Looking for a driving jazz tinged and atmospheric bass Heavy experience? Look no further than Shapeshifter!
{ Shapeshifter : a lesson in electronic music education that will put Dj’s to shame }
Heralded as a musical phenomenon for their ground breaking live shows and unique blend of heavy soul/drum and bass, Shapeshifter are a gang of five musicians that you need to tune your eyes and ears into.
Their reputation as pioneers of modern music was built by a distinctive approach to electronic music which had previously been restricted to computer based studio musicians and has earned them widespread critical acclaim. Can you imagine a drummer thumping down beats with ghost notes that aren’t so ghostly, a saxophonist, percussionist, guitarist, keyboardist and a soulful lyricist that would put a smile across Marvin Gaye’s face?
Their third studio album, Soulstice was released in August 2006, it entered the New Zealand national charts at remarkable Number 4 and spent over 2 months in the top 20, they also reached number 1 on the independent charts. In 2006 they were awarded Best Live Act, Song of the Year for “Bring Change” and Album of the Year for Soulstice. Early 2007 saw Shapeshifter release Soulstice in Australia and the Europe with the first run of albums selling out in just 5 days. Not bad for “JUST” a drum and Bass group ….right?
Last month Supersub’s whacked-out reporter, Errin Fawcett caught up with Shapeshifter’s bass player and keyboardist, Nick Robinson to find out what makes the band TICK.
First of all could you describe your sound in your own words?
Heavy Soul deep fried in Deep drum and bass, with a sprinkle of Hip hop, dub and a drizzle of jazz…then smoked in a creamy layer of reggae sauce.
Ummm…sounds delicious
The press in the UK seem to think that Drum and Bass is dead. What do you think about this?
I hadn’t thought about it too much…but I’m not sure that any music in this modern age will die like it did in the 20th century. There seems to be new movements and developments in all music…from Hip Hop to Country. I remember when Rock and Roll was dying...Techno and Hip Hop were taking over...but it never happened...Rock lives on stronger than ever! Drum and Bass to me is divided into two groups, the stuff I like and the stuff that I think is shit, and that’s the same for all music. There's good music and shit music in everyone’s eyes. Drum and Bass in New Zealand is bigger than it’s ever been amongst 18 yr olds.
What are your thoughts on the current state of music with so much being downloaded from the net (illegally) ?
Well, it could all turn into a pile of shit..but I have a feeling there'll be some internet police in about 5-10 years...proper ones. It’s kind of like the Wild West at the moment, a lawless society and that can’t go on for ever. Personally I don’t know, I’m sure we've lost money from people downloading our music but my main concern is spreading our music around, not to make money. I think downloading is sometimes a good way to find out about music that’s not playing constantly on commercial radio and TV. For example, I (shhhhhh…don’t tell anybody) downloaded a couple of MF Doom tracks off limewire. I grew to love his music and now I must have at least 4 MF Doom cds and about 5 of his records. That’s a lot of money I’ve spent because I downloaded 2 or 3 songs to check him out. People enjoy buying music and they enjoy collecting it. Forget the people who don’t like to look at covers and inlays, the people who only like looking at how many mp3s they have in their library, and telling people all about it. We make music for the music lovers…and even if they don’t end up buying a real copy, they still probably come to the shows.
The band live across Aotearoa (NZ) and Australia. How difficult is this as a band? And how often do you get together?
It doesn’t seem to affect us, well if anything it’s a positive thing. We spend about half the year together touring, basically living on top of each other, so its nice once its over to go home and get some space. It’s great flying in to start tours from all over the place, catching up with everyone, everyone gets there smart mouth on and it ends up being classic funny ole time. Then we go home to our own lives. I look forward to seeing all the boys before a tour; I think living apart has maybe kept us as best friends in a weird way.
Do you have a busy tour schedule planned for 2008?
We did have but have since postponed so we can record our new album. We will be going to Europe in the middle of the year but apart from that not much else on the cards .
"we smoked a big dooob and had the most soulful moody beautiful jam"
You guys are constantly mixing up where you perform and who you perform with. I myself saw you perform at the New Years Eve ‘Big Drop Off’ gig with Ladi 6 and dub/reggae outfit, Fat Freddy’s Drop. Last year you performed with an orchestra and shared the stage with metal heads, Tool during their tour of Australia. Why the mixture of different music genres? Do you enjoy this more than playing a strictly Drum and Bass festival?
We all love pretty much every form of music there is..all 5 of us are serious music junkies. Its all we talk about, its an obsession. So we appreciate all flavors, and I know I enjoy having an open mind and being surprised into something new. So we get a lot of inspiration from all kinds of bands. Its nice to play alongside other genres too, for example we love the challenge of playing those mellow daytime slots, where there might be a folk artist before, and the crowd is a sleepy non rave crowd. We have to reach for different tricks out of the bag, play differently than we would if we were coming on at 2am in a sweaty bangin low roof club scene. Those Drum and Bass gigs are an equal level of fun, just different. One of my favourite gigs ever musically was in Byron Bay years ago, we were opening for someone, and we had to start while everyone was still having dinner. SO we smoked a big dooob and had the most soulful moody beautiful jam and were kind of forced into adapting to the scenario. Mix it up and mash it up.
