Normally you’d associate dance music with fun, frivolous things like fluoro and flashing lights and mind altering substances, right? But it’s actually a very serious subject – and this is evidenced by my very earnest discussion with Vance from THE ASTON SHUFFLE about the resurgence of The Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams.
“There are certain records that are just insta-vibe tracks no matter where you go around the world, and Sweet Dreams is one of them,” Vance informs me. “There are certain songs and certain bands that everyone pretty much holds close to their heart, regardless of what sort of music you’re into.” So is that why all the DJs seem to be playing it at the moment? I enquire. Do you just whip out some synth when the crowd is a little lukewarm? “It’s not a matter of ‘oh, the crowd’s a little bit dead, let’s just pull out the get-out-of-jail-free card’ – it’s a little bit more subtle than that,” he insists. “But there’s always going to be dance floor weapons, especially at festivals, because at festivals you really do want to go for the jugular.”
The Aston Shuffle will be going for our jugulars at the All Our Friends music festival, alongside international dance music giants like Laidback Luke, Steve Aoki and Felix Da Housecat. Intimidated much? “I think we’re gonna try not to be too scared about playing alongside the heroes of the moment,” Vance says. “Being able to see all these people and meet them and hang out with them is really rewarding. They’ve got huge fanbases in Australia, and trying to stand up next to those guys and not screw up could be a challenge.”
Despite their modesty, you might call Vance and Mikah Shuffle nu-rave heroes themselves. The Canberra lads (yes, that’s right!) smashed onto the scene in 2007 when their single For Everyone reached the top of the ARIA charts, followed by their heady, bass-driven remix of Pnau’s Baby. Since then, they’ve supported the likes of Justice, Digitalism and Claude von Stroke, as well as mixing several CDs for Ministry of Sound.
“It’s so easy to sit back and think ‘I’ve achieved a baseline level of success, therefore I can be lazy,’” Vance says. “We’re constantly trying not to fall into that complacency trap.” Indeed, this DJ/producer extraordinaire insists there’s always something to be learned from his colleagues and competitors, declaring that “every DJ’s got a different story to tell.”
“Overall when it comes to writing a song, I think our aim is to make something that’s very musically strong and means something to people, as opposed to something that’s sort of disposable and throw away,” he says, when asked about their forthcoming album. “We might test a few new tracks [at All Our Friends]. We’re excited to finally get this music out there, because we’ve been living with these songs for a long time.”
Catch The Aston Shuffle at All Our Friends, held at the UC Refectory on Saturday June 5. Tickets through Qjump.
