Tiga tiga burning bright

Dance music doesn’t need a saviour, but if it did, Tiga would most likely make the shortlist.

Dance music doesn’t need a saviour, but if it did, Tiga would most likely make the shortlist.
On paper, the Canadian seems like a marketing department’s wet dream – impeccable rave credentials (used to run a record shop, still runs his own techno label, Turbo), a knack for knocking out crossover dance music hits (‘Pleasure From The Bass’, ‘You Gonna Want Me’ and seminal oldie ‘Sunglasses At Night’) and a unique image (he’s currently rocking a mid-’80s Brat Pack look).
His lifestyle seems impossibly glamorous, almost harking back to Studio 54-era hedonism: jet-set DJing, making music with famous pals, indeterminate sexual preference… And the sum of all this odd fabulousness is Sexor, his debut album.
But here’s the funny bit: the person at the end of the phone line is nothing like the coke-addled sex dwarf Hot Press was expecting. Tiga is mild-mannered, considered, engaging and extremely smart. So who/what/why is Sexor?
“It’s not really a grand concept – more of a little concept!” he laughs. “Sexor isn’t an alter-ego exactly, but it’s a character, kind of Bowie-ish. Sexor is kind of absurd, kind of ambiguous – it’s open to interpretation.”
The Bowie reference is interesting – pop’s great chameleon has made a career (well, numerous ones) out of reinventing himself.
“Everyone is concerned about their image in some way, right? And there’s such a vacuum, such a space to fill creatively. Well, I think there is. And I would never compare myself to Prince, but I loved the way he had the whole lot: the look, the symbol, for me, it adds to the music overall.”
The back of the album features a handwritten note ‘Sexor 74 – 04’, while the music is littered with references to his past: a cover of Public Enemy’s ‘Louder Than A Bomb’, the Altern8 homage/pastiche that is ‘You Gonna Want Me’, an interesting cover of Talking Heads’ ‘Burning Down The House’. Lyrically, a number of the tracks reference a sort of rose-tinted, Beverly Hills 90210-esque childhood that may or may not be fictional. And a hidden track features a voicemail from what sounds like his mother on Valentine’s Day. Now, correct us if we’re wrong, but this is a personal album, right?
“A number of tracks are, yeah. It never really felt odd making a personal record. I have 5,000 techno records at home, but the music I listen to is personal stuff. It’s music that's human and flawed. It seemed natural that when I decided to do an album, it would be sort of personal.”
Techno and electronic music in general isn’t a genre that throws up many ‘personal’ records.
“One of the many reasons I love techno is that it’s free. And there are so many talented people making it – but it’s also quite insecure, maybe that’s the reason for the faceless thing. People are afraid to put their feelings out there. But I’ve decided to go against that. I love pop, I love showmanship and I’m quite happy with it.”
His honesty is refreshing – but what happens when, inevitably, his house of cards falls down. He can’t expect the underground to welcome him back with open arms. Does he care?
“A bit. Not too much! It’s funny, a few years can pass and suddenly you are in a different world. It’s like, I started making techno, then I started remixing, then some singing on remixes, then my own singles and so on. Suddenly, the years have added up and I’m so far away from the six minute techno instrumentals. And I still think as a ‘techno’ guy. But compared to Jeff Mills’ Axis label and stuff like that, I’m not! I’ve become something different, something new."
If Tiga tires of what he's doing, he can just don another disguise. Indeed, he's still releasing records under pseudonyms.
“Umm, there was one I put out last year (an anonymous, 303-heavy jack track called ‘Faxman’) and some other stuff that I can’t tell you about!”.
For the moment, though, there’s an album to sell.
“I'm proud of the record – now I feel like, with the next one I want to tear up the rulebook. I know that sounds like a cliché, but that’s how I feel. I’m free to branch out into something else, something quite bizarre."

Sexor is out now on Different/PIAS.