 14/08/2008 The Shapeshifters are Max Reich and Simon Marlin, the DJ duo that catapulted themselves to the dizzy heights of stardom in 2005 with their No.1 hit: Lola's Theme. Now they’ve signed to Defected, they tell us about their new single ‘Chime’, why a change of record label feels good, why Knuckles and Morales are such good mates and why mixing the next in the ‘Defected In the House’ compilation series makes them feel.
“Chime - a few people may have felt you cannot touch that record, it is sacrilege, but Orbital love it and that means more to us than anything else”. Max Reich.
You’ve known each other for a long time - I bet you feel like brothers now, but what was life like before the Shapeshifters got together?
Max: I didn’t have a life (laughs).
Simon: He didn’t know anybody before he met me! No, it’s funny, I guess we do have a brotherly relationship. We work and travel well together, but we have our own set of friends and lead our own lives without being in each other’s pockets. It’s a pretty good balance actually if I think about it.
Max: It’s a healthy balance and probably a testament of why we’ve been together for twelve years. The life before the Shapeshifters we were fairly successful individuals, I was releasing a lot of Techno and Electronic music and we were both DJing over in Europe. So it’s not like we came from nothing and then suddenly did Lolas Theme.
What’s the pressure like for you now that you’ve had various hits? Are your intentions always to make big radio records for your fans?
Simon:We’re just going to make the records we want to make. It’s that simple. If something slips over into the more commercial side of things, that’s fine. We don’t knock commercial success, because what is commercial success? It just means it’s something popular that people in their thousands enjoy; but for some reason in dance music it’s frowned upon. I do believe that there are people out there making records for the masses… that’s not we want to do but if the masses end up liking what we do anyway then that’s very cool with us. That’s pretty much how it was with Lola… we didn’t set out to make a huge record…. We just knew it was good.
Max: We feel that if we do something in the studio, that has commercial potential, Defected is capable of delivering it. If we do want to do something like Chime, just for the DJ and the dancefloor, the label can also deal with that scenario as well, so it’s perfect for us.
Simon: Pressure wise I don’t think we’re under much pressure today – if you are going to be releasing good dance records we don’t need to make tracks with a format song, verse, bridge, chorus - it’s just going to be a good dancefloor track. We love writing songs, but after writing so much over the past few years, it’s natural for us to go the other way for a while and it’s in our time rather than the record company’s. Saying we need this track now for the radio is when it starts to become wrong and you begin to think: “Hold on a second who are we making these records for, us or the company?”
And having your own record label enables you to have that scope?
Max: What it enables you to do is get stuff out and have the freedom to choose whatever you want to release, because it’s your own choice to sign whatever artist you believe in.
Simon: In terms of opening up avenues, you look at labels like Defected, Toolroom and CR2 - they have the 360 model; but for us we just want our label to be a vehicle to push the music which we hear and like.
You’ve said many times that Frankie Knuckles and David Morales are big inspirations to you, do you look at their careers in order to guide your own?
Simon: Ironically, Frankie has partly helped from a guidance point of view and is more of an inspiration to us. We love what both of them have done and you just have to look at some of their achievements; it’s mind boggling. Not many people have done more for the scene than those guys have, so to have a friendship out of it by default is great and we feel very privileged.
You recently remixed Orbital’s ‘Chime’, of all the big rave tunes why did you choose that particular record?
Simon: We’d been toying with the idea for a while so one day we just did it; then it turns out to be twenty years of acid house this year. I believe that record sums it all up; it’s euphoric with a great hook and a great record to remix – one of our favourites, which made it an easy choice to make.
Max: On the whole the reaction has been brilliant and more people are beginning to recognise it now. In the beginning, when we first played it, I think people thought: “Yes this is a good record”; but now, each time, you get more and more reaction and I think it’s because more people are playing it. A few people may have felt that you cannot touch that record, that it’s sacrilege; but Orbital love it and that means more to us.
You’re mixing the next in the compilation series ‘Defected In The House’, does that make you nervous?
Simon: We only to want to do a great job, but then you always want to do the best you can, however sometimes it’s down to what material is available and what you can get licensed. We’re very happy with what we have now and we’ll have it finished this week. I believe the compilation sets out our stall as to where Shapeshifters are at right now, musically, and the groove we are on; for that reason alone, I’m very excited about the release.
Max: There are three CDs; one is up-tempo, one deeper and the third is a reflection of tracks that have inspired us.
You must have some selections that particularly stand out in the new compilation?
Max: There’s that ‘ATFC bad habit 2008’ remix; it’s a brilliant mix which we’re pleased to have and also the ‘Fedde and Funkerman’ track that is a big peak time dancefloor record. Also, we’re quite proud of the remake we’ve done of Lola’s theme - Lola 08.
I hear you had difficulty getting some of your inspirational tracks for CD3?
Simon: There were a lot of records we couldn’t have, which was disappointing. When you start thinking about tracks you love and were inspired by over the years, the list gets pretty long and you want to share them with other people. Your inspirations are like a window to your own soul, so to miss out on certain ones, like Michael Jackson’s ‘Billy Jean’ - one of the first records I ever brought - was a shame; but hey, there are still some great records on there. We got the likes of ‘Look What You’ve Done To Me’, Al Green; it’s just one of my favourite, favourite records - the soul in that record just jumps out of you and sonically it’s stunning. There’s also Tears for Fears’ ‘Head over Heals’, which was from my school days and I just love the piano line in that record; it’s phenomenal.
 Max: The one thing I should say and will be mentioned in our sleeve notes, is that EMI won’t let us clear the Original Johnny Taylor: What About My Love . Obviously that was the basis for Lola’s theme, so we’re very disappointed about that and I think people will see our inspirations and think: “Where is it?” For the record, we tried it and it was first on our list, but due to politics and red tape it doesn’t look like we’re going to get it.
What does the future hold now for the Shapeshifters?
Simon:Does anyone know what the future holds? All we know is that right now it feels good and it’s funny because it’s kind of been quite a seamless transition into our new home with Defected. We feel more inspired now than ever before and we’re looking forward to getting back in the studio doing some more work.
Words: Toni Tambourine |
