around the same time that I started getting non-stop film and TV work, and production work for other artists as well." Among the writing gigs was the bacterially catchy theme song for hit French talk show Tout le monde en parle. "It's great to have something like that.
I hear it on ringtones in supermarkets and it always freaks me out a little bit." Not one to rest on his ringtones, Borcar, in addition to the running of his long-standing indie imprint Semprini Records, is about to launch a second label, Signed By Force. The first to benefit from the new love are long-time heavy scene hitters Bionic and Starvin Hungry as well as relative babes in the woods Trigger Effect, punk and heavy rock influenced acts all.
So why in bloody hell would anyone want to bring a record company into the world in this dismal day and dark age? "Well, I mean, I already have one label and I figure it's in my nature - I have enough problems so I may as well double them," laughs Borcar, who employs three others at his Plateau label HQ. "For sure, it's not very easy right now with all the downloading and all the basement-run labels - it's difficult to get visible.
" While even a small start-up may seem like a fool's errand, Borcar's been around quite long enough to know that one does not go into battle without a plan of attack. Which in this case amounts to nothing less than the product promotion equivalent of carpet-bombing. "With [Bionic, Trigger Effect and Starvin Hungry], the three albums were done before I came in the picture, and given how strongly I believe in the releases, I figured I had to come out full force like a pack of wild dogs, so I thought I'd release all three of them, like, a week apart.
" Doesn't that present its own set of unique logistical problems? "No, I'm good to go - I've been preparing for this all summer. So it's kind of like I'm killing three birds with one stone.
" That's the kind of stone you want in the rock business. Which, some will be surprised and/or pleasantly chuffed to discover, was actually this former DJ's first mistress, an age afore he started screwing around with exotic bits and beats as DJ Ram and Ramasutra. "Most people don't know that I was in Hazy Azure before," he reminds, "and I'm actually talking to the boys about re-releasing some of the old Hazy Azure material.
" Borcar was, in fact, the drummer for the Montreal hardcore unit from '86 to '91, starting when he was just 16 years old, which, in cred terms, is as close as you get to an RRSP. As it pertains to the here and now of Signed By Force, credibility is not an issue - it comes built-in with the likes of Starvin Hungry, Trigger Effect and Bionic, as Borcar is well aware. "I have yet to meet anyone who has seen one of these bands live who wasn't blown away.
" Testify! And I don't think you'll meet anyone who knows any of these bands who won't also tell you that, in large part, they're also borderline insane. "Yeah well," Borcar says, closing with the philosophical confidence of the underimpressed, "one thing I learned is that everybody's crazy, including myself, so you just deal with it.
" Signed By Force showcase at Pop Montreal featuring Bionic, Trigger Effect, Starvin Hungry and Fiftywatthead at Petit Campus (57 Prince Arthur E.), starting at 9 p.m on Oct.
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