One of bass music's most enigmatic figures has broken cover. RA's Ryan Keeling enjoys an extended sit-down in his Berlin studio to talk about the life and times of Sam Shackleton.

Really insightful, another great piece from Ryan. Sam comes across as being a humble guy creating incredible sounds.

Quality interview! I was just listening to Soundboy's Gravestone Gets Desecrated By Vandals on my way to work this morning, very interesting to hear the story behind the vocals on Death Is Not Final and The Rope Tightens.

Would love to catch him live at some point as have always missed his shows at fabric for whatever reason.. at least the CD will go some way to compensating. Seriously cannot wait for that.

Much respect to you Shackleton.

cheers sam! keep doing whatever it is you're doing!

these winter months are perfect for warming up next to a big sub with your tunes

great interview. I love Ryan.

Cheers Ryan and RA, another fantastic interview. Ever since seeing him live at T-Bar back in 07 he has never ceased to impress. Big respect Shackleton, inspiring stuff!

quite nice

fierce

massive respect for Mr Shackleton, loved this interview. Getting a glimpse into his meticulous process & personality is quite a treat...hope to see him live again sometime soon

this right there makes me wanna get back in the studio and make more music.

Great interview, learned a lot, and I think a I can really understand his sentiments on dubstep and the hype machine.

the king of dubstep is back on the track

I had the pleasure of catching his live set back in June at a night called Wigflex in the midlands. His set really blew my mind. Thought this interview gave a great insight into both the man and the music. Much respect all round.

In a league of his own.

Thank you for the interview of this GREAT artist

another article about Shackleton (in german) on my new blog
http://ntropy.de/?p=1134

awesome interview, great guy! keep on doing your thing sam! much respect

great interview. really interesting opinions on everything.. cheers

best thing i read all week. ima walk for an hour when night falls listening to the electronic explorations mix from shack tonight. looking forward to it. keep on keepin on!

For me Shackleton has been one of the most interesting artists I've discovered in the last 5 years... His music is so rich in detail and ambiance, it keeps getting better with age. This was a great read.

Not sure if anyone has ever scene the opening scene from the Exorcist where the archealogist is in the Syrian desert and uncovers the statue which unleashes the demon? Anyways, Shackleton's music always takes me back to that scene and how I felt watching it as a kid... Crazy.

What a dude. Wonderfully honest.

Shackleton is the music of the Gods, and for it to grace our mortal ears is a blessing!

More than anything else out there I can't get enough of it and I am sure many other mortal souls feel the same.

i like this guy, great read.

a friend of mine once said that Shackleton sounds a lot like Jah Wobble.

Great interview. Love his work, and he seems like a really nice and humble guy.

sounds a real nice bloke, great insight to his life, been wanting to see him for ages now but unfortunately not happened. cant wait to hear the cd

great inspiring interview ..

bought his 'three EPs' last year, such wonderful music.
But then I couldn't find any more info about him, so this interview is jusg what i needed. thanks

Shackleton is one of the few true geniuses of electronic music. Anyone who saw his live set at Fabric earlier this year, or Labyrinth more recently, will agree. I have nothing but respect for this guy - he does his own thing, and to hell with everyone else. Punk to the bone.

i agree 100% great tunes...

Brilliant interesting interview.

Now, this just made me happy. Shackleton is one of my favorite producers in music and having seen one of his live sets late 2009, I've been hoping for something like this to be released. Thank you! His music creates another world, and being able to live in that world for a straight hour without stops is just what I need to get through the Swedish winter. Based on the interview he probably wont read this, but Shack, You rule!

I love hearing and reading inspirational articles like this, awesome stuff!

Sam played one of the best, if not the best live set ive ever heard at Barsoma early this year. A truy amazing musical mind and a great bloke as well.

Infinite respect for what hes doing.

i wish i was there to see some young lads heckling shackleton, "play some dubstep!" this situation would be more acceptable if the genre were still in it's infancy, but this is 2010! i'd of politely bought them a drink, on the condition they stop heckling the master.

i cannot wait for his fabric installment

Dude is producing the most dynamic non 4/4 experimental step.

Huge respect for Shackleton!!!

exactly. i remember when i first came into contact with dubstep back in the early days. there seemed to be this open ended-ness to the genres where almost anything could go as long as it felt right. for me shackleton is the guy who embodies the sound i had in my head back then, when i was thinking 'wow, we might actually have something happening here'. it was genuinely fresh and obviously made by someone who really cared about music. i was thinking that dubstep would go in that direction of open mindedness, experimentalism, bringing together all the past influences and mixing them together in new ways. shit that was actually interesting and danceable at the same time..!

then wobble took over.

anyway, long live the shack!

sick!

Love it. Both interview and artist, long live the shack!

Isis
x

I unfortunately couldn't make the night he played live at fabric and have regretted it ever since. I really cannot wait to hear the fabric mix - like no other release for a looooong time - looking forward to it more than Xmas.

What a great interview !...See u Saturday at Fabric ! x

Great interview!
Shackleton and Appleblim were the first 'Dubstep' artists I discovered and they blew my mind! A fews years on and nothings come close to the Skull Disco label imo. I'm a big fan of the Hyperdub label and Tempa. Burial and Youngsta are up there along with some of Kode 9's early stuff but beyond that it all goes a little wrong for me. I hate it when I try introducing music from someone like Pole or Shackleton to a mate and they just dismiss it as being the same as all the other wobble stuff that students seem to love; just the word Dubstep is starting to make me cringe nowadays.

I can't wait for the mix to drop through my letter box and I can't wait for Fabric Saturday night. Happy happy days!

Insightful interview, thank you! I have never been disappointed by any of Shackleton releases and am very much looking forward to his Fabric mix - arriving any day now. His set at Sydney's Civic Underground in March absolutely killed it. And yes, you CAN dance to it. Creative, genre-defying music-making at its best.

Great interview! Skull Disco was an amazing label... Very underrated when it first appeared... I remember to receive the vinyl promos and... "Wow! This is REALLY different!"... Good to see that the guys are getting the attention they always deserved!

Gotta fall in with the rest of the choir.. this was a great interview, and it was really nice to get to know more about the guy. Quality!

Fabric 55 is a milestone. Awesome. And I've only heard a few samples...

I think I might grab a copy of Fabric 55 after reading this

what is shakleton live like? live means? laptop and midi controller?

love shackleton so much! but i wonder, if he doesn't use loops in his songs, how does he perform live? most live performers rely on loops as a basis of their show, so i really am curious how he gets around that for his own gigs.

he uses ableton so i'm pretty sure he plays his shit in to ableton and then has loops to trigger in there. he probably just means he doesn't use pre-made loops by other people

Shackleton was simply incredible at fabric this Saturday night. Seeing room two going off to music that experimental, deviating that much from the formula, sent shivers down my spine!

really? i assumed he meant he avoids repetition in rhythm and writes his beats in a linear way. but that could make sense. or perhaps for live performances he does make loops, and its just his recordings that avoid it.