Indies Thrive On Burgeoning Electronica Scene In Canada As Genre Reaches The Mainstream

Canada's flourishing, decade-old electronica market is generating increased demand for DJ-mixed compilations and raising interest in the genre's up-and-coming acts.

Ten years ago, electronica was very much dance music based on a heavy 4/4 or bass rhythm. In the wake of now-defunct label Quality Music's groundbreaking, early-'90s club-style compilation series like "Techno Trip," "X-Tendamixx," "Electric Dance Floor," and "Dance Mix," an established network of DJs, producers, promoters, and labels emerged nationally as the genre evolved.

Today's electronica encompasses techno, drum'n'bass, house, hip-hop, trance, happy hardcore, 2-step, jungle, ambient, and acid jazz. It's a burgeoning commercial force with strong support from national retail chain HMV Canada and Quebec's Archambault Musique chain. That's been coupled with mainstream breakthroughs in Canada by such crossover acts as Moby, Darude, and the Chemical Brothers, plus European club and radio success last year for "Spaced Invader" by Toronto-based producer/remixer/DJ Hatiras.

Many of Canada's leading electronica dance DJs today have international followings. Among them are pioneers Ritchie Hawtin and John Acquaviva, as well as Misstress Barbara, Freaky Flow, Anabolic Frolic, and DJ OS/2. Popular domestic DJs include Tiga, DJ Brian, Mark Anthony, DJ Maüs, Max Graham, DJ Marcus, DJ Serious, Marc Leclair, and DJ Michel Simard. Notable dance/electronic acts include the New Deal, Jaffa, Tomas Jirku, les Jardiniers, Lal, Akufen, and Mitchell Akiyama.

The top Canadian electronica labels are Bombay, Turbo Recordings, Yul, Dance Plant, Haute Couture, Tidal Wave, Nude Recordings, Dune, and Substractif in Montreal; Stickman, Vinyl Syndicate Wars, Dub 2010, Revolution, Play, and Public Transit Recordings in Toronto; and Nordic Trax in Vancouver.

Along with other top electronica performers, Toronto-based trio the New Deal (signed by Jive-Electro last November) and Misstress Barbara will perform on the 10-city North American Mekka tour, which kicks off Aug. 4 in Montreal.

"Electronica is looked on as mainstream by younger kids," says Turbo CEO Mark Dillon. "Going to one of these big [dance] parties is becoming the same as going to see a Rolling Stones concert. It is becoming a culture rather than just a music base."

Stickman Records co-owner Greg Zwarich agrees: "What kid today wants a guitar or a set of drums? They want a computer with software."

"The scene is so diverse," says Jeff Harris, electronica buyer at HMV Canada's Queen Street store in downtown Toronto. "We've got 45-year-old 'suits' coming in looking for the newest acid-jazz titles and happy hardcore kids as young as 12. Older people are hearing the music at the clubs and at raves; the kids may be influenced by older siblings."

Store manager Rob Hamilton notes that the outlet doubled its electronica section four months ago. "Most of the electronica stuff is coming from Europe—it's not U.S.-driven. One person's opinion of what style a track [fits into] is different from another. It's a very personal thing."

Fan enthusiasm of electronica has spread beyond downtown record stores. "We have more electronica product in the store than jazz or classical combined," says James Earl of the HMV store in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough. "It's 4% to 5% of my sales. If you play it in-store or get it on listening posts, it sells."

Dillon adds, "HMV has expanded its electronica sections tremendously over the past three years; Archambault does very good numbers as well."

Zwarich says, "Marketing is completely street level. You reach the kids through raves, street-level magazines, and word-of-mouth. We don't rely solely on Canada. Our biggest market is Europe—the U.K., France, and Germany."

Stickman has released 150 12-inch vinyl releases and 10 CDs. "Four years ago, we didn't have any clout," Zwarich says. "But last year, we sold over 50,000 CDs [in Canada]. We're now going to distribute our own stuff and take on some labels from the U.K." Stickman's most notable performance has been Freaky Flow's drum'n'bass compilation Obscene Underground—Volume 1, with Canadian sales of 18,000 units since being released two years ago. On May 29, California's Moonshine Records released Freaky Flow's follow-up, World Domination in North America.

Moonshine's roster includes international electronica giants Carl Cox, Christopher Lawrence, and Frankie Bones, as well as Canadian DJs Misstress Barbara, Anabolic Frolic, and DJ Brian, who moved from California to Victoria, British Columbia, two years ago.

"We made a conscious effort two years ago to build our brand in Canada," says Moonshine president Steven Levy. "The scene is still very grass-roots; the audience is educated and into the music. Sales of Anabolic Frolic's 'Happy2bHardcore' series have been fantastic. Also, Barbara's album [Relentless Beats Vol. 1] has been a phenomenon. It has scanned 8,000 units since being released in February, half in Quebec."

With 25 recordings to her credit on various international labels, Montreal-based Misstress Barbara (born Barbara Bonfiglio) also operates her own label, Relentless Records. With six releases, the 2-year-old label is distributed worldwide by the U.K.'s Prime Distribution. "Relentless very much describes who I am and what I play," says the Italian-born DJ. "My techno is very percussive."

While Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta have dynamic dance scenes, Montreal—buoyed by liberal club opening hours—is Canada's hot spot. "In Montreal, clubs serving alcohol don't have to close until 3:30 a.m.," Dillon notes. "There are also several after-hours clubs open until 10 a.m. that can accommodate 1,000 kids."

Dillon's Turbo label started three years ago as a partnership with techno DJ Tiga—also the proprietor of DNA Records, one of Montreal's first dance-oriented record shops, and co-founder of the after-hours Sona club. The label has issued 15 CDs of primarily DJ mixes, two label samplers, and eight 12-inch vinyl releases.

While Turbo focuses on Montreal DJ talent—including Lafleche, Mateo Murphy, Dune, Nytol Booth, and Fred Everything—Dillon and Tiga look elsewhere. For 1999's Stockholm Mix Sessions, it utilized the mixing skills of Swedish DJ Jasper Dahlback. Turbo is now releasing Soundtrack Saga, the first full-length North American release by Sweden's Peter Benisch. The album, licensed for North America from Germany's i220 label, was released June 12 in the U.S. and is due June 29 in Canada.

While Universal, BMG, and Sony—plus independent compilation labels Popular and SPG—frequently release electronica product, the Canadian marketplace is dominated by independent distributors Koch International in Toronto and Distribution Fusion III in Montreal. Fusion handles domestic imprints Nordic Trax, Play, Public Transit Recordings, Nude Recordings, and Substractif; Germany's Studio K7 and Compost; the U.K.'s Hed Kandi, React, and Slinky; France's Yellow Productions and Versatile; and the U.S.'s OM, Mute, Kinetic, Guidance, Choo Choo, and Sweet Mother Recordings.

Koch distributes domestic labels Bombay, Turbo, Dance Plant, Vinyl Syndicate, and Wars; U.S.-based Moonshine, Ultra, Centaur, Phatt Phunk Records, and Mixconnection; and the U.K.'s Moving Shadow and Acid Jazz.

"Our scene evolves quicker than the majors can figure out," Acquaviva explains. "They can't really package it well."

Koch International marketing coordinator Mark Costain suggests that the fast-moving character of electronica dampens major-label interest. "The shelf life of a DJ-mixed CD isn't much, because the music changes so fast," he says. "Bigger releases average 7,000-10,000 units, and lesser names, 2,000-3,000 units."

"The major labels have stayed out of it because they don't get it," Misstress Barbara adds. "It is definitely a very pure music which is growing in its own time."