POIRIER
Based out of Montreal, Canada, Ninja Tune recording artist Ghislain Poirier has been making a name for himself in the world of bass music for years. With numerous remixes under his belt – notably Lady Sovereign, Busy Signal, Bassnectar, and Major Lazer – his versatility and creativity extend throughout multi-genre dance floors far and wide. His two latest EPs “Soca Sound System” and “Run the Riddim” showcase his signature dancehall and soca influenced production that borders between electro and glitch; while the third EP of the year “Low Ceiling” is set to drop in November of ‘09. As if his production and touring schedule are not enough his Montreal-based party “Karnival” recently kicked off showcasing his attraction to diverse sound system culture which Ghislain chats ‘bout in this exclusive interview with Big Up Magazine.
interview by Lud Dub
A lot of people have a hard time pinpointing your style of music. How would you describe it yourself?
The answer is always different depending on what time you ask me about. At the beginning of my career it was mostly ambient music. Then it moved towards abstract hip-hop. Soon afterward I integrated reggae dancehall. Now I’m comfortable with many styles. I guess I’m confident enough about myself where I can do a dancehall EP; but also do soca or more electro stuff and can take dubstep and kuduro influences and integrate to my sound. It might sound different for all the people around, but basically I’m influenced by many styles and not trying to jump 100% in one style.
I believe music is always influenced by other sources and a genre that is only influenced by its own genre is kind of going to a “cul de sac” or dead end. If you just look at Jamaican dancehall right now musically speaking there is almost no more links to reggae. The link is the patois, the singing. You can hear a Jamaican artist over a gospel riddim, dancehall riddim, electro riddim, or over hip-hop and we’re all gonna call it dancehall, ‘cause it’s singing in the patois Jamaican style. But musically speaking if you delete the voice you will have a pretty hard time to label it as dancehall.
Any words of wisdom to aspiring DJ’s and producers?
Trust your taste. Don’t always trust the hype, but trust your taste. Cause your taste will stay defined for your life but the hype will always go away. Be open-minded and be able to challenge yourself and people who listen to you.
Also don’t put the music in a certain category. It’s just music. Maybe you don’t understand some of the words or where it’s coming from but it doesn’t mean you can’t like it. It’s the main philosophy that has been driving me. It’s the bridge between different communities and genres of music.
