Catching up with...Shaun Reeves (Visionquest)

The deep pool of inspiration that Detroit left on Shaun Reeves changed his life forever. From the cities old school era of rave, where he used to put on free after-parties with the likes of Richie Hawtin and Marco Carola. To hooking up with homeboys, Seth Troxler, Lee Curtiss and Ryan Crosson to forge a techno bond so strong, their rare excursion into beat driven territory gave rise to a 'vision' of making a moment this euphoric even bigger; and so became Visionquest. In 2011 alone, the Visionquest label has put out silver-lined EPs by Benoit & Sergio, Dinky, Tale of Us and Footprintz. Not to mention, their rampant party jams across the globe which in March, tore the roof straight off our Room One in a fabric debut. The special vibe of this party became a catalyst to their fabric61 mix CD out next Monday, which Shaun tells us is the most important musical project they’ve taken on. We wasted no time in chatting to Shaun about his anticipation to get back in Room One this Saturday. Reviewing fabric61 in his own words, we’re told this isn’t just music for the club but also for life. He also reveals future collaborations with Ricardo Villalobos, albums from Footprintz and Tale of Us and secret Visionquest plans to create a full sensory environment for their music as an alternative to the clubs- watch this space. Don’t forget we’ll be streaming Shauns set live, alongside Brandt Brauer Frick (live) and Le Loup via our Awdio channel this Saturday. How are you looking forward to getting back in Room One this Saturday? I'm very much looking forward to this night and have been for a while now. Playing in Room One is always one of the highlights of my year and quite possibly my favorite gig as I absolutely love London and the club and staff at fabric. Of course I'll be dropping by the other rooms through the night, especially Room Three to support our good friends Clockwork and Thugfucker from Life and Death. It’s hard to believe 2011 is nearly over already! What have some of your highlights been this year in terms of releases and gigs? The Visionquest party in Room One in March was a big highlight for me and for all of us. I think that you can ask anyone who was there and they'll all tell you that it was a very special night and vibe. Giving the four of us complete control of the room for a night was a huge honor. It was a big stepping stone for us into the craziness that’s been the rest of 2011. Aside from that there have been many good gigs, the other two that I of immediately are Movement Festival in Detroit, always good to go home, and every time I played at DC-10 over the summer, that place is magical. How did you feel when you were first asked to compile a mix for the fabric series? It was an overwhelming honor to be asked to be a part of this series and we were all incredibly excited about it when we heard the news. We have all been big fans of a lot of these mixes and have been hugely influenced by a few of them. This combined with our history with the club, we have gotten huge support from them the past couple of years and gotten to play on some pretty special evenings, makes it the most important musical project that we have taken on together aside from starting our label. What were your inspirations for your track selection? In what ways did you want to challenge the listener & raise their eyebrows? It’s very important for a mix like this to be timeless and this being the first commercial mix CD for most of us (Seth already did a compilation for NRK earlier this year and Lee did one for Watergate), we really wanted to show our history. A story of our years of friendship told with the music that we have played and been influenced and inspired by this whole time. As well as some tracks from the present that we think we will look back on in that same way and also a short glimpse into our future. We hope to offer that sort of experience every time we play out. Music for the club but also music for life. Another way that we tried to raise eyebrows, as you say, was the mixes. We wanted them to be as drawn out and intricate as possible which is the way that we play in club/real time situations. Really focusing on the mix and letting them ride. The biggest challenge was probably this mechanical side of it, mostly just getting the four of us in one room to sort out the mixes and technicalities. The final phase of this was actually done in a rented villa in Ibiza during closing week. Not the ideal time/place for studio type work but we managed to get it done eventually, though I’d like to say a huge thank you to Leo and Geoff at fabric for being so accommodating with the deadlines for the finished mix! Last year you collaborated with Guti for ‘Hold Me Tight’ on Wolf & Lamb. Do you have any forthcoming collaboration plans with other artists and who’s on the dream list for you? Yes, as Visionquest we are actually working on a remix for David Lynch as I type this. Next year will see us finally get away from the remixes a bit and release some original material, and we are very excited for this phase of our existence. Aside from that I've done a few other collabs recently, one of them with a person who I would say has always been at the top of said dream list: Ricardo Villalobos. It’s a remix of folk artist Banana Lazuli that will come out on Visionquest sometime in 2012 along with remixes of the other tracks from her forthcoming album by some pretty