How did performing with Tool come about and what is your best memory of that night?
Tool were performing a side show in Melbourne during the Big Day Out tour, and they were required to have a support band so the 'heavy metal crowd' wouldn’t grow unruly before Tool came on...I guess there's some intense Tool fans somewhere. They picked us to open for some reason or another. I heard a rumor their chef was a kiwi guy, spreading the good word! My best memory of the night was probably having Danny (Tool's drummer) jumping and whoop whooping round on the side of the stage right beside me, I was trying not to look at him thinking "nah that’s not him" when I looked again I realized that really was him. Then I nervously stumbled thru the rest of the gig. The Tool guys were real nice.
Did the audience respond well to a Kiwi Drum and Bass outfit opening?
It was nerve racking, but we decided to play our heaviest smashing kind of songs, and in between songs just talked up tool rather than ourselves. I think they liked it?
You guys all seem to have solo projects happening. Are there any releases due out soon? Do you feel that having solo projects helps retain your versatility in style?
Yes Devin is in the later stages of finishing his next Pacific Heights release, which I’ve heard some of and its some freaky shit! Look out for that one coming soon. Also we got some vinyl releases 7" packs of various truetone artists including pacific heights, 10" packs, of the same. Its important to have these outlets, its hard when there are 5 headstrong guys writing music. Its like a raging river you can get swept along and songs can end up where you don’t like them anymore. You have to have a lot of give and take, and a lot of trust in others taste in music. We do have a policy that we all have to like an idea or it gets scrapped. Writing by yourself is quick and fun, and you can explore crazier ideas and develop your own skills faster, which in turn can be applied back to Shapeshifter which is all of our main focus.
"We originally started with the aim to replicate the DJ, but that was more of a pisstake approach"
What’s the next vinyl release, and who is on the mixing boards this time around? A remix of ‘ONE’ perhaps?
Yeah coming out soon we’ve got ‘Electric Dream’ remix from State of Mind, and also ‘One’, with a remix from D-bridge.
So the new album will not be out until late this year then? What can we expect?
There’s no due date yet... giving a due date for any album is just a fat lie. But I would say early next year. We have all been discussing album stuff, and what might come out in the end, and it’s hard to know. We will just write the best songs we can I suppose. We have made a few jumps in our recording abilities, and we will be recording the album in a proper studio, like a band, not in a stinky little bedroom like we once would have done. This album is going to be more live, more experimental, and even more raw then ever before.
" we will be recording the album in a proper studio, like a band, not in a stinky little bedroom"
Will there be any collaboration’s on the next album?
Last album we jammed with lady 6 and Killa Puha, and those two individuals are nuts to work with in the studio. So fast and so professional. Lady turned up with nothing, sat in front of the speakers listened to her backing track twice then said "sweet lets do it" and she'd written music and lyrics just like that to 'In the Rain' (the bands most popular track yet). KP (Killa Puha) made us record his vocals until 9 in the morning; he just wouldn’t stop until he got it perfect. SO working with those two would be great but nothing has been finalized yet. Lady 6's partner in crime 'Parks' is someone we would love to have on the album too. But it all depends so much on the songs themselves, what we feel they need, who would suit what song.
Is there an Asian tour on the books? And can we expect you guys in Bangkok anytime soon?
We would love to tour Asia… nearly more then anywhere else but we haven’t quite come up with a way to get there yet...meaning we need to be asked to play somewhere first to build a following. It just costs too much to get everyone there when we're not guaranteed that anyone will know who Shapeshifter are. So if there’s anyone reading that wants to put on a gig, help us come over and just break even, bring it on!!
Is there one group that you would love to share the stage with?
There are so many. That’s a hard question. Maybe Cinematic Orchestra
Is there a stage that you would love to perform on but haven’t yet?
We like the idea of playing in little famous clubs that have had legends there in the past like the basement in Sydney, there is some history there! And we played the electric ballroom in London which had the same vibe. We are about to play at Shepherds Bush in London which we have been wishing we could do for ages. I think Bob Marley played there.
What was your biggest memory of 07?
Probably our sept-october Australasian-European tour, that was a funny ole time. We had good gigs, we sold out 2 quite big shows in London, and the same in Amsterdam. We finished the tour with a week holidaying in Amsterdam and it was Madness. We discovered all these amazing record shops, and then traveled to Rotterdam and found even more…they were like basements full of old records. Apparently Holland is where Europe sends its excess vinyl. Yeah that’s a good memory.
Who do you think will be (and deserves to be) the next big thing in Drum and Bass?
I really like 'State of Mind' ...they breathe such creative life into everything they do.
Who do you think will be the next group to come out of NZ?
Maybe Liam Finn? Im not sure, Fat Freddy's Drop.. i cant say because I don’t live there...but look out for the Electric Confectionaries they’re good, The Little Bushman (Maxwell from Trinity Roots), Kora, Tiki Taane (Salmonella Dub)...its hard to say coz its not about just being good - there has to be some luck involved too. Being in the right place at the right time, having good management.
Kia ora
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