Shaded

‘’I’m floating in my own abyss of chunky techno and liquid house.” – SHADED SHADED has a signature sound. It’s a weaving combination of driving, psychedelic vibes and funk inspired textures. His sound is undeniable in character, and whilst his production style is constantly evolving, he always stays true to his Southern California roots. To showcase this, he is now working to finalize a new two-hour live Audio Visual show tailored to his style and vision. “No-one is delivering a musical style like my own, and to be able to add the element of what I like visually can take the experience to a whole new level,” he says. And just wait until you hear some of the new music he has incoming: one new track in particular, is a killer collaboration with Cari Golden called ‘Layback Mayback’ set to make waves. “My new material is my best to date,” he says. “By that I mean I feel I have finally found my place, my sweet spot. I always knew my place, but now I am comfortable in it and don't give a fuck what other people think. I literally do not worry about pleasing anyone with my music, now. I use to sometimes worry that people might think that some of the music was leaning too far away from my signature SHADED sound, but now I just don’t care. I don't think. Evolving is my favourite part about making music.” Skyler says pushing bounderies is all he cares about, and Ali ‘Dubfire’ Shirazinia has been his mentor and a key inspiration “since I came up in this industry. He has believed in me since we first meet, which I am forever grateful for. Another source of inspiration was Tiga, because he always marched to the beat of this own drum, which excited me. Papa Sven as well, as his Cocoon sound of the 3rd season disc with Richie Hawtin changed my life!” Some die-hard fans may know SHADED from the SHDWPLAY duo days – after a string of successful releases together on the aforementioned Dubfire’s SCI+TEC imprint, he ventured down the solo path which ultimately proved the right move, with releases like “Be My Binge”, ‘Dwell’ and ‘Crayzy’. It wasn’t long until Turbo’s head honcho Tiga picked up on SHADED’s fresh approach, and led to a total of 5 EP’s on Turbo which includes the label’s best-selling release and Mixmag’s ‘Tune of the Month’ for ‘She She’ to “Body Feels”, which was heavily supported by Loco Dice, The Martinez Brothers, Martin Buttrich and John Digweed. He’s also a key associate with Oliver Huntemann’s Senso imprint: in fact, he appeared on the imprint’s 5th birthday release this past summer with a belter of a tune titled “I Got Haters”. His remix schedule has also been slick and serene, with reworks for Tiga, Boys Noize, Carlo Lio, Sian, Oliver Huntemann, Dubfire and his Beatport No.2 minimal remix for Christian Smith in 2017. SHADED’s remix of ‘Rising’ (SHADED's Realized Dreams Remix), a tune by Anabel Englund & company, was bestowed with the coveted “Essential New Tune” from Pete Tong, and was played extensively by Danny Howard and Mistajam on BBC Radio 1 alike. His twisted remix for a Joyce Muniz track ‘Chapter 4’ featuring Aquarius Heaven on Exploited came out earlier this year, and next up his ‘Rippple’ EP was unleashed on Senso, followed by his upcoming release, ‘Mad Stacks’. “Some of the first parties I use to go to in LA were these roof top parties and Jamie would play a fair amount of them,” remember Skyler. “He rolled through LA regularly, before Hot Creations existed, so I was always familiar with him as a DJ. I had always wanted to drop him music for the label. Over the years, and with the coming of age of Paradise, I saw Jamie getting involved more with the techno side of the scene, and it felt like the right time to send in some demos. So it is really cool for me that the first track I sent him hit the button!” ‘Mad Stacks’, he says, is the latest iteration of his sound. “It is almost the definition of my sound, really. By that I mean, it appeals to the Tech-House side of the spectrum, as well as the Techno side. I have always felt my music was always able to dance along that fine line. I have been accepted by the techno community, but also get love from the more house loving heads. Mad Stacks represents this, and his California techno hip hop vibe. When asked about his musical style, Skyler emphasizes his diversity; “no matter what party you are at, my music will work great on the dance floor!” The story behind it is like any other SHADED track... I get in the studio, put together a bread-and-butter kick/bass/snare combo and start recording vocals. I experiment so much with my own vocals that people never believe they are my own. I have so much fun writing little vocal hooks, bits that stick in peoples’ heads. ‘Mad Stacks’ just sounded dope, so I wrote it, and it is cool to hear when people tell me "mad stacks is stuck in my head!" All in all, Skyler is on a mission to spread the SHADED vibe to as many people as possible, and who are we to argue?