[ Interview ] - DJ Shan

[Tony P]

With one of the most talked about events of the year just around the corner (Frantic/Wildchild), we at Clubtheworld with help from our friends at Frantic have taken the oppotunity to interview one of the hottest new DJ's on the Hard Dance scene. This Dj is resident at Mixmags club of the year 2002 "Goodgreef" and is set to blow Frantic/Wildchild apart.

 

We asked DJ Shan the following questions:

 

CTW - Your a Mixmag Future Hero as well as Resident at GoodGreef (Mixmag Hard Dance Club of the Year). When you started out did you think you would ever imagine this would be the case?

SHAN - Not at all, when I started out I wasn't even old enough to get into clubs, so I was too busy imagining what it'd be like to actually be in a club, never mind play in one or get this far!

 

CTW - How did your Goodgreef Residency come about?

SHAN - I got involved with Goodgreef when they started their monthlies in Yorkshire back in 2002. I'd made my name playing the smaller nights around Leeds and such, and with reassurance from strong recommendations from the guys at 4clubbers and a good friend of mine, DJ GRH, all of who had been working alongside Goodgreef at the time, they brought me into the setup to keep the local crowds happy. They were really pleased with the response, and saw potential that I could fit really well into the Goodgreef setup as a resident. It's not really commonplace for Goodgreef to take on new residents as they've all progressed together from the start, so as you can imagine I was overjoyed to be working with a club that were massively on the up.

 

CTW - You've played virtually all the big Hard Dance clubs in the UK. With

Frantic & Wildchild coming up this weekend how does playing for them differ from any other UK based event?

SHAN - For me, they're the two biggest hard dance clubs to be playing for in London. In a city the size of London, there's the capacity to put on a club event much bigger than any other city can. From playing for Frantic numerous times before and Wildchild twice last year, I know that neither do anything by halves when it comes to events of this scale. The effort shows in the production, and the line-ups are like football squad teamsheets!

 

CTW - You use 3 decks and an FX unit when mixing. Did it take you a while to master these and is it still a bit nerve racking using them all live?

SHAN - When I have 3 decks in front of me, I'll always try and get as much out of them as I can whilst not breaking the music up too much. I don't use an FX unit as such, just the effects on the DJM600 if there's one set up, though I wouldn't really call that a unit as such like EFX500 would be. It's actually a Cycloops sampler that I sometimes hook in if it's going to work well with the set I've got in mind. It triggers loops live, which is great if you want to layer tracks up and really make something else with tracks you're playing. It's nerve racking if you're mostly doing things off the hook and in the heat of the moment as you're never 100% if it's going to pull off! But if you've kinda got it worked out in your head beforehand, you kinda know how it's going to go down. I've far from mastered it, I think with things like this you're constantly learning and creating new ideas. I've tested it out a few times, at Frantic, Garlands, Goodgreef and such, and it's worked really well, so I'm more confident to use it out more now.

 

CTW - What has been your biggest and most memorable event to date and why?

SHAN - The biggest is probably last year's Creamfields, playing to a crowd of that size is just something else. The most memorable is my debut in the main room of the Tidy Weekender last year, partly because you look out and every other person you see in the crowd is someone you know, having all your best mates experience the whole thing with you is just immense. But also I was really ill at the time and had been in bed all day unable to move, suffering the effects of a dodgy chips, chicken and curry sauce from a chippy after Naughty But Nice the night before! Tidy sent me to the medic who said I should take the night off as I was due for a 200 mile dash to do last set at Frantic as well. Obviously I point blank refused. You can't come between a man and his decks.

 

CTW - And whats been your smallest event to date?

SHAN - Anyone who experienced one of the legendary 'House of Wrong' houseparties in Leeds back in the day will know what I mean! Three days, one student house, three floors, about 100 people crammed in, people hanging out of windows, music blaring out, haha...

 

CTW - Your style is much more complex than most other Hard Dance DJs with Accapellas and remix's galore. Where did you draw your influences from?

SHAN - When I first got into at 16, I didn't know anyone else who had decks who I could learn off, so got DJ tuition from a hip-hop DJ. Apart from basic mixing, he attempted to teach me scratching, beat-juggling, allsorts, none of which I managed to pick up or came in handy, except for the accapellas which he used to get me to put over instrumental house tracks. I also used to listen to Carl Cox's sets where he'd be layering tracks up, playing an accapella over the top and such, so drew a lot of inspiration from him too. Then when I started playing harder music a few years ago, no-one was really using accapellas so I thought 'everyone in house music uses them, why not try them with the harder stuff?', thankfully people liked them and it helped define a certain style I was playing at the time.

 

CTW - Why is playing for Frantic & Wildchild this weekend so special for you?

SHAN - As well as it being such a big event, it'll be my first time playing at the SEOne club. I've been there once before for Tidy London a couple of years ago now, and thought the venue was amazing. It'll most definitely be an experience playing in those arches.

 

CTW - Tell us something that you consider to be interesting?

SHAN - Roswell and whether aliens really exist!

 

CTW - Tell us something that you consider to be completely pointless?

SHAN - A brand spanking new pencil.

 

CTW - There is as always alot of talk about where the Hard Dance scene is going at present. Whats your opinion on the current state of affairs?

SHAN - Play it by ear (no pun intended there!), whatever will be, will be! Like Burger King, I'm loving it!

 

CTW - Your listed amongst an elite group of young up and coming DJs in Mixmag, The Future Heros. Who amongst your esteemed Future Hero colleagueswould you go out of your way to see play and why?

SHAN - I won't name any of the hard dance DJs as I see them about quite often, so wouldn't really have to go out of my way to see any of them. I get on well with Sonny Wharton, and really need to get along to see him play sometime, he plays a mixture of house and breaks and has a good buzz about him. Also Hatty, I used to see her all the time when she was involved in the hard house scene, but now she's off playing for Hed Kandi all over the world! I love the type of house music she plays and really need a chance to catch up with her.

 

CTW - Your not only playing at Frantic & Wildchild but carrying on the madness at Hardware in the morning. Have you played many after parties and what are your feelings on them?

SHAN - I used to play the longstanding Glasshouse afterhours club in Leeds all the time. I'm normally hallucinating by that time of the morning having been awake 48 hours! The crowd's are usually really up for it, as they're there because they really want to be there. It's not just a night out.

 

Shan

 

ClubTheWorld would like to thank Shan for his time and would like to wish him the best of luck at Frantic/Wildchild this Saturday and at Hardware the Frantic/Wildchild After Party on Sunday morning!

Edited April 8, 2004 by James