Tiga

Montreal-born DJ and producer Tiga bridges niche club circuits and broader audiences alike through his ironic, theatrical approach to electronic sounds and austere techno. Initial notice arrived via reinterpretations of familiar material, most prominently a pivotal 2001 version of Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night.” Greater visibility followed when Sexor earned him the Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year in 2007. Further material has appeared on his own Turbo imprint, among them the albums Ciao! in 2009 and No Fantasy Required in 2016 along with assorted singles. Partnerships have encompassed work with Zombie Nation under the ZZT banner, Matthew Dear’s Audion alias, and Hudson Mohawke, the last of whom joined him on the 2023 album L’Ecstasy.

Tiga first encountered the world that would shape his path while accompanying his DJ father on trips through India’s Goa region during the 1980s. Carrying that influence forward, he began performing in Montreal’s more discerning venues in the early 1990s, introducing acid-house rhythms to local audiences. Finding no existing events comparable to the Goa parties he had known, he organized his own and earned credit for staging Canada’s first authentic rave. Those gatherings persisted while he launched one of the country’s earliest techno-focused shops, DNA, and co-founded the Turbo label alongside fellow selector Mark Dillon. Comfortable spinning and issuing other artists’ recordings, he deferred serious attention to his own productions until the 2000s.

After playing Miss Kittin & the Hacker’s take on Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” in a club, Tiga conceived the notion of crafting his own cover alongside Finnish DJ Jori Hulkkonen. A studio session produced an unsatisfying rendition of Prince’s “When Doves Cry” and a stronger reading of U2’s “New Year’s Day,” yet the pair ultimately chose to issue their version of fellow Montreal resident Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night” in 2001 under the name Tiga & Zyntherius. The track proved a major success, prompting Tiga to close the year with the well-received mix collections American Gigolo and Mixed Emotions.

Interviews, remixes, and live dates occupied the DJ until he curated an installment of K7’s DJ Kicks series. Following the collection’s customary practice, he created the new cut “Man Hrdina” for the package, which the label issued as a single. Many selectors gravitated instead toward the B-side—an electro reworking of Nelly’s “Hot in Herre”—leading both the single and the mix CD to be re-pressed with the unexpected hit featured.

A demanding touring calendar delayed Tiga’s first full-length until 2006. Despite muted reviews, Sexor, whose artwork paid clear tribute to Bryan Ferry and which included co-production credits for Soulwax and Jesper Dahlbäck, secured the Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year in 2007. Around the same period he began joint work with Munich producer Zombie Nation, releasing under the ZZT moniker; their early EPs appeared on Turbo, beginning with “Lower State of Consciousness,” a maximal reimagining of Josh Wink’s “Higher State of Consciousness” that later received a Justice remix on its B-side.

Resuming solo activity, Tiga delivered his second album, Ciao!, in 2009 on Turbo; the set fared better than its predecessor and carried songwriting and production contributions from James Murphy on two tracks. ZZT’s debut long-player, Partys Over Earth, surfaced in 2011. The third solo effort, No Fantasy Required, arrived in 2016 and expanded its roster of guests to include longtime associate Jori Hulkkonen, acid specialists Paranoid London, Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears, Matthew Dear, and Hudson Mohawke, whose presence is audible on the ominous lead single “Planet E.” The standalone track “Woke” followed in 2017. Additional singles appeared the next year—“Stay Cool,” “HAL” (with Kölsch), and “Blessed” (with the Martinez Brothers)—before Tiga introduced the Last Party on Earth podcast in 2019. The pulsing single “There Is No Distance Between Us” surfaced in January 2023, and December brought the full-length L’Ecstasy with Mohawke, which featured Channel Tres, Abra, Jesse Boykins III, and Elisabeth Troy.