Electronic music certainly isn’t a new phenomenon, but it’s becoming an increasingly saturated field of creative exploration. The wide distribution of digital recording tools in recent years has made dabbling with electronic production a more approachable option than ever before. Due to the new technology’s immense usability, technical know-how is no longer imperative. And just like smartphones have basically severed the facility of memory, state-of-the-art home studio software has given rise to stacks of gratuitous electronic music.
“I remember when I was a kid coming up,” says one half of The Aston Shuffle, Mikah Freeman, “if I wanted to learn how to get that great compression sound on a snare, or how to comp vocals, I’d literally spend hours and hours of my time working it out. Whereas now you can do a Google search and come up with infinite answers on how to achieve those things you’re after. So the possibilities are endless, but the signal-to-noise ratio is probably out of control.”
Freeman and his Aston Shuffle co-pilot Vance Musgrove have just signed on as Budweiser Made For Music mentors. In a nutshell, Made For Music is a brand new website devoted to fostering burgeoning talent in local electronic music. The site will give away prizes to artists of especial note, but more importantly, a group of experts will offer constructive guidance to all registered musicians.
“It’s always good to have someone there to bounce musical ideas [off] and help you with your learning curves,” Freeman says. “Myself, Uberjak’d and also the Universal Music people will be listening to every sort of clip that gets uploaded. If I was an up-and-coming bedroom producer I would certainly put myself out there and get some really good experienced ears listening to my music and hopefully get some advice that would further my music creation.”
The Aston Shuffle got their first breakthrough back in 2006 with a string of self-released remixes. They soon turned towards original production and have since become Australian festival favourites, as well as branching out overseas. The Aston Shuffle’s second LP Photographs landed in March this year, containing plenty of the exceedingly listenable yet club-ready house music they’re renowned for.
“When Vance and I were writing and learning to produce, it was basically about going, ‘OK, I really like what that person’s doing in that sound, I might try to see if I can replicate it,’ just to know how to do it. When we built up enough skill sets and started writing music together, we were trying to draw from all these influences that really resonate with us, but bring them out in our own way.
“A lot of people, when they hear an Aston Shuffle song, they kind of know it’s us. Whether it’s something downtempo or banging, it’s about really bringing your own unique vibe to your songs.”
Developing a sound of their own has allowed The Aston Shuffle’s two constituents to call music their profession for the better part of a decade now. Freeman encourages all young musicians to adopt a similar attitude.
“The tricky part is making sure you sound different or you’re adding new ideas to these same values,” he says. “I urge a lot of people when they’re starting out to just learn how to produce songs and sounds that they really love and then move onto other things. By the time you have something to say, you can kind of draw upon all those influences and have all these different skill sets to help you write what you actually want to write.”
Of course, placing too much stress on devising an unprecedented combination of sound and thought is likely to preclude some of your most exciting ideas. Retaining a spirit of adventure is also particularly valuable for cultivating a distinct artistic voice.
“When you’re young and you’re just starting out, there’s this reckless abandon that you have in all facets [of what you do],” Freeman says.
“You’re just vibing on writing music and you don’t really care about what’s going on in the outside world.
“It’s about latching onto things that you really like within certain sounds and genres and bringing them out in your own way. Sincerity is key in all things that you do. People aren’t stupid, they can tell if you’re blatantly ripping off the latest hot record in town.”
The Aston Shuffle mightn’t have churned out what you’d describe as the ‘hottest record in town’, but in the last handful of years they’ve established a solid fan base while building a repertoire they can truly be proud of. And with creating something unique as their primary goal, there’s plenty more to discover.
“It feels like we’re still going after it,” Freeman says. “We’re still hungrier than ever. What we were writing seven or eight years ago was certainly different to now, but there’s still that love and passion in what we do. We’re certainly not going to rest on our laurels.
“The music is almost like the base part of having a music career. It’s all about content; constantly being in people’s faces with social media and stuff like that.
“The game has changed a lot in the last ten years and it’s very much an adapt-or-die type of situation. [But] it beats a real job, that’s for sure.”
Photographs out now through EMI. Catch The Aston Shuffle atBaker St, Gosford on Friday October 24, theArgyle House, Newcastle Saturday November 1 andStereosonic 2014, Sydney Showgrounds Saturday November 29. For more info register with Budweiser Made For Music here.
