I’ve read that you’re playing live shows as well – is it a new live set-up?
Shaw: Yeah, I started it over the summer last year and didn’t make so much noise about it because I wanted to see how it went, how comfortable I felt. A live act is something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while, but I never really committed to it because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to present it fully realized straight away, and that there would be quite a large element of effectively learning in front of people. That knowledge put me off for a long time until I really kicked myself up the arse and said, “You know what, nothing is ever going to be perfect when you start.“ As much as anything else, I think it’s important to keep yourself creatively challenged. And it’s definitely been the most nerve-wracking experiences that I’ve had for quite a long time as a performer. I think every show there’s been something that maybe’s gone slightly wrong – whether it’s an issue with the sound, or an issue with a bid of hardware or whatever. But dealing with those moments is what makes it live, and dealing with those challenges is what keeps it interesting. So while it might be hugely nerve-wracking, it’s massively rewarding.
When we go back to your first album, there were quite a lot of people bashing on Hotflush at the time. Do you have any advice how to cope with these things?
Shaw: Yeah, definitely. I mean it’s funny – well, it wasn’t funny at the time, I guess I took it quite personally, which I shouldn’t have done. But I feel like any artist that tells you that they really don’t care what people say, at least about their music, I feel like they’re lying a bit. I think everyone has an ego. Everyone wants people to like what they do, that’s the bottom line. Otherwise, why put it out there in the first place? Equally, everyone’s entitled to their opinion and so long as it’s delivered in a constructive and not a bitter way that’s fine. But I definitely feel like it got beyond music when it came to the period of time around the album. There were some really personal comments which were being leveled at me for no reason. It really upset me. And Paul (alias Hotflush owner Scuba) and all the Hotflush guys were just like, “Ah, you shouldn’t listen to it, it’s fine.” But it’s one thing saying that. When you’re on the receiving end of a barrage of internet hating, it’s kind of horrible.
Stream: Sigha – Groove Podcast 10
But the person who really made me see it completely differently was Karl (Karl O’Connor alias Regis). He said to me, “James, if you’re not upsetting people, and if you haven’t got a bunch of people hating you, you’re not doing things right. If you’re not creating a strong reaction, whether that is people really hating what you’re doing or absolutely loving what you’re doing, you’re not saying anything that’s worth saying as an artist. Really, you’re just treading this middle safe ground.” When he turned around and said this to me it really struck a chord. To me, that would be the way I suggest people to look at things. If you’re not stirring things up enough to create a genuinely strong reaction – and that can be a negative one as well as a positive one – then maybe you shouldn’t be saying things in the first place. I think that tracks back to the beginning of what I was talking about, how I started to feel really depressed. Where I felt I’d lost touch with what made me me, and what drew me towards techno in the first place. I got sucked into this middle ground of, “Okay, I’m gonna play these 200 tracks this weekend, and I know that these are gonna work on the dance floor,” and they’re probably the same 200 tracks that load of other people are playing. It’s so important to avoid that safety zone. I guess I made a conscious effort to really start reaching for tracks that maybe weren’t obvious bangers. I got to a place where I wanted to play the tracks that felt truest to me, regardless of how easy it would be to make them work. Because the thing is, those tracks can work, they do work. But it just might not be as easy as playing the latest white noise banger.
