Shackleton is set to make the jump to Perlon with his latest release, which is due in shops in October.
Since the Skull Disco label wound down at the tail end of 2008, there has been much speculation as to who Shackleton would be releasing his material through. After upping sticks and moving to Berlin, he's been steadily working on beats and has formed a close relationship with Perlon founder Zip. With both Zip and regular tag-team partner Ricardo Villalobos championing his sound from an early stage, the move to Perlon continues this dialogue between the artists, with Zip helping to select and curate the final package.
Entitled Three EPs, the triple-vinyl package will see many of the tracks featured in Shackleton's recent live sets finally committed to wax, with the promise of a more diverse set of sounds and tempos than his Skull Disco material. The doom-laden Shackleton trademark sound is still plastered over the nine tracks, and inquisitive listeners can check out small samples of all of them over at the Word & Sound site.
Upon hearing the news of the release, we managed to coax a brief e-mail interview out of the producer, in which he reveals a future collaboration with German painter and film director Jürgen Böttcher, and explains to us why Three EPs isn't an album.Why did you choose Perlon to put the album out? Was this always the plan before the record was written?
I like Zip and trust him. I like Perlon's approach generally. There's no hype and the emphasis is on the music. I had a lot of tracks and asked Zip if he liked any of them. He said that he liked quite a few. I was pleased about that as I wasn't too confident. He chose the ones he liked best and then I had a listen and then tweaked them a bit.
Your recent live sets have seen you play a little slower than before. Is that the same case with the material on Three EPs?
Well, some of the tracks are slower, some aren't. I suppose that the major difference is not speed but style. They aren't so dance floor orientated.
Are there any artists in particular that have been influencing your work of late?
My finger is hardly on the pulse of modern music as you know! I have been buying a lot of stuff that Honest Jon's is putting out these days.
Do you ever think you’ll run your own label again, or is Skull Disco the final nail in the coffin in that respect?
I don't honestly know. If so, it would have to be something worthwhile with fresh ideas.
You’ve been getting to grips with playing live over the past couple of years. Are the performances something that has fed back into the tracks on the record?
Yes, actually it has.
There's currently a rich sea of artists residing in Berlin. Are any future collaborations on the cards?
I have already worked together with Jürgen Böttcher (Strawalde).
Is there any reason why the record is called Three EPs? Was the original plan to release each vinyl separately?
This is because I don't see it as an album. Album seems a bit over the top and would do well to have a concept behind it. With this I just like the tunes and hope that others will too.
Tracklist
A1 (No More) Negative Thoughts
B1 Let Go
B2 It's Time For Love
C1 Mountains Of Ashes
C2 There's A Slow Train Coming
D1 Moon Over Joseph's Burial
E1 Asha In The Tabernacle
F1 Trembling Leaf
F2 Something Has Got To Give
Perlon will release Shackleton's Three EPs on October 12th, 2009.