One Beat Just Won't Do: In Conversation With Anthony 'Shake' Shakir

Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir for many is one of the techno community’s most neglected of talents. Despite the giddy heights reached by many of his Detroit peers he’s stayed at a cult status – appreciated more by the aficionados and DJs of this world. We’d definitely park ourselves in that camp; we’re not only in awe of his productions but also astounded by the incredible range and depth of his record bag so the fact that we were privileged enough to exchange emails with this truly underground phenomenon ahead of his upcoming appearance in Room One for the Hessle Audio full club takeover is one of our biggest pleasures yet. To start from the very, very beginning, Shakir was raised in a very musical home listening to the local radio at the height of Motown. Music was always integral to his life from a very, young age… “I used a picture of myself holding a 45 single on one of my Frictional releases,” Shakir enthuses. “I think I was about 3 or 4 years old in in the picture. At the time black radio in Detroit played great music, it was the late 60's and early 70's. The city of Detroit is home to one of the earliest black radio stations in America, WCHB. So I enjoyed listening to that.” And for so many of the pioneers of techno we speak to the radio was the starting point the first medium that helped connect the dots and it goes to show just how important WCHB was for the techno world. Shakir’s appreciation of music soon became more than a purely listening experience, it built into a desire to create for himself inspired by a technological curiosity. “What inspired me to make music in general was a desire to figure out how a record was made. In the 80's some radio stations began playing DJ mix shows and I wanted to figure out how to mix records. My interest was in trying to learn how to mix and blend.” Obviously he was in good company to follow up his ambition being, as he was, in school with Robert Hood and meeting Juan Atkins whilst going out to his first local parties. It’s a very similar story for many of these mythical guys: they grew up together, helped each other out along the way and shared a curiosity for creating beats as a new sound began to emerge around them. “In high school I used to talk about records with Mike Huckaby and Robert Hood. I also learned how to mix from a girl named Neicy and her brother Altorio Upshaw. I also learned how mix from my friends Howard Fanning and Arnold Nevels and they had a DJ crew called Shake 'em Up Sounds. I could not mix that well them, but I always had records. My technical advice was always to get the tools the professionals used to be professional.” After meeting Atkins at a house party during these early days, Shakir began working for Metroplex Records during the label’s infancy, engineering some of their earliest releases and then going onto work as an A&R. It must be quite something to be part of a label that is still to this day one of the most influential imprints in the world. But while Shakir lent his sound to Metroplex and released on the imprint, he also established own label Frictional in 1995, primarily as a vessel for his own releases. Quite a pragmatic venture it was brought about by a conversation with another of Detroit’s pioneers… “What made me set up Frictional was a conversation [I had] with Derrick May about some other records. Knowing that certain artists were making an impact I knew I would have to do a label to put my music out in the marketplace.” Flicking forward a significant amount of years, in 2009 the Dutch powerhouse Rush Hour Records released Fricitionalisms, a compendium of tracks completely comprised from Shakir’s label’s back catalogue. At its time Frictional accrued a real and committed following and considering it was in the pre-internet era, collectors and music buffs had to be incredibly on it to really keep up. Rush Hour’s compilation was a modern tip of the cap to Shakir’s lineage, a means of educating a new generation who might never have heard of the influential vinyl only imprint. This new wave of appreciators knew to look to Detroit but this release helped focus their attention on someone who wasn’t as prolific as the main protagonists. When asked whether Fricitionalisms was intended to get the attention of the kids of Europe, Shakir agrees that it performed that function. “I think that the compilation did serve a purpose. Distributors buy what they buy and there is so much available now. I did not believe that at one time and I was told that i jumped around too much in my music. But I felt and feel that that’s how I listen to music.” You’ll probably have noticed that all this time we’ve conveniently been referring to Shakir as a techno artist, but what is so impactful about the man’s recording history is that he’s not actually so easy to pin down that one genre; to house or techno music or just one kind of beat. At the same time that there’s a vibrant trip hop groove on one record, there’s some space travel electro on another or some disco funk for the dancefloor on the next one. Shakir just doesn’t rest on a singular wave or a way of putting a groove together but despite his genre disparity, his sound is grounded by a feeling, a groove and a kind of roughness in his sound palette. “When I started at Metroplex I used the SP 12 and it was all I had,” he recalls. “I was told it sounded too dirty but I didn’t care. I just wanted to make a record. The SP-12 has a sound of its own. I then got the Kurzweil K2000 synth sampler. It helped me clean my sounds up and more sample room. I think that helped me have a distinctive sound.” “Technology is very important to me because without it I would not have a career,” Shakir continues. “I thought software would help me speed up my working process, but it ended up slowing me down for a minute. I will look forward to adding some newer pieces to the set up as I acquire them but life interferes from time to time.” Since the release of Frictionalism in 2009 there’s been a steady wave of releases with one of Detroit’s new generation, Kyle Hall, teaming up with Shakir under the alias, Da Sampla. It’s only through his relationship with Kyle and his record buying that he connects with the younger Detroit’s cultural activities though. When pressed about what he sees happening in his city at the moment, about the recent swell of creative people moving there for the promise of free rent and a happening going on he’s not really seen much evidence of it. “I haven’t seen or met them yet - except for Kyle Hall and his crew – but I don't get out too much though. I may have to change that so I can see what I may be missing. Based on what you’re saying, it is like Motown again for the 21st century but with fewer singers and songs.” “I’m not sure if they’re bringing a new appreciation to techno because there are two different types of listeners in Detroit for dance music. There is the house listener and the techno listener. They don't always meet up in Detroit. Now that electronic music is getting national press again, some of them are trying to jump in line and on the train. If people like this music here in Detroit, they don't usually admit it. For a million reasons...” His standpoint might seem at odds with our outsiders perception of the city, especially in comparison with our own world here in London with such an active community engaging with music online and in clubs. It’s easy to over extend our own relationship to Shakir’s home city considering that ever since the first Cybotron records hit European record shelves that we’ve held Detroit in such high regard, almost to the point of mythical status. Yes, Detroit is a massive reference point for techno. But maybe this is misplaced…? “I know Detroit has this hold on the world through its music. It has at least century of examples to draw from, from all sounds and styles. I also think that the press are looking away from the sounds they know already as they think they have the story already.” Still, in our mind at least, the love is there. Our artist led label, Houndstooth, commissioned Shakir to remix Special Request’s ‘Mindwash’ earlier this year and to bring us even more up to date, Hessle Audio have invited him over to Farringdon for their first ever full club takeover - a big sign of their appreciation of him as an artist. Anthony 'Shake' Shakir fabric Office Playlist: