DJ Shane is the man behind Jetlag Digital, a rising independent, digital-based Progressive House label in Germany. In under two years, they've amassed an international roster, featuring artists from all over the world, and have found success and acclaim in releases by Pole Folder, Moshic, Michael & Levan, and Oliver Morgenroth.

A DJ with 16 years experience under his belt, his show this Saturday at G Plus is a homecoming for the German DJ, as he had previously did shows in Shanghai in 2007 at dkd and was even briefly a resident at VIPROOM.

DJ Shane reunites with Patrick Mai and Calvin this Saturday at G Plus. SmSh talked to Shane about Jetlag Digital, his crazy ass MIDI controller that he designed, and coming home to Shanghai.

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Shane: Yeah, my name is Shane. I'm a DJ/Producer from Germany. I've been doing it for 16 years now, and I'm based in Germany close to Frankfurt. Most of the time I play international concerts outside of Germany, and last year I founded my own record label called Jetlag Digital. It's a totally digital-based label for Progressive House music, but also we've got different stuff as well and remixes. But it's totally based in digital.


Shane: It doesn't really exist. Actually, I think I'm one of the first guys out of Germany who made a label supporting Progressive House. I have a few bookings in Germany, but most of the time we have to go international if I want to play Progressive House.

In the clubs in Germany, it's a lot of Minimal and Tech House. In the commercial scene, they're listening to a lot of Techno and Trance, but most clubs are playing Minimal and Tech House right now. A few are playing Deep House... but in Germany, it's Minimal and what people don't know, they don't like, and they don't dance.

They really hate Trance, the underground scene of Germany, and Progressive House sometimes uses parts of melodies, and so people say, "Oh this is Trance", and they stop dancing. It's really weird.


Shane: Yeah, I've been a lot to Asia, but in the last two years I've been going to the States. The last one I did was a WMC music conference in Miami, and before I did a US tour in Austin, Houston, San Antonio... that whole area. They're sort of into Progressive House there, and I'm also on a few labels in Mexico. The tour was amazing. It's really different than Europe and Asia. The clubs in Texas, they shut down at 2am, and I was really surprised. I had just started playing and then the lights come on, it's like, "hey, what the hell?"

But I made a few connections at the WMC. I was over there for a conference presenting the label and a new MIDI controller. It's a touch-screen display interface.

[Ed's note: If you're not familiar with MIDI controllers, they're hardware devices that DJs/producers use to interact with audio software. Joystick to Video Game = MIDI Controller to Digital Audio Workstation. Shane designed this MIDI controller that's basically a touch-screen, on which you draw your own buttons and sliders. It's pretty intense. Have a look at it right here. It's like out of Star Trek.]




Shane: I founded it at the end of 2007, and it took a while to get it ready. We came on the market in 2008, so it's about one and a half years old. The label is me and one of my friends from Germany called Hyline. We're partners and, he's the A&R guy and I focus more on the deep label work. He's the guy who keeps the contacts with the artists. We're doing digital releases world-wide. The digital market in Germany has actually been really late in coming, with people sticking to vinyl, but you can't really buy new Progressive House tracks on vinyl anywhere in Europe. It's difficult to find. So people have had to change to new ways.


Shane: Yeah, we're building our name in the Progressive House scene. One of the big names we have is Pole Folder -- pretty well-known -- and we also have a bit of a German legend, DJ Taucher. He was a big Trance DJ in the 80's, and he has made two albums on Jetlag Digital. But it's really a world-wide mix. We have people from Kosovo, Egypt, the States, a lot of South Americans -- people from Europe but also people from New York. We're close to hitting the 100 artist mark, and we've had around 86 releases.

In the beginning, we've been lucky to be involved in lots of radio shows, Hyline and me, and we met a lot of people through that, doing remixes and producing. We started very small, but step by step we've grown up fast. We've been lucky to get people like Pole Folder and Mochic to do releases with us because they're very selective about where they release stuff.

But for me, it's about giving everyone the same respect. It doesn't matter if you're a big name or on your first release. With a label, you need names of course, but it¡¯s still about the quality and that's coming from everywhere.




Shane: Yeah, I'm excited. I've been traveling DJing half of my life. I started in Europe with Ibiza and all that, and I first came to Shanghai in 2005, and it was a different world. It felt like everything was something I'd never seen before, never tasted before, never smelled before. It was another world, you know. I had a friend who was studying here and he told me to come over because he showed my music to some people and they liked it. So I flew here and we started with a press kit at the VIPROOM, which was a big club for me, coming from Europe. I came back after two months and they offered me to be guest resident with David K.

But my trip was a big influence, like at dkd, they were playing the music that I was searching for for years. I came in there and every kind of mix, every kind of track was the stuff I like to do but was difficult to do in Europe. So it was a paradise, and the first time I felt like I fit in some place really good. At dkd, I met Patrick Mai, and we're still good friends.


Shane: Of course, I've played about 20 shows in all. But in the last two years I've seen the most changes. Clubs seem to be playing more mainstream hip hop, but also the vibe at the clubs is a bit different. Before I remember being more welcome and it was more open, but now it's sort of a different style, and there is a lot of new people and new styles. Kind of a shock for me when I returned.


Shane: Yeah, with [DJs] Patrick [Mai] and Calvin. And then right after that I'm continuing on to Lounge 169 to play with Afro J.


Shane: Well I would say playing at dkd. I played there a couple of times and I don't know -- the crowd would follow every kind of track I would play, and I never felt so deeply connected to a crowd as I did here. I've played international, flying from gig to gig, but I'm really happy to be back.

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Catch DJ Shane down at G Plus this Saturday. More on Jetlag Digital at their webpage right here. Check them out on Beatport here.

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