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Normality, Nationalism, and Dubstep: An Interview with Tattz of Trinurgy Music

Jenn Desmarais

It’s been a lucky break to get to knowing Tattz personally. I met him through a mutual friend. Through him, I was introduced to dubstep. He is the type to hang out with you in a bar, and discuss politics and philosophy for hours. However, regardless of anyone’s stance, it’s always a light hearted and enlightening chat. You never felt bombarded by it. This time our discussion went one way, without interjection.

JD: What are/were your most important influences artistically?

T: My influences are too many to mention, really. I tend to take inspiration from everything that crosses my path, but to give a general idea, anything that I do artistically comes primarily from my dreams, much like some of the surrealist painters of past generations such as Beksinski, Dali and Andre Breton to name a few well known ones…I try to create what they did via music.

JD:When did you first know that you wanted to be a musician?

T: I grew up with music…my grandfather was a solo clarinet player in the Romanian Symphonic Orchestra, and he taught me how to play violin and piano at the ages of 4 and 6 years old, respectively. It took, however, until about grade 9 in highschool for me to realize that it’s what I wanted to do professionally, after being coaxed into singing Killing me Softly by The Fugees at a lunch karaoke event in front of all of the older grades. I got a lot of applause and cheers for it and it shocked me and my acquaintances at the time. I actually took it seriously and tried to sing, so the response from the audience gave me a feeling that I fell in love with: the power of music to make a positive difference in a lot of peoples lives, and that got me addicted to performing on stage.

JD: How do you feel you relate to the title “alternative” artistically. Or how do you feel the title relates to you?

T: I have been in the “alternative” scene for about 10 years before leaving it behind recently, and I used to take it quite seriously, but now it seems to be a very pretentious and…sort of a bullshit title if I may be slightly blunt about it. It’s the scene’s greatest weakness. It’s an illusion to me because everyone is alternative in one way or another. As long as you’re an individual, you will always be alternative just by being who you are because there has never been nor will there ever be anyone like you. It’s a quintessential human trait that is inescapable even within individuals that may fall into or who even purposefully try to be part of a stereotype because they cannot run away from their individuality. To me it doesn’t relate at all because I am human, and therefore, a freak just like everyone else on this earth who is human…it’s a part of the package, and the idea of “normal” is just a psychological construct for certain people that try to hide their humanity from others. I just feel that I am more honest with myself and others when I call myself human than if I were to call myself “alternative”. The latter creates an illusion of elitism or “other” that is where a lot of conservative and sometimes fascist elements that certain scenes or subcultures end up adopting. I consider myself part of the human community…it tends to bring people together instead of separating them, and that’s closer to what my values and beliefs are.

JD: Tell me about Dubstep. Why do like working in that genre?

T: Dubstep is an umbrella term that relates to many sub-genres of electronic music that….at least to me artistically have been the glue that’s allowed me to blend all of my other musical influences and loves. Dubstep is the new punk, or the new grunge to me. It, like all the other forms of electronic music, is capable of pushing everything that more traditional genres like rock and hip hop and classical music have done to a new level of intensity, experimentation and creativity. I like working in these genres insofar as they have allowed me to evolve my music to encompass as much of all these other genres as possible in an effort to essentially bring people together. Ideally, my music has something for everyone.

JD: Are there any limitations or freedoms with dubstep that aren’t shared with other genres?

T: I think that whatever the genres that fall within the dubstep umbrella cannot do, other forms of electronic music can, and electronic music in general is the great equalizer as far as how well it can be molded and blended to compliment and fuse with every other genre imaginable…the only limits I see really are limits that are created by haters or the genre nationalists due to their inherent closed-mindedness instead of any limits inherent in the genres themselves.

JD: What do you feel you bring to the scene, both technically and personally?

T: My personality, or my dreams…I make music the only way I know how…and I always try to be as honest and true to my dreams and myself as I can be…so, much like nobody like me will ever exist after I am dead, neither will music that I am making and releasing. This is a truly unique experience to anyone who is willing to listen and hopefully enjoy what I do. I’m here to heal the world and make it a better place with the talents that I have. There is no right or wrong way to make art of any kind, technically or personally speaking, so if my approach inspires others, then I have done my job.

JD: What are you aiming for?

T: Leaving the world in a better shape than I found it. I aim to bring as much art and music into existence as I can in the time that I have to do it, because the world becomes better and more beautiful with each piece of work I leave behind. It will live longer than I and it’ll inspire or improve the lives of anyone who stumbles upon it. At least I hope so. One can only do one’s best.

JD: Where can people find / hear your work?

T: Trinurgy’s music is showcased on our Youtube and Soundcloud profiles and there are free download links available for all of our work off of Trinurgy.com and our BandCamp profile. There is also a guest DJ set performed at the F#ck Yeah Party in October where Trinurgy had the honor to mix alongside the great DJ Shok and DJ Savage. It’s not to be missed, there will be promotional video footage from that show on Trinurgy’s Youtube the moment it’s all edited.

JD: Where are you playing?

T: We are currently trying to organize a monthly DJ event in Toronto with a few connections in the music industry as well as a few close friends. Aside from that we are looking to perform at any venue in the Greater Toronto Area that’ll let Trinurgy drop the bass. For anyone who wants to be part of any future shows, make sure to follow Trinurgy on Facebook and Twitter and keep an eye out on Trinurgy.com for all official updates. We can be contacted via these same channels for bookings as well.

JD: Where do you derive your passion that drives your work?

T: The love of life and my fellow human beings…To me life is art. They’re not synonyms, they’re identical. Self expression is intrinsic to both, and that’s what Trinurgy represents: the synergy of physical, emotional and mental self expression.

JD: When did you come to Canada from Romania, and how do you feel being a Canadian has effected your work (both positively and negatively)

T: I consider myself to be an internationalist, so Canada to me has influenced me only insofar as it taught me how bankrupt the idea of nationalism really is. I don’t consider myself a Canadian, or a Romanian, I consider myself a citizen of the world. I belong everywhere and nowhere, because as long as I am among my fellow human beings, I am home.

JD: Thanks Tattz!

T: It was a pleasure, thank you.