Poirier Is 'Almost Allergic' to Rock and Riffs -- Top 100 Acts at SXSW 2011

Just as Montreal-based DJ-producer Ghislain Poirier began making his name in the electronic music scene, he realized no one could pronounce it -- the first part, anyway -- so he pulled a Morrissey and decided to go by just his surname. Poirier may have simplified his handle, but he hasn't dumbed down his music. He continues to blend hip-hop with experimental electronics and global sounds. Lately, he's been incorporating heavy doses of such bass-heavy world beats as kuduro and dancehall, and in a recent interview with Spinner, he talked about how he's "going a little bit crazy on everything," mixing sounds from around the world.

Download Poirier's 'Que Viva' (MP3) off 'Running High' Free



When you were first getting seriously into music, did you ever pick up an instrument or were you more interested in DJing from the beginning?

I started to record tapes from radio. I wasn't interested in playing music, but I was interested in doing some collage and montage, because I had a double tape deck and was able to do some edits. It was chaos -- here is some MC Hammer, and here is some radio host, and then all of that mixed together into a montage.

What inspired you to dig deeper into music and go beyond what was on the radio?

Before making music, the real step for me was when I discovered community and university radio. It started to educate me, musically speaking. It was around 1991 and electronic music was blooming. They'd play Prodigy and Aphex Twin. It was a big, big, big shock. I was like, "Wow, I've never heard anything like that, and I really, really like it." From listening a lot to community and university radio, I started to want to do my own radio show a few years later.

What about hip-hop and electronic music appealed to you over college rock or whatever else the station played?

I never listen to rock music. I'm almost allergic to mid-range frequencies of distorted guitars. I like rhythms. I'm not too much a riff guy.

Did you ever do any party or club DJing before you started your university radio show?

No, I wasn't really interested in the party scene. The rave scene came around Montreal in '93, and I went to the raves in '94 and '95, but I was there for the music. I wasn't there for the party. I was more into the musician, the people making music, instead of really caring about the DJs. I was, let's say, a hardcore fan of music.

How did you go from hosting the show to wanting to make your own music?

I did the show for a few years, and I was would invite electronic musicians to do interviews. By doing so and deeply immersing yourself in music, at some point, you get some ideas. I started to f--- around with the software and did a first track.

It was very rough, but I wasn't seeing what I had in front of me. I was seeing the possibilities. It definitely wasn't good, but it was definitely a song. I was seeing that if I put more hours into it, if I knew the software better, I'd be able to produce stuff I really wanted to. I had a pretty defined idea of exactly what I didn't want to do in music.

What did you not want to do?

I was interested in rhythms and texture, in ambient music and hip-hop. Instead of having to experiment with everything, there were a lot of decisions that I already took to put some limits on where I was going, musically speaking. At first, I was more confident in the ambient music and had more material that I could gather together to do an album. It took me a little bit longer to figure out how to be satisfied also by hip-hop records.

You put out a lot of music last year. Some of it was totally instrumental, but then a lot of it was heavy on Jamaican sounds. What kind of music were you interested in at that time?

It started around 2003, when I did 'Beats as Politics.' I introduced on that album ragga-dancehall rhythms. What I like about dancehall is that it was giving me the same pleasure as hip hop, with a little bit more of melodic aspect. Then I discovered soca very randomly, and there were some soca artists who were taking dancehall influence on their flow and lyrics. That's what I try to do also with my soca, is have a kind of dancehall influence within it.

In what direction are you going with your newest material?

This year is not the kind of year where I want to do an album, but it's a year where I want to do all kinds of different things that wouldn't make sense all together on an album. I just did a kuduru track for the label of J-Wow, the guy from Buraka Som Sistema in Portugal. I never did a proper kuduru track, so that's cool. I also did a bunch of remixes, including a kind of bhangra-chutney-soca remix.

I'm just going a little bit crazy on everything. I also did two documentary soundtracks. They're pretty much ambient, but some stuff with rhythm. It's about focusing on all I want to do right now and do it in little projects, either EP singles or remixes or tracks for compilations. In 2012, I will focus to produce a new album.

Catch Poirier's SXSW Set on Saturday, March 19 at Soho Lounge (217 E 6th St.) 1AM.

Watch Poirier's Video for 'Wha La-La-Leng' feat. Face-T
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