Launched in 2017 by Data Transmission residents Ron Mexico and Wax Worx, London imprint Shanghaied Recordings have seen an immense reception with their first releases.
Putting out records from YADE, Ben Sterling, Waitz, Wax Worx and more, they have quickly begun to catch the attention of house heads around the UK and Europe.
The latest cut to drop on Shanghaied comes as a collaboration between two British up & comers – Dub Healy and Marcellus Wallace. Titled Coco Nanza, the track combines excited tribal sounds with deep and chunky tech house grooves.
We caught up with both Dub and Marcellus to speak to them on their new release, what 2018 has in store and what labels they’re currently digging.
Hello guys, thanks for taking some time out of your schedule to chat, how are things at the moment?
Things are great, enjoying working on new music and have been doing some cool gigs together recently. We have a 3hr b2b set at Ritual LDN on the 28th of April which we’re excited for, supporting Secondcity. Dan started Ritual a couple of years ago with another friend of ours, it’s amazing to see it doing so well and their crowd is always on point.
You have a track together that just came out on Shanghaied, tell us about the record and how it came to completion?
Yes, we actually made this a year ago. We were loving the tribal vibes at the time and wanted to make something we could play in our sets. We found the vocal first then the rest kind of all slotted together. I don’t think this was one of those tracks that came together quickly though. It took a while to get all the different vocal parts working in harmony.
It’s titled Coco Nanza, is their a story or meaning behind it, where did the name come from?
We’d love to say that there was a deep spiritual meaning to this.. but its literally what we thought the sample said! After a couple of sessions the name stuck in our heads and there was no changing it.
Your label resume includes Toolroom, Audio Rehab, Glasgow Underground and Simma Black, what labels would you love to release with but haven’t had the chance yet?
The labels whose work we’ve really been impressed by recently are Resonance, Sola, Hot Creations, Relief & Suara.
You have worked together on several occasions now, do you have have a routine or is it a new approach each time?
Either we start with an idea for a track and build the beats around that. Or Marcellus starts the beats and we both have a hunt for samples, then go have a jam in the studio and see where we want to take it.
And can you tell us what you might have on during the remainder of 2018?
As mentioned earlier we’re doing the extended set at Ritual on the 28th. We’ve both got residencies in and around London as well and we’ve both got some nice international gigs planned for Summer. The overall plan is to crack on really, make more tracks and sign them with great labels. There are a few exciting developments in the pipeline too, but nothing we can discuss just yet.
Thanks a lot for talking with us, it has been a pleasure, any words of wisdom before we go?
Our advice would be don’t get disheartened if things aren’t going your way in the studio. Take a breather, go out and listen to someone’s set. A night out might lead to a couple of gigs and an idea for a track, so don’t think that a creative block is the end of the world.