Shapeshifter landed in Dunedin last week to transport us to all to outer space with their futuristic music. Critic managed to wangle their way into their fourth-dimension practise room before the big show to snap some pics, have a beer, and talk sci-fi wit
Critic: I feel lucky to have seen you play just then. I didn’t know what was going on until someone gave me the headphones. I was like where are the synths? Where’s the singing?
Digsss: That’s our live setup as well. What we’re using here is pretty much what we use live. We use in-ear monitors nowadays because we can afford it. Back in the day we used fold back monitors like a regular band, but you can damage your ears after years of doing it. Using the monitors we can be very accurate with what we have coming through our ears. Especially having three synth players with two or three synths each. It’s really cool cos it’s like having your own personal monitors in your ears.
Critic: so that’s what it will sound like when you’re on stage?
Digsss: Yup. That’s what it will sound like for us. Out front it will sound even better. Tiki Taane is doing our mix. He’s been doing the Shapeshifter mix since 1999.
Critic: So you guys have been together a long time.
Digsss: I joined in 2001. That’s when I was officially in, touring with them and singing, all that good stuff.
Critic: Do you guys work all year round?
Digsss: Yeah. We’ve just finished recording our new album. It’s taken about a year to write. Like most good things, they take a while to make. It changes the schedule a little bit when you make an album. You can’t tour as much, which is all good, because after you make the album you tour it. The next couple of years we’ll be touring lots. It’s not continuous. We’ll be New Zealand for rehearsals, tour Australia, then do Europe later on in the year, have a little break, then tour New Zealand, do our summer stuff.
Critic: You recorded at Roundhead Studios. That’s Neil Finn’s place isn’t it?
Digsss: Yeah. It’s a beautiful place. That was out first time working there. We wrote most of the stuff, the noisy stuff, in our personal Shapeshifter studio. Our setup is portable so it can be played anywhere. Then we did the crunch, did the proper mixing, getting levels and getting everything right, mixed down. We had Jeremy and Dylan from the Upbeats helping with the production. They’re amazing. It’s all done. Not mastered, that’s our next stage. We haven’t even named the album yet. We haven’t even named all the songs! It’s a process. It’s like having a child, naming the baby. This is going to be Jeremy! This is going to be Dylan! Eventually it comes and you go “that kind of makes sense.”
Critic: Any idea what it might be called or is that secret?
Digsss: Nah, it’s not even secret, it’s just really early in the process. We literally just finished, like last week.
Critic: Not much downtime then?
Digsss: Nah not much downtime. But we’re not a 9-5 industry, our profession. We’re like a cram it all in, squash it all in, then you have heaps of breaks. At the moment we’ve just slugged it out and we’re ready to get back on that horse and tour. It’s actually the best feeling about doing an album: having new music to play. It’s refreshing for us as artists. It puts a nice little spark into the set again when we get the chance to introduce new songs. It’s a good feeling.
Critic: I saw you guys play years ago, in 2008. What was nice about tonight was seeing you guys hugging each other at the end of the practise, and seeing you practise. I didn’t even know if you guys would be practising before the show. Is that normal?
Digsss: It’s very normal. We’re like any normal band; we’ve just been doing it for a long time. But performance and our live set is precedent. We still love to rehearse; it’s still the best thing. We spend a lot of time making these songs and when you rehearse them and practise them and get them really good, it’s a great feeling. Why not hug? We’re all about the love. It’s good to be back playing our songs again.
Critic: Do you always practise before shows?
Digss: It’s very important. We don’t want to get out there and be shabby. We put a bit of effort in. We start at 10am, go till sometimes 10 at night. We go over and over it, get it tight, add little things into it. Some songs are slightly modified for live performance. That’s why it’s fun to have a live set. You can extend the songs, let it marinade in the people instead of a quick wham-bam-thankyou-ma’am. Let it really take you on a journey, let it roll.
Critic: You must have done a few O-weeks?
Digsss: No, this is our first ever.
Critic: Really?
