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!

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.