Shadow Lands

WHEN it comes to mixing, sampling and scratching, DJ Shadow is the heavyweight champion of the world.

Known the world over for his deck dexterity – barely breaking a sweat while keeping four turntables on the go during his legendary live sets – his creations, whether soulful, trippy, dark or muscular, have become classics.

Yet this turntablist, who has been credited with inventing what became known as ‘trip-hop’, is also a survivor, and he refuses to stop innovating – even if it takes him away from what his fans have come to expect.

So, 15 years after the release of his seminal Endtroducing – the world’s first completely sampled album, and a record which has come to represent the highest form of the DJ’s art – he is back with a new record.

The Less You Know, The Better is undeniably the work of DJ Shadow, but is, he is at pains to point out, no Endtroducing 2.

“I am proud of my longevity,” says the DJ – real name Josh Davis – while preparing for his forthcoming UK tour while at home in his native California – the place he started out as a student DJ on a campus radio station.

“It has been 20 years since my first record, and to be able to do tours like I still do means some people are enthusiastic about what I do.

“I can’t be frozen in time or held captive, however, and I don’t want to be famous; that’s not what I do.”

Fame has followed, however, much of it on the back of Endtroducing’s multi-platinum blend of rock, hip-hop, jazz, soul and dance.

Though, he explains, it’s not all good, especially when one hit album comes to define who you are and what you do.

“For a long time I tried to come to terms with fame,” he says. “I was confused by the praise the album was getting, and the way it was directed it at me. After all, there are lots of albums I think are amazing, even if I don’t care for the bands.

“I had more power than I gave myself credit for. But if it sounds like I’m not happy with my lot, it’s not the case. I have nothing but positive feelings about that whole time, but was too naïve to understand what was being given to me. I was given an incredible platform and great opportunities, but tried not to burn myself out too quickly.”

The days when DJ Shadow created a physical spectacle by turning up with sparring partner Cut Chemist (aka Jurassic 5’s Lucas MacFadden) with eight turntables between them, are a thing of the past – along with the groaning boxes of records.

Now he uses CDJs – compact disc players with analogue control - and an electric drum kit. But that’s not to say he doesn’t still work hard.

“I can scratch nicely with CDJs, and make the same sounds with CDs as I can with vinyl,” he says.

“And I always like to be busy. It offends me when I see DJs playing to stadiums full of people, yet what they are doing is non-existent in terms of quality. I like people to feel they are getting a performance.”

And, with his lights and deck acrobatics, there is no question of clubbers not getting full value.

“One of my weirdest shows was in Hong Kong,” he recalls. “The stage was so high, there was a six-storey drop between me and the audience. I had a rapper with me and had to set up a net as we didn’t want him tripping and falling down the chasm.”

So what state is dance music in, all those years since he first mixed his fledgling samples?

“It’s very exciting,” he says. “There aren’t many rock groups out there – other than U2, Coldplay or Foo Fighters – who can fill a baseball stadium, but I can rattle off many DJs who could.

“It is easier than ever for someone to call themself a DJ.”

Next Thursday he returns to Oxford – this time to showcase the new album.

“I have a lot of good memories of playing Oxford and I expect it to be a good one,” he says.

“The reception for the new album has been positive among the sort of people who have followed me for a long time, and who ‘get’ where I’m at and what I’m doing.

“After all, I am unique.”

* DJ Shadow plays The Oxford O2 Academy next Thursday with Knock and Tiger Mendoza. Tickets are £19.50 from wegottickets.com