If you like your house music funky, chunky, vocal and just a little bit dirty, the chances are the names Shamus and Jackster are very familiar to you.  2004 is a big year in the careers of both the local DJ’s with their Bondi Bitch remix of the new single from London based Community Sprit – Geek Rock having recently hit the clubs.

Home, Kink, YU and Sounds have certainly been impressed, with residencies for Jackster including a weekly set in the main room for Together@Home and Shamus at YU & Sounds.  Then there’s Kink where both DJ’s are residents; playing either side of international headliners such as DJ Falcon, Bob Sinclair, DJ Gregory, ATFC & Mark Moore.  We haven’t even started on the guest spots, which include the likes of Sublime @ Home & Mobile Home.

My first question of course is where else would the guys like to be playing?

Shamus: Parklife would be my dream gig – Also the Boiler Room at The Big Day Out gives me goosebumps, it’s unbelievable.

Jackster: I’d love to have the chance to play a few outdoor parties…I played at Sounds once when I was voted in for the first Big Clubber event and would love to play there again. Or maybe one of the big Fuzzy outdoor events would be nice.

Shamus: We both harbor secret desires to play at each other’s clubs. I’d love to play the main floor at home like he’d love to play at Sounds.

Juggling full-time careers during the day with Dj’ing every weekend can’t be easy, yet you’ve also found time to remix Geek Rock is this something you’ve wanted to do for a while?

Jackster: I approached Shamus with the track a couple of months ago. Community Spirit who made the original track is headed up by two of my best friends from London and Geek Rock is their 3rd release. They’ve been sending me their stuff in various states for the last 12 months and Geek Rock really stood out for me as having the potential to be remixed into a real main room monster. The only problem was I had no idea where to start. Given myself and Shamus are good friends, share a very similar taste in music and he’d got prior remixing experience he seemed the obvious person for me to work with as we’d discussed doing something together before”.

Shamus: Who wouldn’t want to work with one of their mates? Jackster and I have talked about making a track for a while and this fantastic opportunity presented itself, so we grabbed it!

Ok, so you’ve chosen the song, how much preparation is involved before you start in the studio?

Shamus: When doing a remix, I think the time before you enter the studio is the most important. Just listening to the track over and over, generating and focusing your ideas on the particular direction you want to take the tune is of paramount importance before you even sit down behind the computer.

Jackster: Not surprisingly our views were very similar, so with the minimum amount of bickering we planned out the remix bar by bar, which elements we were going to keep, which we were going to lose, what else we were going to add and then we got into the studio with an absolute genius by the name of Glenn Humphries aka Phatboy.

The mix of Geek Rock is aimed at the main room offering up some chunky, deep beats and a real “rock” edge to it with the big guitar breakdowns.  Who is the track pitched at, where do you want to hear it played?

Jackster: It’s aimed squarely at the main room dancefloor, I’d be chuffed if any DJ felt it worthy of playing out no matter where it was. Goodwill played it a couple of weeks ago in the main room at Home at about 5am in the morning and I nearly fell off my chair…it was a different kind of buzz looking out seeing a room that big dancing to something you’ve created”. In Shamus’s words Geek Rock is “a rough big room song and indicative of what Jackster and I both play. -Rocky, tribal, chunky house.

Lets talk awards, you both did well in the inaugural Technics inthemix DJ Top 50 Poll with Shamus voted #14 in Australia & Jackster at  #31

Shamus: The awards are like a big pat on the back from the people that matter the most – the clubbers who come and dance their asses off every week. That someone cares enough to take 5 minutes to vote on my behalf for an award is a great feeling and something I greatly appreciate.

Jackster: Given I’ve only played in Sydney, unlike my well-traveled remix partner, I was amazed I even figured to be honest

Shamus: Jackster and I were out the night ITM’s top 50 were announced which was great as we celebrated together in style!  We were both completely stoked to be anywhere on the top 50 list.

With so much free time on your hands, what else is in the pipeline?

Jackster: Yeah, soooo much free time!!

Shamus: Just to keep doing this job I love so much.

Jackster: A day off may be in the pipeline soon although I’m not sure when..

Come on, I know you have more planned, any more tracks?

Jackster: Funny you mention that, we have been discussing doing another track pretty soon and I had an idea just last night.

Shamus: I’ve got a few collaboration projects lined up. One is with Elroy, that’s half finished and sounds like a Wally Lopez / Martin Solveig hybrid. I’m also looking at working with Ben Korbel, Yogi and bass man extraordinaire Michael diFrancesco.

I knew there had to be more underway, what about new nights Jackster?

Jackster: Unless they invent an eighth day of the week and a third day of the weekend they’ll be no new nights for me!

Right so back to Geek Rock, where do you go from here with the track?

Jackster: Basically we’re trying to get our remix licensed right now…the potential record labels all have the track and we’re waiting for feedback from them. Depending on the success of the original when released in the UK may help our chances of getting it released in Europe, maybe even by the Community Spirit boys themselves who release all their own material.  We’ve got CDRs in the hands of pretty much all the Australian DJs we think it’s relevant for and so far we’ve had some great reactions and it’s starting to get radio play on the likes of FBI.

You’ll be likely to hear Shamus and Jackster playing their new remix ‘Geek Rock’ at any one of their Sydney club residencies. Shamus regularly plays Ear Candy @ Yu, Kink @ Arthouse, Sounds on Sunday @ Greenwood Hotel and After Ours @ Yu. Jackster regularly plays Together @ Home, Kink @ Arthouse and Clean & Serene @ Burdekin.