Hey Jaclyn! Wanted to ask you a few Qs ahead of your live set next week @ Brasserie Beaubien Sonically, your music seems to relates to gnarly techno and more cinematic, industrial noise. Do these reflect moods of yours or are they more experiments of style?

I suppose to some extent my music reflects my mood, I certainly feel more creative when I’m feeling some sort of strong emotion. Moreso though I want my music to explore unusual sonic elements and to create. dance music through dissonance 

You've put out a (now sold out) tape on Toronto label Summer Isle - how did that come about? Are physical formats something that's important to you or are you down with digital creations?

Rita and Max, who run Summer Isle reached out to me and asked me to do a tape, which I was excited about because I have a lot of respect for both of them and like their label. 

There’s something extremely satisfying about releasing a physical piece of music — it’s a nice feeling to hold a tangible object in your hand you created. However, I definitely recognize that records and tapes aren’t accessible to everyone, and I think digital music is an important format at that’s going to be around for a long time. I like how platforms like bandcamp make it possible to buy a single track if you can’t afford to buy an album but still want to support an artist. 

Actually to kind of invert the last question; which do you think influences your work more, the internet or your physical environment? I think of techno and noise music as being very physical and urban, but your music also has some elements of the ‘hyperreal’ or whatever Neuromancer - type words you want to insert

At this point I’d say my physical environment influences my music a lot. As I said before, I’m seeking ways to incorporate sounds with non-musical qualities into tracks and turning them into something people might want to dance to. Lately I’ve been interested in taking sounds from everyday life and using them as percussive elements; coat zippers, shoestrings swirling in the air, etc. 

Where are you from? I can never tell as Montreal is such a transitory city for some ppl. If you are from another city do you think this will be your home long-term?

I grew up in Hamilton, ON which is just outside of Toronto. I’ve lived in a bunch of cities but I’ve been in Montreal for about 2.5 years. I like it here because there’s a really solid community of creative people and the rent is cheap, so that allows us all time to pursue our personal projects. I’m going to be spending an indefinite amount of time in New York as of May, though. 

I also notice you’re a graphic designer and I love to think about music as design, especially electronic music. Are they separate parts of your brain or do they bleed into each other? (heh didn’t mean for that to sound gory)

They definitely bleed into one another for me. I don’t have any formal music training (except for piano lessons when I was young, which I’ve completely forgotten). When I’m making music it helps me to visualize patterns and I like symmetry, so when I’m writing a bass line for example my hand seems to naturally draw out some sort of symmetrical pattern on my step sequencer or in ableton 

Whats a local or underground artist you are currently most excited about? 

In Montreal I am continually blown away by Unromantic. Their use of sampling is insane 

Some of your noisey tracks sound very analog, and I’m gonna assume you use machines as the theme of the show next week is hardware electronics, so - is there 1 piece of gear that you’re most attached to?

I started producing on ableton and I still feel like that’s where I feel most comfortable. Making music digitally gives you endless possibilities, it’s also more financially viable. On the other hand, working with analogue gear and it’s limitations (eg. only having one kick sound) can force you to be creative and use the same sounds in different ways.

As of recently I am using modular synths, which has been an exciting and frustrating journey. It’s hard to choose but since my music is very bass heavy I’d say the one piece of gear I am most attached to is my Hexinverter mutant bass drum module.

Did you ever play in other projects or bands? I’m curious if you have a musical background other than the role of producer / dj you find yourself in now.

I’ve been DJing for quite a few years now, but it’s only started to take off in the past few years. I have another project called TIN with my friend Josh Korody, who lives in Toronto and is a sound engineer.

Any plans / exciting things coming up you feel like sharing?! 

I have a few releases coming up with labels that I’m really excited about, but I can’t say who yet. On one of the releases, Chris from Pelada and I are going to be collaborating together and I can’t wait for everyone to hear that.

Sick, thanks and see you april 13!

-Errhead