First of all, thank you so much for giving us the opportunity of having this interview. Wilf has been very kind again. Onda Dance is a blog about dance music where we talk and show the latest dance, house and trance tunes to our readers, and today we want to know more about Carl Nunes, Jake Shanahan.
Tell us something about you, how you started your career (mixing, producing…)? What were your first steps in the world of the electronic dance music (EDM)?
Jake: I started 14 years ago, seeing my older brother be a local dj is what really inspired me into the EDM scene. My brother, Ben Shanahan had the Technic 1200’s and would always show me mixes he was doing with records like, Paul Van Dyk “We’re Alive.” Once I saw what my brother was doing an how much fun it was, I grab some old Stanton belt drives. This turned into me wanted to actually make music, not just play the music.
I bought the Roland MC-909 Sampling Groovebox when I was really young, and it really opened my eyes into the production world. I was on the 909 for a really long time before finally moving onto FL Studio. After using FL Studio for some years, it just wasn’t cutting it for me. Everyone has their DAW that works best for them, & Logic Pro with Ableton Live rewired is what works best for me.
Carl: I started mixing at the age of 16 years and one year later started producing after seeing tiesto live in my country, that party changed my life.
According to you, what are your main contributions in the studio?
Jake: I bring a lot to each session, as I try to grab many different genres and styles into each song. My goal is to give every song it’s own flare, bringing tech, groove, melodics, energy, and rawness each time. Mainly when in the studio I always start with melodies and jamming on the keyboard for about 2-3 hours a day. I am starting to stand out with my collaborators as the, “melody top liner.” Meaning that I am usually in charge of bringing the track from a bridge break melody into the main drop/riff of the song. I can make any style of music, as I have produced hip hop/pop in the past for artists within that genre. Also being able to produce tech house/trance has giving me a huge range of what I can do within each session.
Carl: I think we always put a bit of everything everytime we produce.
Jake, Carl, your names are not yet very known in Spain, so, what can you tell us about your style music?
Jake: Our music will come to Spain, shortly we guarantee it. My music personally is all about energy and groove. I like to bring a large room sound including a groove based beat instead of a generic piece of rhythm. Each track for me is different, I never have a, “Template.” This gives me a fresh song each time, whether it be a remix or original project. I am know for Progressive House/Electro, but also having my toes in the genre of Tech House. I really enjoy having my name within several different genres, as many artists seem to just stick to one sound, that’s not my style. Some people think its wrong that I work in so many different genres, but I feel the opposite. I am trying to do something fresh and be a different artist, and having my eggs in different baskets in the world of EDM, is how I want people to see me as an artist.
Carl: We are really varied in what we do we like to try to make different kind of tracks, every time we collaboration we make something different.
How was born the project ‘We Are’? Tells us how has been this experience
Jake: The project came together with Carl starting the bass idea in Guatamala. Then he approached me with the idea and I took on the melody idea and starting to arrange the project. Once Carl approved my melody idea, we moved onto mastering and finishing the project. I brought him to NYC to work with me in my studio to finish up the project. Once we had the project done we handed it over to Trice Recordings for approval. Once they signed the song, they then approached us to bring Shaun Frank on board. We loved the idea and couldn’t wait to hear the end result. Shaun worked quickly and we are overwhelmed with how good the project came out. His idea and concept behind the lyrics were exactly what we were looking for. Without Shauns work, I don’t know if, “We Are” would be where it is right now.
Carl: It all started with the bass idea we had and from there we started working around the melody and suddenly armada hit us up with Shaun and everything came together so quick, it was really fun.
How did arise the idea of including Shaun Frank vocals’ to ‘We Are’?
Jake: Shaun was not in the picture until Trice Recordings asked us if we want a vocal on the project. Carl & I both said, well of course we want a vocal, if its good. Shaun absolutely crushed the vocal and lyric background of the song. We are extremely happy with what he brought to the table, it made the track were it is today.
Carl: Shaun sent us a demo of him singing over the track we were shocked of how good his vocals were we just knew he was the one!
And why the music video was recorded in NYC?
Jake: We chose NYC for many different versions. Main reason being that it is packed with people and we could use this as a canvas in the video to show how, “We are all the same.” We really wanted to show the concept of how people come together or many people are working towards a similar goal. NYC also has many different scenes to shoot from, or favourite being the monumental Brooklyn Bridge. It was an extremely fun time for all of us, and the guys over at Surreal Films hit it out of the park in my opinion.
Carl: I traveled to NYC for some gigs and Jake lives there, so we decided to record the video there.
‘We Are’ released on Armada Music… It sounds great and has to be a great honor that Armada Music release your work, don’t it?
Jake: Armada is my favourite label to work with. It really is an honor to be listed with some of the biggest artists in the world. Armada has done a bunch of promotion and worked closely with us on pushing the release.
Carl: I love to work with them they are really professional in what they do, and most of all they love what they are doing.
Let’s talk about current topics, do you like Spanish dance music? What can you tell us or know about this?
Carl: I love Dosem music its different from the music I’m making but its so good, I don’t really know much more artist besides Dosem.
What do you think about the health of current EDM?
Jake: Honestly? It’s terrible! Don’t get me wrong I love the fame and respect that EDM artists are finally getting all over the globe, but internally this industry is a mess right now. There are thousands of artists that think following someone elses sound is the new thing. Personally that doesn’t work for me, I understand being influenced by others, but so many people are now “copying” others, its disgusting. Really, don’t get me wrong again, I love this scene, just right now it’s almost like everyone is trying so hard for fame, they are actually forgetting what it means to be an, “original artist.”
Carl: I think its growing but most of the EDM new producer are just trying to copy what already exist which is boring for me, but there are some giving it a new twist and im loving it.
Will we see the trio Carl Nunes, Jake Shanahan and Shaun Frank mixing in Spain?
Jake: I don’t see why not.
Carl: Who knows I would love to do that.
Can you give us your DJs top 5?
Jake: (1) Eric Prydz, (2) Hardwell, (3) Tiesto, (4) Kenneth Thomas, (5) PVD
Carl: (1) Mat Zo (2) Arty (3) Madeon … there’s too many.
Please, complete the sentence: dance music for me is…
Jake: More than just sound and brand, it’s a life style.
Carl: Dance music for me is the cheese of my pizza I love it.
Anything else you want tell us...
Jake: Thanks so much everyone for all the support. Continue following me on twitter @shanahanjake and at facebook/jakeshanahanofficial.
Carl: Hope you guys stay tuned to my musix, I’m releasing and album in September.
Again, thank you so much for your time and for this interview and thanks to Wilf for setting it up. We hope see you very soon in Spain. Thanks and good luck!
Alberto Ramos aka DJ Max
Y ahora volvemos a recuperar el video del tema 'We Are' motivo por el cual realizamos esta entrevista a sus creadores.
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