Montreal producer Ghislain Poirier has always been about blurring genres and breaking down boundaries. His music as Poirier blends elements of electronica with rhythms from soca, hip-hop and dancehall and his album Running High won him a Juno nomination in 2011. Poirier's new project as Boundary, meanwhile, pays homage to some artists and sounds he grew up listening to — such as the early output of the famed Warp Records and the minimal techno of fellow Canadian Plastikman — as well as pushing his own sound into new areas.
"It was deeply rooted in one of my first loves in electronic music," the producer tells Exclaim! of his newly released self-titled Boundary album. "And I'm talking about the '90s of Warp Records, when Intelligent Dance Music was in full effect with Autechre and Aphex Twin, which was a huge influence for me."
Despite being more cerebral music for home listening, those infectious Poirier riddims are still present, albeit in a much subtler manner. "While a lot of acts on Warp Records were very intellectual, geeky and abstract, I felt like I could bring something a bit more, perhaps 'human' to that sound that I love," he explains.
Being significantly different from the dancefloor music he is known for, Poirier decided he needed a new moniker for this work and settled on Boundary.
"I didn't have any preconceptions of having to do a certain track, just to be open-minded to my own creations," he explains, "and after five or six tracks I saw a direction, and Boundary was the result of that. I still love doing dancehall and soca and all kinds of dancefloor music, but I felt like my brain needed a balance and Boundary is my balance."
Poirier will be presenting the live premiere of the Boundary show at this year's MUTEK Festival, running May 29 to June 2.
"Boundary's only for live shows, almost never as a DJ, and I'm gonna have a drummer, Chris Olsen. We've done shows together before and he plays on the album, so it's just natural to have him on stage with me."
As Boundary, the duo have a few festivals planned this summer, and in next year, they plan a more audio-visual performance, with a third member bringing projections to the set.
Poirier also hinted that he has another remix project coming up, in a similar vein to his curation of last year's Ariane Moffatt remix EP, but he remained tight-lipped about who the project is for. Fans will just have to wait and see.
The Boundary LP is out now courtesy of Fontana North. For more from our interview with Boundary click here.
"It was deeply rooted in one of my first loves in electronic music," the producer tells Exclaim! of his newly released self-titled Boundary album. "And I'm talking about the '90s of Warp Records, when Intelligent Dance Music was in full effect with Autechre and Aphex Twin, which was a huge influence for me."
Despite being more cerebral music for home listening, those infectious Poirier riddims are still present, albeit in a much subtler manner. "While a lot of acts on Warp Records were very intellectual, geeky and abstract, I felt like I could bring something a bit more, perhaps 'human' to that sound that I love," he explains.
Being significantly different from the dancefloor music he is known for, Poirier decided he needed a new moniker for this work and settled on Boundary.
"I didn't have any preconceptions of having to do a certain track, just to be open-minded to my own creations," he explains, "and after five or six tracks I saw a direction, and Boundary was the result of that. I still love doing dancehall and soca and all kinds of dancefloor music, but I felt like my brain needed a balance and Boundary is my balance."
Poirier will be presenting the live premiere of the Boundary show at this year's MUTEK Festival, running May 29 to June 2.
"Boundary's only for live shows, almost never as a DJ, and I'm gonna have a drummer, Chris Olsen. We've done shows together before and he plays on the album, so it's just natural to have him on stage with me."
As Boundary, the duo have a few festivals planned this summer, and in next year, they plan a more audio-visual performance, with a third member bringing projections to the set.
Poirier also hinted that he has another remix project coming up, in a similar vein to his curation of last year's Ariane Moffatt remix EP, but he remained tight-lipped about who the project is for. Fans will just have to wait and see.
The Boundary LP is out now courtesy of Fontana North. For more from our interview with Boundary click here.
