Sexual mystique fuels electro star’s rise

Tiga James Sontag (or just Tiga to his fans) was in a Tokyo hotel room, sounding weary.

The Star’s call interrupted the most important meal of his day, which in turn set him off on a rumination on the hassles of being a pop star.

It’s quite depressing, moaned the Canadian singer/producer, in Japan to promote his latest album Ciao.

This morning’s the perfect example -” I woke up, had a shower, ordered a beautiful Japanese breakfast, and it arrives just as the first phone call comes. It’s always like that, I don’t have enough time for anything.

Tiga was originally closely aligned with the early-00s electro-clash movement that fell out of popular favour after about five minutes on the cultural radar, forcing those who grew from it -” among them him, Miss Kittin and Fischerspooner -” to broaden their musical horizons. Listening to Ciao, it’s clear electro-clash is but a distant memory for Tiga, with a heavy disco flavour in many of the tracks.

Like everybody, I’m always trying new things and I’m always looking for something that excites me. This album’s probably the best reflection of my musical tastes.

I like dance music with a little bit of pop feeling in it, he said, still chewing his breakfast, and to me, disco is a genre that captures that combination the best.

Interestingly, the effete singer hasn’t exactly been the subject of gay rumours through his career. On the contrary, there have been occasional whispers that, despite the glam look and the frequent musical collaborations with homo heartthrob Jake Shears, he has a wife and child. Shocking.

Tiga himself is playfully tight-lipped about his sexuality, saying his androgynous image is more a tribute to his ’80s heroes.

Everyone grows up with a different set of archetypes in their head. We all have a different set of heroes. For me, people like Bowie, Marc Almond or Duran Duran -” they’re figures I looked at and thought -˜If I ever get the chance to do that, they’re what I want to look like’.

To me, the sexuality of it all is not that ambiguous. I think I’m a bit more like Bryan Ferry -” I’m not trying to be revolutionary, I’m just trying to look good!

Tracks like the lead single from Ciao, Shoes, only add to Tiga’s sexual mystique. It’s a thumping dance track in which Tiga woos a lady with lines like I’d love to comb your hair and I’d love to do your nails, making him sound more America’s Next Top Model judge than pants-man.

Another problem an artist with Tiga’s cool cachet faces -” aside from scurrilous rumours about happy hetero home lives -” is that his fans are likely to be tech-savvy bloggers, meaning he’s particularly vulnerable to the income-drainer that is illegal downloading.

It’s the dilemma of our time for commercial musicians. I don’t have a problem with people sharing stuff for free; I think it’s unavoidable. The problem is when stuff gets leaked too early. It’s not really fair to the artist. Once it’s out there, it’s fair game, but the artist should be able to control when it comes out.

At this stage, every week and month you can guard your stuff before it’s released is valuable, he said.
info: Ciao is out now.