solid good times.



Your 5 favorite tracks of the moment?
Chris Carrier - I'm in love today
Adam Port - Chemistry
Soulclap - Dreams (edit)
Gadi Mizrahi - Who's gonna love me tonight
Sasse - Reject my love
Three times the word "love"... wow... I didn't realise before I wrote it down... Good times!

Till Von Sein will perform alongside Fizz Factory's Max Reynold's at Beat Boutique on Sunday September 6th at Salon Daomé.

Mirrorballs.ca & Francois Lebaron au Piknic Electronik

Marinelli prends quelques minutes avec Francois Lebaron pour discuter des projets à venir ainsi que de la performance de Yann Perreau lors du Piknic Electronik du 9 août 2009.

Enjoy!

5 questions for... Billy Dalessandro

Billy Dalessandro, that talented kid from Chicago, has long lived a love story with our fair city and has now decided to officially embrace it by moving here. Dare we say it's about time ? It's time to catch up with our schizophreniac friend.

You recently moved to Montreal. Care to explain why ?
Hoes, music, and the bagels are O.K. No really, I love it here! Bootsy is the shiznit yo, that's my girl! Coming from the USA (specifically Chicago) life gets, mmm, pretty ordinary over there. I haven't moved over to Europe yet, as I like to be close to things at home. Montreal is a fantastic city, for many things, and I feel I get the best of both worlds. Nowhere else do I see this culture as it is here.

How was your european tour ? Any funny anecdotes ?
It was pretty intense, being gone 3 months. Although having a Portuguese agent has benefits. Instead of being stuck in some industrial looking flat in Berlin or some city where they stick you and tell you "techno is the cool here", Soniculture management leaves me close to the beach, with fantastic food and friends, and latin-flavoured shenanigans! Who else gets to pet sheep, donkeys and wild chickens while on tour? Also, Azores is a must see!

How do you see the return of house ? Any plans on joining in ?
Honestly, I find it a step backwards than forwards when it comes to the electronic music industry. Shame shame, I know yo name! I always have plans, for stuff. Nothing specifically related to 'house' music.



Have you seen Tyrone lately ?
Tyrone owes people money, especially Huge Hephner. So he's probably ditched out on Chicago. I think he's somewhere in Montreal proving that degredation can still be a 9 to 5 job.



How has your live set evolved since the last time you performed it here ?
I added some strippers, a portable kiosk for people that need gum and / or glow-in-the-dark glasses while I play, and (finally) got my license in order for my 500,000 watt nuclear-fueled pyrotechnical setup (a must see, really). In and between there I managed to put some more skills together for that new cassette tape I usually just have running in the background while I "jam" on my toys! It's not easy getting white-noise off of that, you know?

Dalessandro plays the Motion night at Daomé on August 15th alongside the Roux Soundsystem boys to celebrate his move to Montreal. Chicago + Montreal = love.

Roux Soundsystem - Dimanche 9 Août 2009

Une GROSSE fin de semaine s'en vient pour Mirrorballs.ca, particulièrement pour la journée de dimanche!


Notre Roux Soundsystem (Clifford Brown & Marinelli) débute la journée du 9 août à 14h00 au Piknic Électronik pour un set de 4h en ouverture de H.O.S.H. qui lui, suivra à 18h jusqu'à la fin.

Piknic Electronik - 9 Août 2009

Ensuite, nos 2 roux (un plus que l'autre... on l'sait) se dirigent au Salon Daomé pour la soirée Beat Boutique en compagnie de Soundshaper.

Inutile de vous dire que les garçons sont particulièrement prêts pour vous faire vivre une belle journée!

Quelques entrevues vont aussi suivre sur le blog dans les prochains jours.

Stay tuned!

Motion @ Salon Daomé - 18 juillet 2009

On arrive à cette fin de semaine magique du mois ou la soirée Motion prend d'assaut le Salon Daomé. Pour cette édition de Motion, nous aurons droit à une prestation semi-rousse, c'est à dire que notre résident Clifford Brown y va de son premier "extended set" malgré le fait que celui-ci soit maître derrière les platines depuis plusieurs années.


Cette tendre moitié du Roux Soundsystem a très hâte de savourer cette occasion de vous en mettre plein les oreilles! Portez des chaussures confortables pour pouvoir tenir le coup!

En attendant, vous pouvez bien sur écouter ceci pour vous préparer:

Clifford Brown - ITALIAN FLIGHT, FRENCH SUNSET

On se voit samedi!