Shan: The Ransom Note Mix
Based in Frankfurt Shan might have already been a familiar face amidst the locals, however, his international presence is most certainly on the rise. The producer is perhaps best known for his interaction with Gerd Janson's Running Back imprint on which he has released a string of EP's and collaborated. He has worked closely with Tuff City Kids and has further released on the likes of Beats In Space, Edhid and The Healing Company. His dynamic take on house music is progressive yet draws upon formative roots within the genre, a fiercely talented disc jockey he is very much in demand. We are delighted to have him contribute to our mix series.
Listen and read the interview below:
Please introduce yourself… Who are you, where are you and what are you?
– My name is Victor, I’m sitting in my home studio here in Lorsch right now and I am a music lover.
What does your music sound like?
– I don’t know, you tell me.
How did you first come to release on Beats In Space, what’s the story behind that?
– I met Tim the first time when he was playing at Robert Johnson a few years ago He just had put my first Running Back release on his best of the year list and I wanted to thank him for that. We kept in contact, I sent him some edits and new releases now and then and also those two tracks that got released.
Has Frankfurt had an influence upon your sound?
– The nights at the Robert Johnson club were very influential.
Where was the mix recorded?
– At my home studio.
What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?
– A darkened room with headphones on or while driving in your car through the night.
What should we be wearing?
– Naked with an e2e4-chessboard body painting all over or home made superhero costume.
What would be your dream setting to record a mix: Location/system/format?
– I like it best at home, but to complete a real nice setup I’d love to call an Alpha Recording Systems or original Urei/Bozak mixer my own. Format would be straight to hard disk so I edit the shit out of the mix afterwards.
Which track in the mix is your current favourite?
– Winston Anderson – Lady Of The Night
What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?
– It’s really hard to choose one and I just can’t decide, sorry. But this are my top ten favourite mixes:
– Ame – Fabric 42
– DJ Q-Bert – Demolition Pumpkin Squeeze Musik
– Linkwood and House Of Traps – Resident Advisor Mix 148
– House Of House Fabric Promo Mix
– DJ Deep – City to City Mixes
– Gerd Janson & Prins Thomas, Boilerroom 2012
– Maleet – Papichulo Breaks
– DJ Haitian Star – The Torch With The Blue Flame
– Andy Votel – Music To Watch Girls Cry
– DJ Arsch – DJ Arsch
If you could go back to back with any DJ from throughout history, who would it be and why?
– Electrifying Mojo, I would invite myself to his late night radio show, perhaps on the night when „Sharevari“ was played the first time. From what I can gather from all the little pieces of interviews, radio show snippets etc that available on the web, he seemed to be a person who put music first and, as history proved, was a real good and influential selector.
What was your first DJ set up at home and what is it now?
– 1x technics 1210, Gemini PMX-7 mixer and belt drive turntable from my fathers hi-fi
– 2x technics 1200, vestax PMC-26 mixer, 2x Pioneer XDJ 700
What’s more important, the track you start on or the track you end on?
– Last track.
What were the first and last records you bought?
– Captain Sensible „Wot!“ 7inch, ordered it based on the cover from a mail order together with some cheesy neon posters, typical late 80s style. I didn’t like the record at that time though.
– Genesis – Drum Talk/Forever Drums 7inch reissue on dug out.
If this mix was an edible thing, what would it taste like?
– Pan full of leftovers, with lots of spices.
If it was an animal what would it be?
– A chameleon.
One record in your collection that is impossible to mix into anything?
– Can’t remember a particular one.
Upcoming in the world of…
– my new ep on EDHID is just out today
– two edit/remix 12inches together with Gerd, one for Running Back and one for Midland’s Regraded sublabel
– a few remixes
– cassette mixtape for Far Away Tapes
– perhaps a new Running Back later this year
– mini lp on EDHID after the summer
– live project together with a friend and
– hopefully a solo live set later this year (but I've been saying this for at least 2 years now)
Anything else we need to discuss?
– Perhaps a few words about the mix: I wanted to do something different and start out right in the middle of your typical mix and then work my way backwards to the beginning and then started all over again to go into a different direction, with lots of shorter cuts and edits, fx and movie samples, working more towards something like collage, to take you on some kind of a aural journey, if that makes any sense.
Follow Shan on Facebook HERE.
