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. 

He recently released a remix of ‘Trip & Roll’ by Marbs on Desert Hearts Black and will participate in the Desert Hearts Festival this weekend in Los Angeles, we had the chance to have a quick chat with him to talk about it.

WWD: Tell us about your official remix ‘Trip and Roll’ on Desert Hearts Black and how that came together.

I have been involved with the Desert Hearts crew for quite a while as I started playing the festival about six or seven years ago, so they are the homies. Marbs sent me the record and asked me to remix it so it was totally natural. I was also looking to do something melodic and after listening to the original I saw potential to go in that direction.

WWD: If you had to choose one, what would be your favorite record you’ve put out and why?

My favorite records always tend to be my more mellow and ambient songs. I really loved ‘Velvet Clouds’ and ‘Blue Orbits’. But in terms of just an overall arching favorite, it would have to be ‘Time Drip’ under my SHDWPLAY moniker as it is the record that allowed me to begin touring as a full time job. It’s not what I’m making now but it will always be my number one and my current sound is very sculpted off those old minimal records I made.

WWD: Who are some of your biggest artist influences in the scene coming up and who are some in today’s scene that are inspiring you?

This question is hard for me. I don’t really listen to many electronic artists to be honest. When I come across artists that have a unique sound I pay attention for sure. I like listening to Ben Bohmer a lot, his music makes me feel something new. I guess I just put shuffle on and see what happens haha. My biggest influences coming up were dubfire, Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos and Sven Väth in terms of my own sound. I came up in the Cocoon and Circo Loco era so those guys inspired me a lot.

WWD: On a broader scale, is there anything else that you’re finding a lot of musical inspiration in right now even if it’s not something particularly music related? Whether that’s something like traveling, nature, etc.

I get the most musical inspiration from my girlfriend actually. She has introduced me to some dope artists that I never heard of and are outside my sphere so that’s so refreshing. I’ve never really needed inspiration as I always just enjoyed making music no one was making. But now as I’ve been in the game for a while I def look in different directions to find new angles to my own sound. For instance I’ve always loved well produced pop music, so that is bleeding its way into my sound in a new exciting way. I’m known for energetic techno house but I also want to make car music and radio-friendly music that people can appreciate without a large sound system.

WWD: You have an upcoming festival appearance at Desert Hearts Los Angeles this weekend. What are you looking forward to for this event and what can fans expect from your upcoming set?

One hour of fresh material. Dropping lots of new heat to test. Desert Hearts festival is were I test all my new music I write during January and February during the slow touring months. Every year I try to write a fresh two hour live set so it’s always a bit nerve racking dropping it all at once haha. But it keeps it fun and keeps the nerves cookin’.

WWD: Do you have any core favorite memories from playing past Desert Hearts events?

Honestly, every year has its moments. And the iterations of the festival and how it’s evolved has probably been the best part for me. Just seeing it grow has been so rad.

WWD: What else do you have coming up the rest of this year? What are you most excited about currently?

Working on a few new vocal projects that have me really excited and have given me a newfound drive. I’m also doing a remix of an exceptional track that came over that should be dropping this summer that is also vocal based. I guess I’m trying to take the SHADED sound more to the masses while still keeping the underground ethos of why I started this project.