Cooljunkie Interviews The Shapeshifters

October 12, 2009 9:00 AM
by Marcos Colón

Electronic music isn’t about having loads of equipment and giving yourself a DJ name. It’s more than that. It’s about having soul, rhythm and taste in sounds, whether they’re wind instruments or discordant bleeps and squeaks. That how we feel about the genre, and we happen to share the same sentiment with two of the UK’s most popular DJ/Producers, The Shapeshifters. The house music production duo from West London have been extremely busy as of late, just wrapping up a residency in Ibiza, working on pop remixes for Natalie Imbruglia and Empire of the Sun, as well as on their own music.

Recently CoolJunkie caught up with The Shapeshifters own Simon Marlin and chatted about the development of EDM in America, what it takes to be a good DJ, and if they’ll work on more pop remixes.

CoolJunkie: You guys just came off of a residency at Pacha in Ibiza. How was that for you guys?

Simon Marlin:Amazing, its always a joy to play and a privilege to play at Pacha.

CJ: You're currently on tour in the U.S. How do you think the development of electronic music in America is doing?

Simon Marlin: It’s quite interesting the amount of main stream artists that are finding a love of electronic music, for example people like Kelly Rowland working with David Guetta etc. It’s healthy. We’ve only got our experiences to draw on from recent times of our times touring in the US and every time we come over it seems to get bigger for us, which is obviously a good thing.

CJ: You're about to play in Miami at Mansion. How do you like playing Miami outside of Winter Music Conference?

Simon Marlin: It definitely is a different experience. When the conference is on there it’s more of a dance/party culture if that makes sense. When it’s not on it’s more of a VIP crowd. To see tables in the middle of the dance floor is a little strange to me. I have read lots of good things about Mansion so we are really excited to go.

CJ: What are some of your favorite cities to play in the U.S.?

Simon Marlin:? LA! We did Vanguard the last time we were here and it was amazing, also NYC. Cielo is still one of the most amazing places we have ever played. It’s not the biggest club, but it’s just got the best vibe.

CJ: When it comes to technology and dance music, do you believe it's only getting easier for anyone to be able to DJ? And if so, what do you think that would mean to the future of dance music and its artists?

Simon Marlin: I have been asked this question lot recently. It might be easy to buy the equipment such as the computer etc, just in the same way it is easy to buy a guitar or a drum kit but the difference is whether you are actually good at it or not. So things are still the same, some people are brilliant and some people are shit! Some will only progress so far. Just having the equipment doesn’t make someone any good. Doing electronic music is no easier than playing an instrument, it has to be heartfelt and properly produced.

CJ: What music do you guys relax to after a big show?

Simon Marlin: I like to walk my dogs with my wife, watch Arsenal and play football, quite normal stuff really.

CJ: We've heard the remix you did on Natalie Imbruglia's single, Want, and we loved it. Will you be working on any other pop remixes in the near future?

Simon Marlin: We only like to do so many remixes a year and we turn down more than we take on. We have to really love it - like Empire of the Sun and so on.

CJ: What can we expect from you guys in for the remainder of the year?

Simon Marlin: There is a big project we are working on at the moment so lots of studio time!

Click here to hear more from The Shapeshifters.