U.S. and Canadian born, Luke Shipstad & Dylan Warren; both still teenagers, have made a sudden appearance on the Progressive House music scene. Both after only a few years of producing varied electronic music, ranging from Ambient to Trance, the duo discovered Progressive House. Though still teenagers, Shipstad & Warren are at the beginning of a long career.
Together their sound has been described as emotional, melodically driven, deep, powerful, uplifting and not to mention easy on the ears! Combined their varied styles have gained huge recognition and support from big names including, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Judge Jules, Paul Oakenfold, Andy Moor, Solarstone, Rank1, Kenneth Thomas, Marco V, Sied Van Riel, Marcus Schossow, Thrillseekers, Miss Nine, Mango, Answer42, Roddy Reynaert and loads more!
As DJ's, you could say that Shipstad & Warren are ready for the masses. Shipstad & Warren will continue to grab the attention of audiences across the world through the aid of technology and their productions.
Now moving forward with new releases and remixes left and right, the duo is making releases on many different powerful labels including, Black Hole, (Songbird), Armada, Spinnin’, Proton, and Nellie. Seeing no signs of slowing down, the production and DJ duo are in full force, ready to take over the Progressive House genre.
[Official Shipstad & Warren Biography]
Luke and Dylan, how are things lately?
Things have been going absolutely spectacular! We’ve recently settled down with quite a few releases on Black Hole Recordings on their Songbird imprint and have been working heavily with the guys from Suspect 44 (Also on Black Hole Recordings and soon to be showing some very impressive credentials ;) )
Can you share to us how you two started producing music?
Well back in 2008 we met through a mutual friend and since then we’ve noticed our sounds melding so well together that we figured we might as well create a duo! We both complemented each others sounds and production methods very well and were always happy with the result.
Our inspirations run wild all the time, all the way from ambient to electro styled tunes. Although our home is Progressive House so you’ll notice lots of influence from the genre’s heavy hitters such as, Deadmau5, Jay Lumen, Andy Duguid, Arty, Answer 42, Schodt and more recently Suspect 44.
Aside from making music, what else do you enjoy doing?
More music making! Haha. Well We’re both gaming nerds and computer nerds...We guess it comes with the job of music production... We both have outside jobs as well aside from music to pull in extra money here and there.
Your latest release on Nellie Recordings, “Last Chance”, is out now. Can you share with us your inspiration behind this release?
To be honest that recording had no particular influence. We’re certainly not going to sit here and type you some sob story or beautiful sunset that thoroughly inspired us to make it...The fact of the matter is that a lot of music is just plain created by musicians for the sake of making music! Now we’re not stating that ALL music is crafted this way...but in this instance...It was!
In your opinion, how has being young contributed to your career?
Well you’re certainly right in thinking there’s an advantage to starting early. You get to play around with genres, find which sound you belong to and you have lots of time to develop your sound and production styles. Another beauty that comes with being young is the ability to switch any of these as any time!
That being said, there are some disadvantages. Club attending age in many countries is 18 and because half of us is under 18, having gigs turned down because of age is common...However, because we’re so young, we can gain support from the masses before we being touring and add an audience that wants us before we go out and play :)
Weighing the upsides and downsides of the internet and technology to the music industry in general, how do you bring your name out there in the advent of the digital era?
Make music as brilliantly as possible without flooding the market with mundane crap that everyone has already heard! Getting our name out on youtube, getting the uploaders to get our songs out there so their tens of thousands of subscribers get to see our music! And also. Promo, promo, promo. The internet is by far the easiest “fame maker” tool of all time. There are people that become phenomenons over night because of the internet!
However this does lead to the topic of illegal downloading on the internet...It’s by far the number one source of promo...but on the same token...if us artists are going to continue to make music, we need to make money from it as well. Hopefully soon there will be a decent balance in this difficult equation...but neither of us really see a resolve anytime soon.
As part of the frontier of the youth in the electronic dance music scene, what message would you like to send out to all young and aspiring producers around the world?
First and foremost, please stop asking for our autographs :P
In all seriousness, just keep trying and working your hardest to sound the way you want to in your head ;) Listen to your track next to more successful artists...if it sounds just as good in terms of production and quality, then maybe you’re on the right track! If not, then maybe back the drawing board?
None of our success happened over night and as noted above...we’ve been working at it for about two years now, so if your first ever track doesn’t sound like the one hit wonder you were hoping for...don’t beat yourself up over it and just continue to work at it!
Where do you see yourselves three to five years from now?
In a pool next to twelve dozen gorgeous women. That’s right. That’s 144 gorgeous women for those of you not keeping track.
Also hopefully touring the globe with Suspect 44 as well as establishing ourselves exclusively on a predominant Progressive House label.
Can you name one restaurant you cannot live without?
Well this question certainly came out of the blue hahahaha.
Shipstad: Benihana...Two words, Hibachi. Shrimp.
Warren: KFC, cause I'm black.
What can we expect from you guys in the near future?
