Innershades Mix
Joining us for Tapes #108 is Belgian based DJ and producer Innershades. Influenced by electronic body music, acid house, rude electro and nineties trance, Innershades’ raw yet wistful productions sound like what could be the OST to the golden age of Belgian club life.
Even though Innershades’ music has stayed faithful to its core tenets, it nonetheless quickly outgrew these geographical and historical surroundings, and landed him spots on labels such as Time Passages, Cabaret Recordings, Cartulis Music, Clone Records and line-ups all over Europe and beyond.
Hey! Thanks for being a part of Origins Tapes! Can you introduce yourself in 3 words?
Producer / Music Lover / Synthesizers
What’s the ideal setting to listen to this mix?
Just before going to a club or while driving in a car and you need some energy to stay awake.
With releases on scene-defining labels like Cartulis, Time Passages & more, you’ve become known for that trance infused’ techno sound - tell us more about this & where your influences come from?
Well I grew up in Belgium so I guess I was influenced early by new beat and trance from a young age since it was on the radio and I had access to all these compilations like “Dance Train” and “Serious Beats”.
Later on I started to buy records at my hometown record store and eventually ended up getting a student job there. That’s when i learned a lot about all this music from the past and i had a lot of time to check out the new stuff too.
A couple of years later I started to produce and it took off from there.
Talk to us about your production process - you’ve mentioned that you’re drawn to high energy sounds when making music. What goes into creating a ‘peak-time’ track?
I don’t know just do a 4/4 909 kick with hi hats and a nice lead and forward pushing bassline will help. And keeping it simple is key.
What’s the nightlife scene like in Belgium? Have you got any favourite venues or club nights to mention?
It’s ok we have some good clubs like Fuse which has been around for around 30 years and C-12 has also been interesting since they started out a couple of years back. There’s also some nice parties from local crews and record shops so everyone is doing their best :).
Favourite moment from this summer?
When I took one month off and went to Austria and Croatia to just chill in nature and the mountains. DJ wise the summer ending party of Cocorico was really nice since i played the closing set. Imagine the sun rising at 6PM with DJ Rolando - Jaguar blasting through the speakers :). That was a nice moment for me.
Lastly, anything exciting coming up in the pipeline?
Early 2024 I’ll release a new EP on Altered Circuits (label I run together with Thwang). It will be more electro oriented and will be called Explorer EP.
Maybe I’ll drop an album later in the year but I'm not sure yet if I want to release it. And i’m working on Heritage Vol2. dedicated to the belgium sound.