‘I was single-handedly putting on parties where 300 people would show up’ — Ghislain Poirier spots our hidden camera
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It's time to finish up your seasonal obligations — gift-wrapping, corporate functions, secret Santas — and start thinking about getting down. What better way to leave those worries behind than to head to the dance floor for an evening of intense calisthenics? Despite the frigid weather, Ghislain "Bounce Le Gros" Poirier is leaving the cozy mayhem of the clubs on le Boulevard St-Laurent in Montreal to play a number of shows across the country.
The reason for the tour is No Ground Under, Poirier's first release with the like-minded beat-heads at Ninja Tune records. The relationship was a natural — being based in Montreal has given Poirier plenty of opportunity to hone his craft, and to rub shoulders with many of the label's top brass in their Montreal office. His longtime friendship with labelmate Sixtoo didn’t hurt, either.
"It was a natural fit," Pourier says. "Ninja Tune invited me to play during their session at the Piknic Électronik in Montreal last summer. It is essentially a big, outdoor DJ jam that runs every Sunday during the summer. I wasn't signed on the label, but they let me play anyway."
While that event certainly boosted his profile, Poirier has has been a fixture on the Montreal party scene for years. He is famous for founding the "Bounce Le Gros" events, which have run regularly over the past two years, because he was tired of spinning tunes in clubs that restricted him to a single genre each night (usually funk, IDM or hip hop). According to Poirier, the only way to be totally free was to organize his own parties — where he was the boss.
"I was doing everything myself, except working the door. My sister or my friends would usually do that," laughs Poirier. "I was single-handedly putting on parties where 300 people would show up. Usually it takes like three or four people to do that. It was very satisfying. In Montreal, bars close at three in the morning. Usually the parties would sell out at 11 p.m., so there would be four hours of solid dancing."
In Calgary and Edmonton, Poirier will be doing boisterous DJ sets in the same vein as the Bounce events. Although he will mostly be spinning other peoples' material, his originals and bootleg remixes are designed for the dance floor, and he does not shy away from playing them.
"I recently remixed Pierre Lapointe and Champion,” he says. “Pierre Lapointe is like soft-rock chanson française on piano — he's a big pop star in Quebec — but I made one of his hits a speeded-up booty-house remix. It's 172 beats per minute. That's really fast! But, I also got to remix stuff like Buck 65, Lady Sovereign and The Editors."
Few Calgary listeners are likely to have heard Lapointe, but Poirier has the ability to move freely between Quebec's extremely supportive regional pop scene and a broader audience. Since the music is largely instrumental, there is no need to change the show to appeal to francophone or anglophone crowds. As he says, "It doesn't matter. It's all about bringing the party."
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