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INTERVIEW: Sharkslayer

25 January 2013 | 9:00 am | Chevy Long

We had a chat with Sami Nenola, a.k.a Sharkslayer, re: riding bald eagles to shows, his beef with Afrojack's taste and where 2013 looks to take him!

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Sami Nenola is a busy dude! Between running his two labels, Top Billin and My Techno Weighs a Ton, traveling the world and getting kids dancing, he still finds time to make tunes under his renowned moniker SHARKSLAYER.

We had a chat to Sami about his apparent beef with Afrojack, riding bald eagles to shows, and where 2013 looks to take him!

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For those who don't know you, who are you and what are you about?

I go by the name Sharkslayer. Don't let the name fool you, I love sharks and am a member of a sea life conservation society. I hunt and slay all the business sharks ruining the shit for most of us. I also produce high-powered club music ranging from electro to bass stompers to jackin house. I also love island sounds like dancehall and try to incorporate that into modern dance music every now and then. I have the privilege to DJ around the world, meet great people. I also have the honor to run 2 labels, Top Billin Music and My Techno Weighs A Ton, and interact with great artists on a daily basis. In addition to this, I have done releases + remixes for labels like Trouble&Bass, Dim Mak, Kitsune, Dubsided, Scattermusic, No Brainer, Man Recordings and many others.

First record you ever purchased?

I come from a boogie/disco/soul/new wave background, after developing a love for hip-hop and house and my interest with techno and bass music came a bit later. To be honest, can't remember my first record, but most likely it's a Michael Jackson or a Curtis Mayfield one. I still enjoy playing the boogie gigs, I especially love the 80's vibe when drum machine use had gone popular, 112bpm stuff. And the feeling of obscure new wave records with influences from disco. I don't listen sad /melancholic music that much, maybe sometimes some americana or older neil young and some mountain country. On Sundays we blast dancehall and soca at home.

You always seem to be travelling! Do you find that the places you go effect the music you make?

Definitely, that's one of the best parts of travelling, you get to meet people, listen to music they make and especially in the after parties when people dig out their records they actually listen at home and that's a great moment cause you can hear the persons current or past influences. I also got a rule about travelling and doing shows: I try to play local stuff too from local heroes, especially the ones connected to the scene. Respect where its due you know, for this tour I got plenty of new Ozzie stuff.

Your Top 5 picks for rising stars in 2013?

5? Brillz, Guerilla Speakerz, Spenda C, Lucent, DJ Venum, Strange VIP, Grandtheft, Blaze Tripp, DJ Dee Ass, Don D Selectah, Veit B, Futurizm, Astronomar, Jaycek, Willy Joy, Mirage Man, S-Type. There's 5.

With the rise of social media, there are so many avenues in which to get your name out these days. What's the weirdest and/or most shameful form of self promotion you've undertaken?

I basically promote myself via new tracks to DJs and of course running 2 labels helps a lot. So does Facebook, Twitter and my favourite, Soundcloud. I don't see self promotion shameful and nobody should. You should not trust your success in someone else's hands, be the skipper of your own boat. Most of the time when you see people promoting themselves wrong is just cause they're too new to the game. One advice is to not push yourself too much 'hey man listen my track!' - 'did you listen already, what!' etc etc kinda thing. And don't overload the social media either. But these things are pretty obvious to everyone, right? Also, get yourself a good artist name, name, dj first name + initial  of last name does not sound too creative.

What can Australian audiences expect from you with these upcoming shows?

Hot dogs and high-powered handguns. Also a lot of new tracks from proper masters of destruction around the world, more than enough bass, lots of unreleased stuff, probably I won't be dropping Rattle or Kick Out The Epic mf and that stuff. Except the Spenda C mix of rattle is a major one btw. I will be riding a bald eagle to shows and there will be fireworks. For this Melbourne show we will also have collabo track with Swick, I'll arrive a lil earlier so we can smash that out.

Top Billin is going strong! Where do you see 2013 taking it?

It's getting better every year, we had a really good 2012 with plenty of releases that made the charts and for 2013 we're gonna keep the pace, but also concentrate more on vocal stuff, dancehall, bashment, dubs, etc. We also got few a rap releases coming, produced by the Top Billin Team. We'll naturally keep crankin out those good ghetto jams in the form of a Jersey Club compilation, Nola Bounce compilation and more. And not forgetting new talent, there's some real dope producers bubblin right now.

We love what we hear from yourself and the Top Billin crew, you guys are always putting out great remixes and bootlegs. Is re-imagining other people's work something you see as essential to what you do? How does the experience differ from writing your own music?

The way we see it is that if you want to be a good DJ, you have to have those own edits and party mixes (as we call them, bootleg is a word used my commercial house guys). Everyone can buy tracks, hit the sync button and play them out. But giving your own twist to known (and unknown) tunes gives your set extra value. Also often I hear a track that has kool elements but does not work as a whole. Then I keep the elements I like and edit out the shit I don't like. Bad cheesy vocals are a good example. Making your own tracks is then again totally a different ballgame, a lot more to think about.

Finally, what's your advice to any young up and coming producers out there? 

Buy records and listen a lot. Just like if you're writer and want to write a book, you have to read a lot. Buying records sounds like and advice an older DJ will give, but trust me, it's a beautiful ride. It's something nobody ever regrets. Also one thing where people seem to give different advice is how to find the right 'sound'. I often read advice given is that 'listen how they did it and try to achieve that'. That's bullshit, then you end up sounding like everyone else. Walk in, fuck shit up, walk out is my advice. And hey Afrojack, fuck you for dissin trap. Now I'll go get a drink.

Keep up with Sami here: Top Billin / My Techno Weighs a Ton

SHARKSLAYER will be performing at CANT SAY Melbourne on February 1st with SWICK, TOMDERSON and our extended resident family. More info HERE