I have a natural fear of anything that feels like celebrating my own past to an extent that doesn't allow me to continue to look forward. I don't know psychologically why it is, but I get a little uncomfortable with nostalgia.

DJ Shadow

Categorized in : Past Natural Nostalgia

I was sort of like a kid in a candy store, realizing it was fun making beats without the perceived burden that every track I did had to be a some progressive sample masterpiece. It was nice to blow off steam and work on those songs. For me, that’s what 'The Outsider' was about in general: forget everything, I’m just gonna follow my own music, and make the music I want to make.

nice song fun

So, in addition to being a full-time father of two and everything else in life, it isn't so much that I'm sitting around plotting an album. I just kinda follow my muse and wherever my interests lie, and at some point I decide, "Right. It's been a while, time to figure out how to get serious and make some music."

two father lying

I always managed to fly a bit below the radar, but high enough to... by DJ Shadow

I always managed to fly a bit below the radar, but high enough to avoid colliding into anything.

bits radar enough

When I'm representing my music live I think of it very much in a rock band sense. When I first started doing festivals in the 90s there really weren't other DJs playing the stages I was playing. So I felt I was being afforded an opportunity to kind of make a statement about what DJ music can be live. In the 90s, if you were a DJ you were in the dance tent, and you were playing house music and techno music. There was no such thing as a DJ - a solo DJ - on a stage, after a rock band and before another rock band: that just didn't happen.

house opportunity thinking

Cutting and pasting is the essence of what hip-hop culture is all about for me. It's about drawing from what's around you, and subverting it and decontextualizing it.

drawing cutting essence

I don't care if I get kicked out of every rich kid club on the planet. I will never sacrifice my integrity as a DJ...ever.

i-dont-care integrity kids

When I'm looking for DJ sets and stuff to drop, I look for music that I feel is gonna get the reaction I want from the crowd.

crowds want looks

Through it all, the words of John Peel echo strongly within me: you have support the music that's being made now. You have to continue to look forward and learn from what's happening. That's my philosophy, anyway.

support philosophy

I still consider myself a consumer of music more than anything el... by DJ Shadow

I still consider myself a consumer of music more than anything else.

consumers stills

I don't hate what I love. I love what I love and I hate what I ha... by DJ Shadow

I don't hate what I love. I love what I love and I hate what I hate.

dont-hate i-hate hate

My core values are still the same about music, and my work ethic, and what I want to represent to people.

work-ethic want people

I've said this a lot lately, too: if, 20 or 30 years down the road, when everything's said and done, I was never able to achieve that level of zeitgeist again, then so be it. I know how rare it is for anybody to do that. But I also feel like, OK, we're getting on to 25 years of putting out records: that's also kind of rare air for anybody who makes music. And I think you just end up kind of grateful for every opportunity that comes along.

grateful opportunity thinking

As for my store, most artists' sites send you to a third-party storefront like iTunes, whereas we're disseminating it ourselves. I was always uncomfortable with the thought of sending somebody who came to my site to buy something to some other store. It just occurred to me, "Why can't we do this?"

stores party artist

I personally feel the need to experience life and new music and ideas before I can sit down and start writing music again.

writing ideas needs

The music that I have always liked has always been more rooted in anger or sadness or alienation or any of those inspirational factors that drove rock'n'roll, gospel, and blues. I tend not to value a more pop aesthetic.

rock-n-roll rocks sadness

I just felt, at the time, a little bit relieved, because I was kinda counting the days: 'Come on! Let's get these records into people's homes - nobody will ever be able to get them all back, and it'll be an artefact out in the world.'

relieved home world

I tend to gravitate away from the more trendy Ibiza style of danc... by DJ Shadow

I tend to gravitate away from the more trendy Ibiza style of dance music. It's not me.

ibiza trendy style

I've always feel like it's been my place to offer an alternative. by DJ Shadow

I've always feel like it's been my place to offer an alternative.

offers alternatives feels

It's satisfying to put out new music. And I think that's the context in which I'm comfortable revisiting things from the past.

past thinking

I always like to remain a fan, put it that way: and I like to hold the idealised version of what these artists are like. Greed is one of those components of human nature that's inherent in everyone, and sometimes it is an unpleasant thing to engage in.

greed artist sometimes