The Aston Shuffle: YMR Interview

In between resident radio duties on Australia’s Triple J, DJ/producer duo The Aston Shuffle made good on the promise of fresh music in 2016 with new single Only 1 feat. Nathaniel S Lewis. The track has been going down a storm across the globe and it makes the remainder of 2016 set to be awesome.

Before the guys hit the road in Australia for their Only 1 DJ tour, they found some time to let us know what they have been up to in 2016 and what’s on the cards for the rest of the year, into 2017 and beyond.

We’ve followed and been HUGE fans of The Aston Shuffle for a number of years now. What have been some of your highlights over the first half of the year?

Signing to The Magician’s label, Potion – he’s such a tastemaker and someone who we admire, so being associated with his label is something we’re very proud of. Vance has been playing at some of the US Potion parties this year which have been fantastic, and will be doing some European ones later in the year. It was also pretty cool to do a mix for Kristian Nairn, aka Hodor from Game of Thrones – we became buddies with him when he came out to Australia a couple years ago, he is a great DJ and asked us to do a mix for his podcast, which aired the week he exited the show. It was sad to see the end of his character but the timing was pretty amazing for that episode of the podcast!

What’s your reaction to the support that Only 1 is getting at the moment from the likes of Pete Tong, Oliver Heldens, A-Trak and online blogs?

It feels pretty great knowing that the music we’re doing lately now is also resonating with artists like that, who we respect immensely. We’re having so much fun in the studio lately too, so it’s great to have those tracks being supported by such big names means those studio vibes are translating to the real world.

You are about to hit the road in Australia for a June & July tour in support of the new single. What can fans and newcomers expect from the shows?

A whole lot of brand new unreleased Aston Shuffle music and all-round party vibes with possibly the odd guest thrown in for good measure.

Do you have plans for a run of dates overseas in the US in support of the single?

There will definitely be overseas shows in support of this single as well as other tracks we have coming out later this year – Vance now lives in the US and is DJing regularly over there, and there’s definitely plans for US shows in support of the song.

We recently chatted to Melbourne’s Generik about his next single that you’ve collaborated on with the Styalz Fuego and A*M*E. What was the creative process like working with those guys?

The process was great. We’ve been working with the Styalz Fuego for a long time, so the creative relationship there is very strong, and we’ve played and partied with Generik a lot over the years and so getting into the studio together, the vibe was always going to be heaps of fun. A*M*E is a really talented artist and nailed the vocal and took it to another level. We’re all really proud of the outcome and have high hopes for the song.

There’s been a great number of Australian (and Melbourne) artists getting attention at home and overseas. Who are your favourite home country artists at the moment?

Australia is killing the game right now so this list is hard to narrow down, and you always realise you’ve left someone out (so apologies for that!), but our personal faves at the moment are Dom Dolla, Lo99, Young Franco, Slumberjack, Maribelle, UNO Stereo, Majerle, LTC (The Turqoise Prince).

What’s in the pipeline for the 2nd half of 2016 and beyond?

A lot of new Aston Shuffle music is in the pipeline, there’s gonna be some great tracks coming out throughout the rest of 2016. We’ve also been working on some music for other artists’ projects, which has been a lot of fun for us. And we’re holding it down every week on the Friday Night Shuffle on triple j as well, which has been as fun as ever this year.

THE ASTON SHUFFLE ‘ONLY 1’ AUSTRALIAN DJ TOUR DATES
Saturday 11th June- The Met, Brisbane
Sunday 12th June- Fat Controller, Adelaide
Saturday 18th June- Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour
Friday 24th June- The Whalers Hotel, Warrnambool
Saturday 25th June- Anyway, Melbourne
Saturday 25th June- UNO, Geelong
Friday 1st July- Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise
Saturday 2nd July- Proud Mary’s, Central Coast
Thursday 7th July- UOW Unibar, Wollongong
Friday 8th July- Mr. Wolf, Canberra
Saturday 9th July- Chinese Laundry, Sydney