amazing artists. What were some of the first parties you put on in Detroit and do you feel the city still captures the spirit and attitude of the techno parties when you were there? Reading this question just flooded my mind with memories. I'll start with the first party I ever did, together with an old friend in Detroit. It was with Rob Hood in an art gallery. I don't remember much beyond that except that I'm sure lots of money was lost. From that I moved on to doing regular events around the city (bar/club nights/loft parties) with friend and former roommate, Matt Abbott. We had several amazing parties/lineups in this time. People like Magda, Dan Bell, even a free after-party once in an abandoned loft with Richie Hawtin and Marco Corola that is still one of my fondest memories of Detroit. This was a special time there, the "post-rave" years of 2000-2004 or so, which is when I moved to Berlin and many of my friends from that time relocated to other places as well. The scene wasn't necessarily big at this time, in fact it was quite small, but there was a crazy kind of D.I.Y., slightly hedonistic and really sexy attitude about it that made it very fun. There were also certain parties from Detroit promoters Paxahau and Richie's Control parties in this time that were mindblowing. All of these things are definitely a big part of me, of all of us really, as this was when we got our musical education and also when the four of us started becoming friends as we realized we were into the same sounds and type of party. You must have seen and experienced quite a lot of eye-opening scenes over the years. What’s been the most inspiring and exciting of these for you? Well, I just explained Detroit so I'll focus on Berlin here. First of all, you are correct, there were far too many eye-opening scenes for me to even think of all of them now. The particular moments that stand out were nearly all from Club Der Visionaere. Hearing Zip/Ricardo there the first times when I arrived here were unforgettable experiences. Also the Beatstreet parties from this time were incredible. A type of Berlin undergound which I think is missing a bit now… those parties were something else. Would you say the music you make reflect you and your personality? I certainly hope that all the music that I’m involved in reflects my personality. For me that’s what makes an artist. Anyone can learn the mechanics or the programs but it takes someone who can express their personality and put that into the music for it to be special. This is the magic ingredient. We’re interested to know if you think of stepping into the studio ever feels like therapy? Is it a cathartic process and how do you look upon it? Yes, there are definitely times when it’s 100% therapy. There have been times in my life, even recently, when going through heartbreak or some type of life shit the only time I'm ok or happy is when I’m making music or out DJing. These are of course hard times but I feel most of them happen for a reason as it connects me much more deeply with what I'm doing and in the end makes me better at expressing myself through the music. I can't say that its necessarily cleansing or cathartic because these experiences or moods will always be a part of me but its very satisfying when that emotion comes out in the track or song and just being productive in those times helps to move on to the next stage. What’s coming up on the Visionquest label and what bright new talent have you been digging up for it? We have loads of amazing music lined up for the first half of 2012. Albums from Footprintz and Tale of Us as well as the Banana Lazuli folk album with the remixes I mentioned before. Also some EP's featuring the return of Konrad Black and some new material from Matthew Burton and one of this years biggest underground success stories Laura Jones. We have also started a podcast series on our recently launched website that will be featuring some really good mixes from our artists and friends in the coming months. You can check it at VQuestTV Tell us a few fun things about you away from the music scene. Favourite movie? The Big Lebowski. I know this might be a common or obvious answer to this question but I can't think of another movie that I know every line from by heart so that says something. Hangover cure? Moderation! Record shop? Freebase, Melodies and Memories in Detroit (this is where we all met Seth years ago when he was working there as a teenager). Guilty pleasure? Junk food! Though most of my diet these days could be considered healthy (well relatively), I still can't avoid throwing down a bag of Haribo or a few cheeseburgers from time to time. Pet hates? People who use the DJ booth as a coat check, more specifically the space directly under the mixer while I’m trying to DJ on top of them! Closest homies? Ryan, Seth, and Lee (in no particular order) of course. We even have the tattoos to prove it. Are you guys just in it for the music or do you have any other causes/concepts that you think the world should pay more attention to? We are very much into the music, that is in the how we are at this point, but we also have a "vision" that includes creating a full sensory environment for our music as an alternative to the clubs and normal situations that have been the same experience of going out for the past several years. We are going to start implementing this concept over the next year and will be revealing more details soon so be prepared!