In 2005 after being friends and associated production whores with Mikah Freeman, Vance Musgrove & Ross McGrath started their digital label project, dubbed The Aston Shuffle. What started off as a group effort to get their previously unreleased tunes to the masses has skyrocketed into 2007 with the group heavily in demand for their white hot remixes – a little electro, a little techno, but all house. When the swing on their tunes hits the dance floor you’ll be more than pleasantly surprised how hard it is keep your body from going retarded.
Back to the start, Vance already had numerous releases in his teens, before teaming up with Ross for their much sought after Coney Island EP on Aussie label EQ [Grey] which hit the coveted No 1 spot on the US Balance Chart. While Ross was hard at work in the studio refining his sound, Mikah had been honing his reputation as one of Canberra’s best DJs for the last few years. Mikah & Ross started their Tangleray project and had already stumbled into playing their live show to the delight of many Canberra club goers, before having their debut remix release hand-picked by Sasha for inclusion in his 2006 set for Radio 1 legend Annie Nightingale, recorded live from Sydney’s Home nightclub.
With all three hailing from Australia’s capital Canberra, it was easy for their group projects to mix together, and as the sound of dance changed in Australia to the electro & tech house sound it is today, The Aston Shuffle as a production group was born. What came by chance was an offer from Japan’s DJ19 for a collaboration that would see Tangleray vs. Musgrove for a remix of CJay & DJ19’s tune Nethercutter. Not seeing the reason for the segregation the boys submitted the remix and dub as The Aston Shuffle & haven’t looked back since. Quick to follow up, they were given the opportunity to remix Assie legends Phil K & Luke Chable as Lo Step. The boys’ remix of Villain from LoStep’s album will be released on Global Underground in the coming months. The still officially unreleased Nethercutter dub saw support from Chris Lake, Malente & Micky Slim, Rob K, Nic Fanciulli, Phil K, James Zabiela just to name a few. The remix boosted their profile to a level even they didn’t expect as the remix was also released on inthemix.com 2006 CD mixed by Nick Thayer and ex-Canberran Rob K.
Back in the studio again Mikah and Vance (as Muz n Mann) decided to have a go at something different and ‘Feel My Shit’ was the result. The tune was instantly jumped on by local Ministry of Sound offshoot, Hussle Black. Strong support for their record even saw them move into the ARIA Club Chart. Their second release will see their tune Panik released on Luke Chable’s Trojan Records and has already appeared on Nubreed’s Electric Mix CD on EQ Recordings.
While all this was happening there were more remix offers coming in for The Aston Shuffle, most notably Malente’s tune Killer Applikation. Out in early December on Moonbootica Recordings the release sees The Aston Shuffle take it up a notch, this is proven by the extremely good reactions coming back on the promos already circulating, not to mention the fact that Moonbootica themselves included the tune in their latest label mix CD and it has also been included on one of Sydney’s best club night Kink’s new CD mixed by Ben Morris & Sharam Jey. Through the Muz & Mann connection the group were also asked to do some remixes for Hussle Black. The first remix was of Rocketmen’s tune Candy and has already gained support even appearing on Ministry of Sound’s Annual 2007. Next episode look out for their remix on Sheen’s tune Electrosexual.
With much more in the pipeline including some new high profile remixes under their various guises for Hussle Black, Morrison Recordings, Spinout Recordings, some new material with Chris Lake, new original tunes, Muz & Mann’s monthly residency at Rouge Rockr in Sydney, Tangleray’s new live show or even their own club night in Canberra “Deep Throat”, the boys are set for another extremely busy year.
If you’re in Sydney you can catch Aston Shuffle playing at Floorgasm, Friday May 18th at Candy’s Apartment.
The Aston Shuffle – May 2007 Promo Mix
Tracklisting
01 – C79 – Dope Ride – Original Mix – pacific front recordings
02 – James Harcourt – Galia Melon – Tha Aston Shuffle Remix – Spin Out Records
03 – Digital Villains – Busted Speaker – Joey’s Buy A Vowel Remix – Jackin’ Tracks
04 – John Tejada & Arian Leviste – Mathemagician – Palette
05 – Bryan Jones – 100 Percent Fly – Leon Du Star Remix – Control Digital
06 – Mike Gillenwater – Want You Baby feat. Harrison Crump – Original Mix – nine records
07 – Bryan Jones – Westside Bump – Jon Pegnato Remix – control digital
08 – Only Freak – Can’t Get Away (From Your Love) – Solid Groove remix – Freerange
09 – claude von stroke – the whistler – the aston shuffle remix – hussle
10 – Saeed Younan – To The Beat – Mastiksoul Remix – 4kenzo recordings
11 – Basement Jaxx – Make Me Sweat – Original Mix – Atlantic Jaxx
12 – radioclit – nelly ti picou – xxx
13 – Jason Merle – Look Atcha – Original Mix – system recordings
14 – Brett Johnson – Hot Potato – Original Mix – Freerange
15 – speakerjunk – foxxy lady – switch remix – dubsided
16 – chrislake – carry me away – the aston shuffle remix – rising music
17 – basskleph – coup de etat – hook n sling remix – vacation records
18 – Luetzenkirchen – Music For The Girls – Huggotron Remix – Great Stuff Records
19 – Arno Cost, Arias – Magenta – Original Mix – CR2 Records
20 – Teenage Bad Girl – Fuckin’ Frog – Citiczen Records
