Additional Information
Nathan Mots is based in British Columbia; Truant.J, his stage name, is a reference to the horror novel House of Leaves (2000) by Mark Z. Danielewski. The tone is set: his techno is dark, raw and disturbing. TRUANT002, his second EP, is the result of a collaboration with JoeFarr from the UK, Krista Bourgeois who was born in the States but is now based in Berlin, and The GOAT from Canada. To release his music, Truant.J went as far as creating his own label. His goal: to put Vancouver on the international techno map.
PAN M 360: How did you get in contact with techno music?
Truant.J: I’m from Victoria, it’s sort of smaller on the music side of things. There is a really good sort of old folk scenes but not huge electronic music scenes. I kind of got exposed to house music when I started learning to DJing and through that learned about techno. The first time I went to Berlin with some friends, I was exposed to the club scene there and just absolutely fell in love with it. I just came home from that and was like this is the kind of music I want to really commit to.
PAN M 360: Is there an artist you saw in Berlin whom blown you away?
Truant.J: Yeah definitely, Stephanie Sykes! I saw her performing during the day at Berghain, I got there for the beginning of her set, and just stay straight through to the end. It was incredible and I actually got to open for her in Vancouver, which was pretty cool.
PAN M 360: What can you tell me about the Vancouver techno community?
Truant.J: There is this variety between what you’d call “mainstream” techno with labels like Drumcode, but there are a lot of labels more core to the roots of where it came from, and I think Vancouver’s got both sides. There’s an incredible queer techno scene in Vancouver and artists who are just doing really cool stuff, like groovy soulful techno that’s a bit dark but also fun to go and dance to. There’s people creating pop-up clubs that fit 100 people, just to try and accommodate that sort of “we’re going out at midnight and staying out until 6am,” which is really underground I guess.
PAN M 360: What are the places that gave you the opportunity to grow your career as an artist and a techno aficionado?
Truant.J: There are two clubs in Vancouver that are really important to me. The main one is Open Studios, which unfortunately closed over the pandemic, and there is Gorg-O-Mish nightclub. Both of them do a different thing, but both are super important. Gorg-O-Mish being sort of a mainstay in Vancouver, I think it’s over a decade old now, which in Vancouver and especially for underground clubs is unheard of. They open at two o’clock, they stay open till eight in the morning, and most of the time they book only one or two artists a night. They really showcase local talent and let those artists tell a story. Open Studios, just because they were bringing in tons of incredible international artists. I think one of the first shows I went to in Vancouver was Steffi playing there, and I got to see some of the local like Nancy Dru. It’s a family sort of club, but it’s also a space welcoming all sorts of different types of people, and for that reason that’s my favorite place to go and play.
PAN M 360: When I listened to some of your past works, I felt that, for example, The last sailing EP was a bit different from the rest. Did anything change in the way you make music today and, if so, what?
Truant.J: There is a track by SNTS, Origin of light and it’s just incredible. I remember going for a walk in Vancouver one night and just feeling physically uncomfortable listening to this song because it’s spooky, dark, raw and there’s noises that come in that almost make you jump… It can be things that have darker melodies too. There’s a song by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, it’s just somebody talking about this horrible dystopian world for three minutes and then the song comes (Editor’s note: The Dead Flag Blues). I love that kind of music. I want music that makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable, that makes me sit back and think.
PAN M 360: Is that what you wanted to do with Wicked Fervor?
Truant.J: I wanted to do something really aggressive. I focused on taking sounds and distorting them or putting them into interesting spaces, so they don’t sound like where they came from. Then I tried to bring some melody and feeling into that as well, without making it cheesy or anything. I’m trying to find balance. I love the 4/4 stuff but I also really want to explore darker ambient stuff.
PAN M 360: How did you get in contact with the collaborating artists on the EP?
Truant.J: I looked at artists within the community and around me who I really liked. Krista Bourgeois’ music is incredible, it gives you that raw, dark, pounding feeling. The GOAT I’ve known for years and I got to grow with him. He was one of the first people I wanted to approach. JoeFarr has so been supportive I wanted him to be involved and I wanted to get that word out outside our internal community to a broader audience. The dream would be to have Vancouver recognized more on an international stage.
