Black Tiger Sex Machine has been one of those trios that is constantly striving to make their sound and message cohesive, growing, and all around badass. Patrick Barry, Marc-André Chagnon and Julien Maranda have completely evolved into this unstoppable force, with their deck setup and helmets constantly upping the ante on production style and throwing down across some of the biggest stages in the world. With their latest EP, Download the Future, adding another piece to the growing universe of Kannibalen, fans are eager to see where this story goes in the growing discography. The two tracker starts off with their collab track with Blanke, “Hacker”. A curious flurry of synth climbs filter into the scene before we’re met with an increasingly ominous melody. Then with classic BTSM style we’re smacked into those driving rhythms. Blanke sends our hearts into a racing BPM, underpinning the track with hard hitting basslines, while giving us a look into the underbelly of hacking the system. “Download the Future” really let’s us have it with their trademark mixing of gritty bass, bright synth work, and drop-to-your-knees moments that give you just a breath between it all.
We had a chance to ask BTSM about their latest EP, what is to come in the Kannibalen storyline, their future plans and more.
RR: You just released your latest EP Download the Future, and we can definitely feel a shift in your level of production and evolution of style. What was your main focus with this latest project?
BTSM: Whatever we create we always want to tell a story. That story also needs to find a place into our live shows. We feel very fortunate to be able to play some of the biggest festivals in EDM at the moment so we spend hours on perfecting our live show, from visuals, to lighting, to the music. If you come see us play over the Summer, you will feel a direct connection between the visuals and some of the new songs we play. Our music is an experience; just like a movie we try and take the fans on a journey. As far as production goes, we have brand new Kannibalen Records studios in Montreal and we feel it’s been making a big difference on the mixing and mastering side.
RR: What was it like collaborating with Blanke?
BTSM: Simply put, extremely fun. He’s an amazing producer and such a nice person. He should be on everyone’s radar for 2019!
RR: Looking back at the beginning of your discography to now, we are always transported into this story in this universe you created. Where will we go next in the saga?
BTSM: Here’s an actual snippet taken from our upcoming storyline:
‘The Church soldiers are quiet on the journey. The group arrives at the base’s entrance in a dusty canyon filled with rusty vehicle carcasses. They ride in silence down a dark, narrow tunnel deep into the mountain, eventually reaching a heavy steel door with an ancient-looking control panel. One of the helmet-wearing men softly taps a combination on the panel, and suddenly the gate opens up’.
RR: Looking at the artwork that is always partnered with your music, we get some comic book inspirations. Would you say they play a part or are the inspirations drawn from elsewhere?
BTSM: Comic book, not necessarily, but Anime 100%. Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Spirited Away, and Attack on Titan are all huge inspirations. We also love cyberpunk environments like Blade Runner. But I would go further by saying that we have our own world now. So at the moment the inspiration comes mostly from within the story we created. It’s a beast of its own!
RR: Are there any upcoming artists you plan to work with on Kannibalen Records? How has it been to grow that family?
BTSM: At the moment we are finishing a remix for someone that we can’t name yet and then hopefully starting some more collabs. Currently we’re mostly building the new live show. Now that the new EP is out we will focus on creating our best experience yet for festival season 2019.
Having a label and seeing all the artists touring and taking over the world is probably the thing we are most proud of. We’re such a strong label family.
RR: What is in store for BTSM’s 2019?
BTSM: A loooooooot of festivals to announce. Many new international shows in Europe, Asia, Australia and hopefully some new places we haven’t been yet. Hundreds of new visuals for the live show, and the announcement of our biggest project so far (that’s the most we can say for now).
RR: So we have loved your “I Said BTSM, not BDSM” shirt. How often did people mistake the name and who came up with the design?
BTSM: Haha well it’s been an ongoing joke with the fans. Especially when fans text their parents they’re going to a BTSM show and their cell phone auto-corrects it to BDSM!
RR: If you could have your dream B2B at your dream festival, who is the artist and what festival?
BTSM: JUSTICE at Electric Forest OR a massive Kannibalen Records B2B at our own festival one day… KANNIBALAND 😉
We thank Black Tiger Sex Machine for taking the time to answer our questions. You can stream their latest EP, Download the Future, on Spotify and SoundCloud now. Keep up to date through the socials below for their latest music releases and festival announcements.
Photo cred: Karel Chladek
Connect with Black Tiger Sex Machine:
https://www.facebook.com/official.btsm
https://twitter.com/officialBTSM
https://soundcloud.com/blacktigersexmachine
https://www.instagram.com/officialbtsm
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