Digsss: No! We’ve done tonnes of them. We haven’t been back in Dunedin for a long time. It’s exhilarating and exciting for us to come back and play. Kids are always crazy, but we were once those kids too. What better way to help them start their year off? With sobriety of course!
Critic: Do you find Otago kids especially crazy?
Digsss: Nah, kids are kids and they’re awesome. Our fans we get in New Zealand are always awesome. Crazy and beautiful. But they’re pretty crazy down these ways.
Critic: Do you guys like science fiction?
Digsss: We’re all about it.
Critic: Can you tell me about that?
Digsss: We’re all linked to science and all that stuff. My dad is Neil De Grasse Tyson.
Critic: I didn’t know that. I’m going to put that on Wikipedia.
Digsss: He doesn’t know I’m his son. Of course, with the name Shapeshifter. We play lots of keys, you know.
Critic: It’s totally sci-fi. Star Wars or Star Trek?
Digsss: Depends which Star Wars. The Empire Strikes Back is still the best out of them all. The Dark Side wins, it’s quite cool. But the last two Star Treks were pretty awesome. I actually prefer Interstellar. Have you seen Interstellar?
Critic: I haven’t.
Digsss: That’s the movie you need to check out. In-Ter-Stellar.
Critic: What do you like about Interstellar?
Digsss: It’s onto it. Really onto it. Sometimes, you know, science fiction movies can really stretch the truth of science. Interstellar is clever. Maybe stretches a little bit.
Critic: So you think it could be the future maybe?
Digsss: It’s a good movie. It’s hard to explain without giving it away. Matthew McConaughey plays an incredible part.
Critic: Who do you think is the handsomest celebrity?
Digsss: In our band? Me man! Oh shit. Handsomest celebrity? Tom Sellek, Tom Jones. It’s gotta be a Tom right? With a moustache? Although my mum would be like “Tom Sellek. It’s got to be Tom Sellek.”
Critic: Anything you’d like to tell Critic readers especially?
Digsss: Have a great year! Maybe think about supporting New Zealand music a little bit more than you usually do. Support your home-grown stuff. Buy your home-grown artists’ music. Don’t burn it, don’t dub it. We’re all trying to survive. It’s choice when you support the movement. From the roots out. We’re living in the day of mp3s and it’s so easy to forget. I love buying quality music. If I love an artist I buy their t-shirt, their albums. The last band I did that to was Hiatus Coyote. They’re from Australia. They’re the best band I’ve seen for a long, long time. Outrageously good. Almost taking the piss how good they were. New-school Jazz and soul, but jazz and soul without it being corny or cheese-ball. The girl that sings is an absolute queen. A diamond. They just got nominated for a Grammy award.
Critic: Any kiwi bands you want to plug?
Digsss: Just my good friends mainly. I’ve always loved Kora. I love Team Dynamite. They’re quirky happy dudes. Hiphop group from Auckland. They do cool shit. Some good buddies of mine that I’ve just recorded – Yoko Zouma. They’re jazz kids. They’re young – four years younger than me, like 21.
Critic: It’s cool you get excited about music!
Digsss: I saw Prince last night! Mind blowing! Two and a half hour set of just him and a piano, flexing absolute muscle, absolute soulful muscle. I was flabbergasted. He didn’t need a backing band. He’s a child prodigy. He’s a freak. He’s the king of pop.
Critic: Someone told me today you did a free show after the Christchurch earthquake.
Digsss: Originally the band was from Christchurch. All jazz school kids, bar me, I’m a garage learner. We did that because we needed to bring some love back into the city, to the people. We needed to give it to them because it was heavy shit that they’d been through. You can drive down some of the streets in Christchurch and it looks like it happened last week. It depends. If you drive through Fendleton it’s all beautiful, like nothing happened. Then you get to New Brighton, it’s like the forgotten lands. Admittedly they did feel the effect a lot more. It’s crazy. If you think about how long humans have existed, in geological time. We’re just this little dot that’s existed on her back. No one ever thought of Christchurch as an epicentre for quakes. Surprise, it happens. It just goes to show that we’re just this tiny little dot that has existed on this earth.