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The Mole
Ever heard of Bobby Orr or the Rocket number 9? Neither had The Mole until he moved to Montreal from Canada’s west coast. And now he loves them. Perhaps there’s something magical in the humble success of these men that inspires… Who doesn’t love a reluctant hero?
Dance music fans in Victoria and Vancouver in the 1990s heard a lot of the mole in his infancy. His mentors – believing he had a natural talent – pushed him from his DJ beginnings into music production. This natural talent was, in reality, mountains of hard work consummated in secret – not unlike the rigorous discipline kung fu students undertake in those wonderful bamboo forests. For the mole, though, this retreat took the form of long winters in the French and arguably cultural capital of Canada, Montreal. Long, cold winters indeed.
It was only natural that the city’s storied disco history would fit him well. Warm people and cold nights – warming blood like so much sap in spring. The mole is often reminded of his voyageur past when navigating the graveyards of vinyl that abound in his hometown (as an 18th generation Canadian he’s very proud of his French and English roots). What could make a black-crack addict feel more at home in this cold climate? I tell you what: 7 years of residency at the Laika bar and numerous appearances at the Mutek festival.
There is also what the mole refers to as the ‘starchy root machine’. And with a title like that, it should spark some interest! Anyway, it is a performance in which a minimum of 5 turntables are all playing loops that are either manufactured or hand made. With this the mole then manipulates them, in a traditional dj sense, with some effects to bump it up (what he confesses is quite a psychedelic experience for him). And although he has – because of other projects – had to put this endeavor on the back-burner for a little while, he still gets questioned on when he will bring it back. “I’ve only ever done it in Montreal because I think the number of tables scares people, and it is fairly experimental… though terribly techno as well”.
In some ways all this begs the question of ‘why Bobby Orr and Rocket Richard’. In the end the mole insists that he’s ‘just a hockey player’. Wait that’s not right! He doesn’t even play hockey. In fact, he can barely skate! But he does love music with a humble and honest gratitude that can be heard throughout his work.