Fans of The Shapeshifters will of course remember their tremendous re-working of Orbital's classic rave anthem 'Chime' back in 2008. Their new track 'Helter Skelter' seems at first - at least by name - to hark back to a similar period of white gloves and day-glow club wear. However, as we found out when talking to one half of the group Simon Marlin, you shouldn't necessarily judge a track by its name.
Here he tells us about their new sound, old raving habits and the superstar vocalist that features on the track...
So…what’s Helter Skelter all about?
It’s about all those things in life that we know are not good for us but we enjoy anyway, whether it be drugs, crazy women or chocolate cake!
It’s got quite an old-school feel to it…was this an intentional direction?
Not really, it’s a completely new sound for us and one we worked hard to achieve over the last few months. We wanted to move in a new direction with our production and writing as we feel it’s very stale out there in clubland at the moment, with an onslaught of either completely commercial fodder or badly produced mash-ups of classics which is something we want to distance ourselves from.
For a lot of UK clubbers, Helter Skelter will remind them of the old hardcore raves…were you ever in attendance at any of these?
Yes! I have many fond memories of Raindance, World Party, Spectrum, The Eclipse, Quadrant Park, Castle Morton etc… I pretty much toured the country back then; I was even going to Tresor Berlin, Ovum in Frankfurt and Mayday as I was in Germany for a while. Max was busy throwing his own illegal Raves in Gothenburg and playing the European rave scene back then, which I know he has fond memories of too. It’s the reason we covered ‘Chime’ but this record is all about moving things forward and not banging on about how great it was in the old days!
Tell us about the vocalist…he’s not just any old guy is he?
Haha..he’s done one or two things you might know!! It’s the brilliant Steve Edwards. We really didn’t know if it was going to work at first as we weren’t sure if Steve would want to take the new journey with us, but he made it complete on this record and he totally got what we were trying to do. The result is there for everyone to see and it’s great when artists known for a certain sound or performance embrace something out of their comfort zone. It shows true talent and confidence in their own abilities and often you end up with something really special.
What’s the reaction been link when you’ve played it out?
Very positive, we have no yard stick for this record and you can only gauge a true reaction when you play it for your audience for the first time. It’s definately appealing to people as the reaction has been brilliant and already by the break people are singing ‘Will you come with me onto this Helter Skelter’…can’t ask for more than that!
Have you ever been on a real Helter Skelter?
I have, not sure about Max but every kid has haven't they? If not try it, It’s a great ride!
