Metronome #114: The Aston Shuffle

Insomniac’s Metronome series features mixes from some of today’s fastest-rising electronic stars, as well as championed legends. It takes listeners deep across a wide range of genres, movements, cultures, producers, artists and sounds that make up the diverse world of electronic music.

Now entering their second decade of producing quirky, pop-infected electro bangers that work equally well in the clubs as the festival mainstages, Australian duo the Aston Shuffle have certainly shown they’ve got more staying power than most. Their early success remixing San Francisco heavy Claude VonStroke offers a great example of how they’re still dipping their toes in the house and techno underground. Yet the recent embrace of their music by mainstage players like Oliver Heldens shows the Shuffle have crossover kudos to go around.

Mikah Freeman and Vance Musgrove rose to prominence several years before the EDM explosion in the US, winning the #1 spot in their country’s equivalent of the Top 100, as well as being the long-running hosts of the Friday Night Shuffle program on the country’s leading youth radio station. In the years since, they’ve cultivated a presence in the US, as well as locations as far-flung as Ibiza. With the recent launch of their Only 100s brand, they’re set to take this further. We spoke with the duo to found out what’s happening this year.

How is your year going so far, guys?
2017 has been great so far! We released a single earlier in the year called “Pass You By,” which has been getting a lot of support across the board. We’ve done a bunch of touring both in Australia and the US, plus continued our radio show Triple J’s Friday Night Shuffle, and also kicked off our new mix series, Only100s.

Fans will know you’ve been around for about a decade now. Could you perhaps give your newer fans a bit of a quick rundown of your journey so far?

We’re a house music duo from Canberra, Australia.
We’ve released two albums and loads of singles.
Toured all over the world multiple times.
Remixed everyone from Claude VonStroke through to London Grammar.
Radio presenters and producers on Triple J’s Friday Night Shuffle.

Canberra is one of the more off-the-radar Australian cities—for those living overseas, at least. How did hailing from the ACT impact your career?
Luckily, we were coming up when social media (Myspace) was in its infancy. We used to sit on our computer all night sending our music around to our peers, and because it was so new and exciting, many of the artists we looked up to actually checked out our music and gave us some of our very first opportunities. In today’s day and age, it really doesn’t matter where you come from. If you’re making dope music and have a decent internet connection, you can have your music heard by anyone!

There have obviously been some big changes in dance music since you guys first rose to the top of the Australian scene a decade ago. How have you grown and evolved, and where would you say you’re placed in the scene in 2017?
Our sound has certainly evolved over the years as our inspirations changed, and we’ve also seen a lot of genres/scenes come and go. The main thing for us is to make music we love… which might sound selfish, but genre-hopping to stay relevant isn’t satisfying and won’t give you longevity. As cheesy as this sounds, sincerity is key in all things you do!

It seems your records are working with the big EDM names, like Martin Garrix and Oliver Heldens. Do you think you’re a natural fit for this side of dance music?
We’re certainly grateful that those kinds of artists like and support our music, but when we’re in the studio, we never set out with an end market, crowd, or artist in mind. We have a lot of different inspirations—not just dance music—and we try to incorporate a little of everything in our music!

Do you still consider yourself Australian artists, or is it more of a global affair?
Vance has been spreading the Aston Shuffle gospel in the US for the last two years now, so it’s def starting to feel more like a global affair. Mikah is still holding it down in Australia, but we’re focused on doing more touring and recording in the US and Europe of late.

What’s on the agenda for the rest of the year?
We’re finishing up a whole bunch of new music. Got some big shows lined up at Tomorrowland (Belgium) and Ibiza (H! Ibiza), plus some huge tours to be announced in Australia very soon while continuing our radio show and building the Only 100s name. Busy times!

Track List:: The Aston Shuffle “Pass You By”
Skrillex & Habstrakt “Chicken Soup”
Karma Kid & Fono “Candyland”
Fatboy Slim “Where U Iz” (Eats Everything Remix)
Waze & Odyssey “Bounce With Me”
The Magician & Julian Perretta “Tied Up” (Offaiah Remix)
Tekla “Shake”
The xx “A Violent Noise” (Four Tet Remix)
Flume ft. Little Dragon “Take a Chance” (Kölsch Remix)
Calvin Harris ft. Future & Khalid “Rollin”