As the son of a DJ, Tiga has always been around electronic music, touring with his father around Goa, India, in the 80s. Beginning to DJ in Canada in the 90s, Tiga saw that there was little to offer in regards to the rave scene, deciding to take matters in his own hands and organized his own parties, taking credit as one of the first people to throw Canada’s first proper rave. Tiga took things further, starting the techno-oriented record store, DNA, as wells the Turbo label, along with DJ Mark Dillon.
It was not until the 2000s that Tiga began to produce his own music, releasing the successful mixtapes, “American Gigolo” and “Mixed Emotions.” He also found a hit with his collaboration with Jori Hulkkonen, on a reinterpretation of Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night,” as the duo, Tiga & Zyntherius, reaching number 23 on the UK Singles Chart. Tiga continued with his remixes and relentless touring, helping to keep him at the top of his game. A successful contribution to the K7 series of mixes, DJ Kicks, came out in 2003, making a big contribution to the current trends in the scene.
In 2006, Tiga released his debut album, "Sexor," which went on to win at the 2007 Juno Awards for 'Dance Recording of the Year.' "Ciao!" followed in 2009, again released to critical and commercial success, from both the underground and mainstream press. Tiga's duo with German techno producer, Zombie Nation, ZZT, released their debut record, "Party's Over Earth" in 2011, helping to expand Tiga's output. A new mix, "Tiga Non-Stop" followed in 2012, premiering his new single, "Plush," to great fanfare. As well as his solo output, Tiga is also the host of the popular BBC 6 Music show, "My Name is Tiga," to which he plays the hottest tracks in electronic music.
Prior to making his move towards a career in music, Jones had studied chemical engineering at the University of Illinois. The budding scientist however dropped out of his Master’s program at the University of California, Berkeley, to issue his first song “Coffee Pot” in 1991. Raised by a DJing father, in arguably the world's capital of house music, Chicago, Jones easily picked up the cut-and-paste production technique and added a extra level of interpretation. The DJ and producer quickly gained immense popularity and reinvigorated the Chicago house scene throughout the ‘90s under the moniker Cajmere.
The Green Velvet name had initially been launched as an outlet for Jones’ instrumental productions, however soon surpassed the success of Cajmere. Jones quickly created the label Relief, which issued Green Velvet’s debut release “Velvet Tracks” in 1993. Stylistically influenced by the likes of David Bowie and Sly and the Family Stone, Jones donned a flamboyant punk aesthetic, featuring wild and bright green hair. Green Velvet subsequently released the track “Preacher Man” in the mid 1990s, followed by “Answering Machine”, and the No. 1 U.S. Dance hit “Flash” in 1995.
Following periods of DJing under all of his monikers, Jones returned to Green Velvet to release the full length “Contant Chaos” in January 1999. Issued by Music Man Records, the twelve-track release showcased Jones’ humourous and often bizarre approach to house music, in styles that drew comparisons with Prince and Kraftwerk. A compilation album “Green Velvet” arrived in 2000 on the Warner Bros. imprint F-111, featuring a host of previous singles including “Flash” and “Answering Machine”. The compilation was followed by the much darker sounding “Whatever”, which tackles subjects including racism, drug use, and alienation among others. Drawing influence from a more punk-orientated direction, the album lends less from Kraftwerk and more from the likes of Nitzer Ebb and Liaisons Dangereuses. The album also represented a shift away from DJing to producing the songs live in front of an audience.
After taking a hiatus, where Jones appeared under a series of monikers as a part of his remix and side projects, Green Velvet returned in 2005 to release “Walk In Love”. Unlike its predecessors, the album had a distinctively house music style, and spawned the tracks “Come Back” and “Pin-Up Girl”. Green Velvet released the “Ministry of Sound Session” in 2007, followed by the full-length “Lost and Found” in 2009, and “Unshakable” in 2013.
Define is honestly the best thing since sliced bread. Can't wait to see you soon in Sydney, absolutely buzzing. Continue with the great tunes!! Love you Dom <3
[Verse]
Tell me that you know you feel it every single time
I'll show that you're the only thing that stays on my mind
Tell me that you'll hold me and I'll never leave your side
I'm sure that there ain't no reason for words to define
[Chorus]
Our love, our l-o-ve
Can´t define our love, our l-o-ve
Can´t define our love, our l-o-ve
Can´t define our love, our l-o-ve
[Verse]
Tell me that you know you feel it every single time
I'll show that you're the only thing that stays on my mind
Tell me that you'll hold me and I'll never leave your side
I'm sure that there ain't no reason for words to define our love
Tell me that you know you feel it every single time
I'll show that you're the only thing that stays on my mind
Tell me that you'll hold me and I'll never leave your side
I'm sure that there ain't no reason for words to define our love
[Chorus]
Our love, our l-o-ve
Can´t define our love, our l-o-ve
Can´t define our love, our l-o-ve
Can´t define our love, our l-o-ve
[Outro]
Can´t define our love, our l-o-ve
Can´t define our love, our l-o-ve
Can´t define our love, our l-o-ve
Can´t define our love, our l-o-ve
Canadian DJ-producer Tiga (real name: Tiga James Sontag) has messed around with almost every subgenre of electronic dance music, but he’s perhaps best known for his work in electro. He’s been in the game a long time; long before electro, electro house, etc, had filtered into the mainstream. I held some of his early productions in the same high regard and some of the first Justice tracks, and his mix compilations in the early noughties were some of the best from that time, as were his remixes. Of course Tiga is an acclaimed and renowned performing DJ, but it’s always surprised me that he hasn’t had more mainstream recognition. Perhaps the semi-underground space that he inhabits suits him better. I first saw Tiga perform at XOYO in 2011. It was the first time I had ever been to the East End underground basement; this was before the refurb, so it was even dingier than it is now. This dark, gritty space was the perfect setting for his underground club music. Tiga’s set was more up-tempo and bass-y than usual; there was little in the way of vocal samples and points of it shunned melody all together in favour of harder techno beats. Of course, it was the funky electro cuts that got the best reception, but on this night Tiga proved that he was adept at toying with plenty of other genres. As a sidenote: upstairs in the completely empty bar area, Pariah and Blawan smashed out wicked sets, literally just before they blew up. Great night.
House music is incredibly popular at the moment, and there is little that distinguishes one track from the next, however, Green Velvet’s addition of his own vocals on his electronic tracks, brings a fresh sound to the increasingly popular genre.
Watching him live is completely different to many other house and electronic musicians, because he works off his synth, electronic keyboard, mixing desk, and electronic drum kit throughout a set, rather than just mixing pre-programmed work before the show. He played tracks mainly from Lost and Found, and Unshakable, as well as a few Ministry of Sound tracks. When he played I Need U, it brought the house down, and everyone was singing and dancing along like mad. The lighting was fantastic, and the entire performance looked great, which is always a massive bonus.
Usually at this sort of gig, the artist distances himself from the audience by hiding behind their headphones, but Green Velvet was really encouraging for everyone to get involved, and was clapping his hands, beckoning for people to dance and sing along, and projecting a really great vibe around the venue.