Tiga Bugged Out Interview

In preparation of the Planet Turbo Tour, Tiga shared his thoughts on the project ...

Tell us about the Planet Turbo Tour. What can people expect?
1. I don’t have to tour alone. I think the audience really wants to see me have a good time up there. There’s nothing sadder in this world than unrequited fun. It can get lonely touring by yourself. You come offstage with the vitamin water sweats, looking for the right lady to rate tracks on a scale of 1 to 10 with. And there’s no one there for you. No one who really understands. Now there will be at least two people who understand.

2. It forces me to evolve as a DJ, which is a very beautiful thing for a crowd to witness. Digital. Analog. And back again? Count on it.
I’m like a shark: if I stop grooving, I’ll die.

3. We all get to hang out together, our loveable gang of huggable li’l misfits. I’m going to try to force everyone to dress like authentic street urchins (newsboy caps, burlap vests), to accentuate that special sense of boyish mischief. Every guest artist can play whatever they like, provided they stay after their sets and dance behind me as I DJ. You want to get paid, you get to the back of the conga line early and often.

4. We will be putting real effort into the production aspect and the visuals. People should expect a full night of magic and smiling and looking and sighing. Post-post-post-everything musical programming. I find that nothing excites the passions like the word “programming.”
I feel I should mention that the initial idea was to tour with the same audience for every show. Unfortunately, we found that we couldn’t ship them as cargo, so we’ll have to see who turns up in each city. I can’t wait!

How long did it take to put the tour together?
In terms of talent, Planet Turbo is a perfect storm. Like that movie where the fisherman invites his wife over for a big fish dinner and there’s a romantic storm outside and he puts on the Hi-Fi and the feeling’s so right and they make love for the remainder of the film. This tour will capture the feeling of that fisherman having his way with you.

What sets this tour apart?
For one thing, it’s the first tour I’ve made a point of constantly referring to as a “game-changer”. I think the main difference is that we are going to go for a full night of music that really fits together, and visuals that represent that. So, to use the ultimate cliché, it’s a journey. One on which I hope you will let us take you. We want to take the narrative approach of a 70-minute concert and merge it with the 12-hour feel of a warehouse party.

Is there a release plan around this? Can you tell us about it?
Yes. And no, I can’t tell you about it. We are collecting 10 bombbs (for discretion’s sake I prefer to never spell “bombs” correctly, lest I attract even more hot judgment from The Man’s tireless word-finding cyber-drones. Don’t say Billy Idol didn’t warn us), remixes by our extended family of our long time megahits. I will play them in my sets, and we will release them as we go along. I foresee a lot of people coming up and asking, “What IS this track?” And a lot of me shruggin’ and grinnin’. I’m gonna be so damn sheepish it’s crazy.
I want you to imagine the best possible combinations of remixers and tracks. Now imagine me laughing at your imagination. It hurts, doesn’t it? That’s because in your imaginary heart you know that you couldn’t be farther off in terms of quality and general excitement. At the end of the tour, the whole package, along with some new original tracks, will be released as an album. We will then attempt to sell that album.

Tell us the first thing that comes into your head regarding the following Planet Turbo artists.

Erol Alkan
Vowels.
One of the big boys. And a great friend.

Boys Noize
Techno kid all grown up. Amazing DJ, and one of the few guys I really trust to destroy a party. Fits right into my Man’s Planz.

Thomas Von Party
My brother. The heartwarming glue that holds the Turbo family together, and the first man to publicly “Kick It Up a Vibe”.

Matt Walsh
When I first met him, he was dressed exactly like Peter Pan. He even had a cable harness strapped to him.

When and why did you start Turbo?
I started it in ‘98. I just wanted to work with artists and music and find a way to launder the money from my nightclub business. That’s just me joking around. You can’t launder counterfeit traveler’s cheques. Turbo has always been about putting out the best possible music. We don’t do vanity projects. For instance, we decided against putting out my rock album, “Dungaree Heart”, as well as my devotional project “Rhythm of the Jesuits”.

What else is coming up for Tiga and Turbo?
Albums by ZZT, Chromeo, PROXY and Sei A. A Tiga MixCD. The Turbo Apps store. My book. My poetry ranch. Turbo: The Movie. Turbo: The Kindle. My fragrance, “Irrepressible Person.”

If Turbo were a planet, what would it be like?
The soil would be so rich you wouldn’t even believe it. Say a kind word and a Trust Plant springs up from the earth. The sky would be the color of the most beautiful energy drink, and the animals would all have monthly DJ charts instead of being completely useless. And I would gaze down upon my creation, singing the wind through your hair. Also, there would be no prejudice.