Life of the PARTY

Call him any name, he'll still be Von Party to you. And to your little sister, too. Thomas Sontag has recently made a comeback in Montreal's nightlife and you could say he doesn't do things à moitié : he has opened for various high-profile guys (Boys Noize, Headman, Tiga), has headlined a short-lived weekly at Green Room, started managing a supergroup (Tropicana) and is currently curating a new weekly, happening on Wednesdays at Lola Lounge, and called Coconutz.



He took some time to sit down between two martinis and answered a few of our indiscreet questions.


Prior to appearing under your new disguise as Thomas Von Party, syndicated party monster, where were you ?

Living a quiet, married, hippy life. Cooking, making my own yogurt and sprouts, earning a living making puppets dance.


Where have you buried the Lord of the Marionnette ?

It's cool how a new generation of party goers has emerged here in Montreal that has never seen the puppet live... I'm actually working on the comeback right now. I love the puppet... it's never left my heart. I want to do puppet videos for all the Turbo releases. I think it could get huge.




We know that there's not much to intellectualise about partying so much, but we secretly suppose that you have a special party philosophy. Can you share it with our readers ?

There's this wicked Australian club called 'Honkey Tonks' and their motto is 'Serious about dancing'. That's pretty much how I feel, although my tired ass is certainly not always up to the task. I think it has a lot to do with having just gotten a taste of Raves in the early 90s, both vicariously through my brother, in Goa, as a kid, and at a few really amazing parties in Montreal a long time ago... full-power 24 hour acid dance... that's my party philosophy. I just want to create the right conditions for the music to dictate the vibe and open up all our party chakras. Bom shankar!


You have a big brother trying to capitalise on your growing fame... how does that feel ?

I'm happy to help him out -- but between you and me... he's going nowhere.


What's your level of implication with the Turbo label ?

I just started working on promotion, web and myspace stuff, event planning, some A & R under Tiga, keeping up with all the artists and DJ's and magazines and just basically trying to put Turbo back where it should be. The new releases are really really good. We should be doing an official Turbo party in Montreal in the next few months too.




You have a weekly at Lola Lounge with some of the city's most twisted scenesters... I've heard and seen scary things. What can the average electro lover expect if he dares to show up ?

I'm sure the 'average' electro-lover, if there is one, would be excited about the music, but the night is definitely not 100% electro. They might walk in while I'm playing Fleetwood Mac and be pissed and request like Tiefschwarz... you can never keep everyone happy. The night is dope though. There are always hot guys and girls of all possible sexual orientations, lots of friendly freaks and anomalies... the best Montreal has to offer!


You'll be playing with Boys Noize again on Sept. 1st at S.A.T. to kick off the "Neon Nights" festival. Do you feel the pressure ?

No no no! I feel the PLEASURE. I love playing at S.A.T., love Boys Noize, I'm sure its going to be a kick-ass party. And it's redemption time after Boys Noize's last trip to Mtl, where he played at Mile End and the W to a total of like 50 people.




Are you looking forward to play at Piknic ?

Totally! the sound is great and it's my big chance to infiltrate a completely different scene: French-Canadian minimal cowboy-house, get ready Von Party!!!


What can we expect from Von Party in the near future ?

A new series of events at SAT, some headline gigs, a website, mix cds, trance, and hopefully some finished tracks. And 2007 is the year of the puppet.

Von Party is gettin' busy. You can catch him every Wednesday at Lola Lounge, where he hosts his Coconutz night. He'll be opening for Boys Noize at SAT on Friday Sept. 1st, for Steve Bug at Piknic on Monday Sept. 4th, and will have the Main Hall all to himself on Friday Sept. 8th.