Julien Collet: Boring question maybe, but what everybody around here wants to know is: We all know Montreal is offering an incredible amount of quality shows and a good amount of them are international and brought by you guys, what differentiates ILoveNeon from other big names such as SaintWoods and LookOut?

John Hatz: I think every promoter offers their own perspective that makes them unique to one another – it’s hard to say what the difference is, but there is one – when you go to a NEON event, it just feels different, but it’s because we worked on it – it’s style, design, you can’t really figure out why – but you can tell when we’re involved & when we’re not, even when the same show is put on by a different promoter.

To get specific about it – I think there’s a difference in the sound too, everyone does their own version of what they think electro is, we do a range, they do a range, sometimes we overlap on some artists, but mostly we have very different sounds if you really look deep.

Julien Collet: In my opinion, 2009 was not the best year for ILoveNeon, in the sense that a lot of things happened internally and the public face of your corporation was overshadowed. What exactly caused this to happen?

John Hatz: I disagree, I think 2009 was a great transition year for us, we did some great shows: Tiga, Audion, Kap Bambino, Simian Mobile Disco, mixhell, hercules & love affair, boys noize, danger, Crookers, Major Lazer, fever ray, alter ego, Felix Cartal, adam beyer, clive henry, felix da housecat, datarock, teenage bad girl, a-trak, motor, mehdi, juan maclean, MSTRKRFT, Sébastien Tellier, The Faint, Ladytron, Bloody Beetroots, etc…

But I get what you’re saying, 2010 was a more interesting year musically and we did a lot more shows. I think the answer to your question is simple, the truth is when you’ve been in this game as long as we have (15+years) you’re going to have some years that aren’t as good as others. Music changes, we change, sometimes you need to adjust, & find yourself again, this shows in the events you do. Sometimes it’s just luck, you get lucky with good smart bookings, sometimes there’s nothing available really.

Julien Collet: With the sound control « scandal » at SAT, one of your favorite venue, where are you guys thinking on investing money for future events? What is your favorite place?

John Hatz: The sound « scandal » is not SAT’s fault, it’s the city, the police, the asshole who buys a condo on René-Lévesque and St-Laurent and expects it to be quiet; the system in this city is the problem. Year after year « nightlife » drives the economy and the tourist industry & we’re always the first to get f*cked over by the cops, no one ever respects the contribution we make to the city, we do 70 shows a year now, that’s 70 nights where security guards, bartenders, sound men, light men, managers, bus boys are all making money…… Regardless SAT will fix the problem & we were lucky to move our shows, JFK will be at Juste Pour Rire & Buys P will be at Club Soda. Other than SAT (which is our home) I guess Juste Poure Rire, Club Soda, Metropolis, Le Belmont & Foufounes Electriques are all my faves.….

Julien Collet: Your organization maybe was less active last year but starting with the NYE Party, 2010 looks like an amazing year for you guys! Unfortunately, Steve Aoki’s show was postponed but all the comments I heard from people around were saying only one thing: « How did these guys solved such a huge problem in such a small amount of time » Yes, there were angry people, as always, but do you think what happened with Steve Aoki is a good example of how efficient and reliable ILoveNeon is?

John Hatz: You have to be ready for anything – it’s a miracle to me we have had so little cancelations, you always have to be prepared with a plan b, shit happens, people miss their flights, flights get cancelled because of bad weather, people get sick…. We are just prepared in advance for things to come undone – I always keep a « hope for the best while expecting the worst » attitude.

Julien Collet: To conclude, the 2010 shows line-ups are impressive, seems like you chose to replace some old Boys Noize/A-Track formulas with delectable Hoyl Ghost, LCD Soundsystem, Delorean, Claud Vonstroke and many more! Are you adjusting your guests according to the crowd’s taste?

John Hatz: Well we’re a good team, but to be honest we just book what we like – there’s no « formula ».