Well we do have a New York gig that we’re working on at the moment...So all you east-coasters can look forward to that!
As far as releases go...As we noted above, we’ve established ourselves on Black Hole (Songbird) for quite a few releases into the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011 as Shipstad & Warren as well as a collaboration with Suspect 44 called “Broken” which is available now at all major online retailers.
I, Miguel Libre, would like to personally thank you for your time and patience in accomplishing this interview! May you have a bright career ahead! Support as always!
Cheers Miguel! Thank you for the opportunity to do this interview and thank you for your constant support. Thank you to the fans as well! And always know, if you want to talk to either of us, find us on facebook (We usually respond!)
Things have been going absolutely spectacular! We’ve recently settled down with quite a few releases on Black Hole Recordings on their Songbird imprint and have been working heavily with the guys from Suspect 44 (Also on Black Hole Recordings and soon to be showing some very impressive credentials ;) )
Can you share to us how you two started producing music?
Well back in 2008 we met through a mutual friend and since then we’ve noticed our sounds melding so well together that we figured we might as well create a duo! We both complemented each others sounds and production methods very well and were always happy with the result.
Our inspirations run wild all the time, all the way from ambient to electro styled tunes. Although our home is Progressive House so you’ll notice lots of influence from the genre’s heavy hitters such as, Deadmau5, Jay Lumen, Andy Duguid, Arty, Answer 42, Schodt and more recently Suspect 44.
Aside from making music, what else do you enjoy doing?
More music making! Haha. Well We’re both gaming nerds and computer nerds...We guess it comes with the job of music production... We both have outside jobs as well aside from music to pull in extra money here and there.
Your latest release on Nellie Recordings, “Last Chance”, is out now. Can you share with us your inspiration behind this release?
To be honest that recording had no particular influence. We’re certainly not going to sit here and type you some sob story or beautiful sunset that thoroughly inspired us to make it...The fact of the matter is that a lot of music is just plain created by musicians for the sake of making music! Now we’re not stating that ALL music is crafted this way...but in this instance...It was!
In your opinion, how has being young contributed to your career?
Well you’re certainly right in thinking there’s an advantage to starting early. You get to play around with genres, find which sound you belong to and you have lots of time to develop your sound and production styles. Another beauty that comes with being young is the ability to switch any of these as any time!
That being said, there are some disadvantages. Club attending age in many countries is 18 and because half of us is under 18, having gigs turned down because of age is common...However, because we’re so young, we can gain support from the masses before we being touring and add an audience that wants us before we go out and play :)
Weighing the upsides and downsides of the internet and technology to the music industry in general, how do you bring your name out there in the advent of the digital era?
Make music as brilliantly as possible without flooding the market with mundane crap that everyone has already heard! Getting our name out on youtube, getting the uploaders to get our songs out there so their tens of thousands of subscribers get to see our music! And also. Promo, promo, promo. The internet is by far the easiest “fame maker” tool of all time. There are people that become phenomenons over night because of the internet!
However this does lead to the topic of illegal downloading on the internet...It’s by far the number one source of promo...but on the same token...if us artists are going to continue to make music, we need to make money from it as well. Hopefully soon there will be a decent balance in this difficult equation...but neither of us really see a resolve anytime soon.
As part of the frontier of the youth in the electronic dance music scene, what message would you like to send out to all young and aspiring producers around the world?
First and foremost, please stop asking for our autographs :P
In all seriousness, just keep trying and working your hardest to sound the way you want to in your head ;) Listen to your track next to more successful artists...if it sounds just as good in terms of production and quality, then maybe you’re on the right track! If not, then maybe back the drawing board?
None of our success happened over night and as noted above...we’ve been working at it for about two years now, so if your first ever track doesn’t sound like the one hit wonder you were hoping for...don’t beat yourself up over it and just continue to work at it!
Where do you see yourselves three to five years from now?
In a pool next to twelve dozen gorgeous women. That’s right. That’s 144 gorgeous women for those of you not keeping track.
Also hopefully touring the globe with Suspect 44 as well as establishing ourselves exclusively on a predominant Progressive House label.
Can you name one restaurant you cannot live without?
Well this question certainly came out of the blue hahahaha.
Shipstad: Benihana...Two words, Hibachi. Shrimp.
Warren: KFC, cause I'm black.
What can we expect from you guys in the near future?
Well we do have a New York gig that we’re working on at the moment...So all you east-coasters can look forward to that!
As far as releases go...As we noted above, we’ve established ourselves on Black Hole (Songbird) for quite a few releases into the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011 as Shipstad & Warren as well as a collaboration with Suspect 44 called “Broken” which is available now at all major online retailers.
I, Miguel Libre, would like to personally thank you for your time and patience in accomplishing this interview! May you have a bright career ahead! Support as always!
Cheers Miguel! Thank you for the opportunity to do this interview and thank you for your constant support. Thank you to the fans as well! And always know, if you want to talk to either of us, find us on facebook (We usually respond!)
