Each week, one of our invited guest producers and dj’s will create an exclusive one hour continuous mix, giving them the chance to break genre barriers, and giving you an opportunity to explore a unique soundtrack.
This week, Dublin based producer Shatterfreak steps up for a bone shattering Dubstep session.
- Champagne Dreams – PMoos – Shatterfreak’s 0% Alchohol Remix
- In the Face of – Shatterfreak
- Gold – Shatterfreak
- Last Man on Earth – Shatterfreak
- The Dark – Shatterfreak
- Shamble – Shatterfreak
- What you think – Shatterfreak
- Come with Me – Shatterfreak
- Choices – Shatterfreak
- Yeah…You – Shatterfreak
- So Let It Be Done – Shatterfreak
- Freak Freak – Shatterfreak
- Additional Perx – Shatterfreak
- Deep in the Mind – Shatterfreak
- Alone – Shatterfreak
- What have you been up to recently?
Ive been producing and playing the occasional live show in Dublin and Cork. I show up and do sets of all my own material via Ableton, although i’ve recently been bitten by the vinyl bug too. I’ve been lucky to be involved in ‘BassOff’, which turned out to be an absolutely crazy couple of nights with big crowds and a really great atmosphere at both the Cork and Dublin legs. It was really nice to see people mobilise in such numbers for an all local line up. - Dubstep has broken through from the underground, so how does your work stand out from the ‘mainstream’?
I like thick ambience and heavy bass and intricate percussive work. I don’t really have a template, i’ve done a few tracks that i consider to be quite challenging to the listener because they don’t follow the intro, drop, breakdown, drop procedure and often times these tracks are about stray thoughts or dreams. It’s basically just about having fun, if other people dig my music then obviously that makes me happy but i don’t live and die by the reception my tracks get. I never want to get stuck in a groove, which can be tempting at times when a certain vibe or sound does well. I just want to keep pushing until i crack something truly unique and interesting. Lately i’ve been told there are plenty of housey/techy vibes floating into my stuff, which is kind of cool and i’m always more than eager to get a bit of jungle thing going as well. - Who are your influences?
I’ve producing now for a little over a year. It’s been a good trip and i’ve had a lot of help from some really good people. I guess here is the place to mention people like Milyoo, Ross Alexander, Drokkr and Welfare who have basically become my sounding board when i’m mid production. I can rely on those guys to point out when stuff is off or could be stronger, so i owe them a lot. - What is the scene like in Ireland at the moment?
Ireland is actually a really hot scene right now. Folk like Reach, !Kaboogie and Gamepak have all been nice enough to give me gigs and Drokkr has sorted me out on the Cork end of things. You’ve got guys like the Standard Crew who do a pretty amazing free montly EP series which is a must have in my opinion. Wobble recently killed things by bringing over Mala which turned out to be one of the nights of the year for a lot of people i think and Ignored Playaz seem to be pretty insistent on putting on savage nights and bringing in great talent. Throw in labels like DubCulture and the !Kaboogie releases, All City, Arcoplane and Rudimentary Records to name a few and you start to get a pretty hot scene by anyone’s standards. - How are people reacting to your music?
I’m just glad to be involved in a small way, everyone I have met has been really warm and welcoming. I talk to a lot of people on line and sometimes their local scenes seem to be a bit cutthroat, in Ireland people seem to focus solely on the music and help each other out quite a bit. I guess it’s also important to mention Radio na Lifé, who have consistantly made room for shows from local people doing dubstep, drum and bass and jungle shows, basically if you like any type of underground electronica you’ll find it on that station once the sun goes down. - What motivates you to produce?
I do what i do because i was basically tired of telling myself i couldn’t do it. I’m normally good for a challange but i went through a hazy part of my life that maybe rocked my self belief a little. I was in a job i hated and that really ground me down, the opportuinity came up to leave with a bit of a golden handshake and i jumped at it, bought a new laptop and some essentials and got stuck into the music. I’m happy with the progress i have made but have a long way to go and a lot left to learn about musical theory and production. Ironically i have probably worked harder over the last year than i have ever done for any job in the past. My end goal is to just be happy with my own output and try and become more than the sum of my influences. - Do you work with a vision?
The joy of electronic music is that it can have infinite meaning, you’re not pinned down to the theme of the vocals… people can listen and interpret things how they want to. Personnally, i find great strength and happiness in a lot of dark music that other people might see as being a bit depressed or scary. I’m a firm believer in the power of interpretation, I like the fact that i can put a track out there and know exactly what it’s about and why i wrote it and see other people’s interpretations of it. Kind of like being privy to a secret that noone else knows. Music is largely a way for me to either celebrate the good things or excercise some demons while retaining my privacy.
Website : www.shatterfreak.com
Twitter : http://twitter.com/shatterfreak
Soundcloud : http://soundcloud.com/shatterfreak
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shatterfreak/
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