Electro house is a much maligned genre. Primarily because it’s everywhere and a large proportion of it is formulaic, throwaway bollocks. However when it’s done right, there’s no denying that it’s a right hoot. Australian trio Aston Shuffle specialise in making big, bouncy, colorful electro house that’s bursting at the seems with ideas, irresistible hooks, fat, arse-slapping basslines and beats so taut they threaten to snap.
They first came to our attention with their rampant, rowdy ‘Badonk Badonk’ remix of Malente’s ‘Killer Application’ on Moonbootica, and have had little let up in terms of quality since. Check out their new single ‘For Everyone’ – a huge, euphoric beast of a track with big synth/vocoder breakdowns in the Van She style, and the bounciest, silliest bassline this side of speed garage, or their similarly elasticated, stomping re-rub of Green Velvet’s ‘Shake & Pop’. Currently signed to Ministry of Sound Australia subsidiary Hussle, these guys are what you might call “a wee bit shit-hot” and join the likes of Hook ‘n’ Sling, Tonite Only and Tommy Trash at the forefront of the Aussie electro revolution. One-third of the Shuffle, Ross, filled us in on their vitals.
How and when were you first infected by dance music?
I caught the disease when I was 13 years old, listening to my mate's mixtapes in the schoolyard at lunch time. From there I just bought mix CDs left right and centre. It's very difficult to get into clubs when you're a fresh-faced youngster like that.
When did you start producing, and how long was it before you started making tracks that you were really happy with?
I started writing records when I was about 16, but I would say that I wasn't really happy with what I was writing until we started with the Aston Shuffle stuff. Working with other people has definitely given me a different perspective on the writing process.
What have been your personal favourite productions so far?
I don't think we have a particular favourite, each thing we've done is special to us in a different way. We always look back at our old tracks and think "Wow that's really cool, how did we do that? And why doesn't this track we're working on now sound that cool?" ‘For Everyone’ I think means the most to us though, being our first original track after a long string of remixes. To have that record received so well was a big boost for our confidence.
Where does your name come from?
Well Mikah and I originally met on the underground dancing circuit here in Canberra. It's an incredibly brutal and harsh scene. One fateful night both our partners were injured in a most unfortunate cha cha incident. Forced to work together or fade into obscurity, á la Blades of Glory, we invented a ridiculous new dance move, which we named in honour of Mikah's injured dance partner, Jenny Aston. All our opponents got totally served and we were super psyched about the name so we stuck with it.
Erm…you make seriously phat, exciting electro house – do you think too much of the genre is bland and unimaginative?
I don't think we have ever really considered ourselves part of the "electro house" sound. We certainly don't listen to electro house exclusively or try to fit ourselves inside that box. There's also a lot of bland unimaginative stuff out there in general, it's not just electro house or any other individual genre of music that suffers from a lack of imagination, but there is a lot of amazing music out there as well. We definitely have a range of influences in our music but we try to bring them together in an interesting, energetic and memorable kind of way, rather than making disposable club fodder. The key is to have your own sound, and hopefully we have accomplished that.
How comes there's so many hot electro house type producers coming out of Oz all of a sudden?
Australia
has always had a really healthy pool of dance producers, going right back to the ‘90s, but I think the explosion in electro producers is simply because that sound has been embraced so openly by the Aussie club audience. Aussie kids by and large can be a bit fickle, but when they find a sound they love they latch onto it and hold on tight, and where the kids go the producers will follow.
Who would you most like to work with?
In terms of people we'd love to write records with, people like Switch, Boys Noize, Para One, Etienne De Crecy, and Timbaland come to mind... but to be honest I think I would really love to be in the studio with a producer like Tim Goldsworthy, or even any of the guys we've already mentioned, and just lurk in the background and watch them do their thing, and try to absorb as much as possible just by observation. That's one of the big lessons I've learned from the Aston Shuffle so far - everyone has a different way of working, and just watching other people do their thing is often enough to open you up to whole new ideas.
What have you got in store for 2008?
Lots of cool stuff actually, we have just done our first mix CD called Mashed 4, together with Kissy Sell Out, which comes out in mid-April, and we will be doing an Aussie tour in support of that. Tune-wise we have just remixed a French band called Terry Poison, and we are really excited about how the mix turned out... not sure when it's coming out, but it's also featured on our the Mashed disc. Beyond that we have a new single in the works which we are finalising, plus hopefully a trip to the UK at some point this year. Fingers crossed!
What can we expect from one of your DJ sets?
Off-the-chizzain bouncy crazy arse-shakin music with an Aussie accent.
Click the pic to listen to & buy The Aston Shuffle track:
