Operating within the fringe between the traditional crisp, concise trap sound and a more experimental, freeform style, Shanghai Doom have caught the attention of many with their debut album RITUALS along with a staggering list of single releases. Following an outstanding year of growth and sound development, the duo looks to put the finishing touches on 2018 with a brilliant collaborative release with Tre Justice.
We were fortunate enough to have the chance to catch up with the pair to discuss their most recent release, the logistics of collaborating as a duo and to get a taste of what’s in store for the duo in the coming year.
Have a listen to ‘Hierarchy’ while you get to know the two better below!
Your most recent release ‘Colors’ and now the latest collaboration with Tre Justice shows massive improvements in production as well as signifies one of the first chances to demonstrate your sound alongside another artist. Is the reason for this due to personal preference of working alone as a duo, or were you just waiting for the right opportunity to present itself?
Thanks :-) We also think our skills are constantly improving as we try out new stuff and have some fun in Ableton. Technically, every track we create is a collaboration between Andrew and I, and believe it or not we both have pretty different tastes in sound. We know a Shanghai Doom track when we hear one because it’s essentially a smooth mix of both of our styles and preferences.
Did you two know Tre Justice prior to working on this piece together, or what were some of the behind-the-scenes logistics that led to the release of this piece?
As for collaborating with other artists, it’s not something we TRY to make happen. It usually ends up being with a close producer friend or homie we know. We had the pleasure of meeting Tre Justice through our management and after sending stuff back and forth for a while we landed on WIP that fit us all. We are both very picky with how a track comes out and sometimes it makes us nervous to have a third hand in the pot, but hey, if it works it works!
Tre is awesome and he really loves Five Guys. The man can eat burgers like it’s nobody’s fucking business. We played a show in Richmond a while back and met up with him and all the other lovely people down there. This sparked a great friendship and eventually led up to working together.
While some of your earlier tracks have a more crisp, clean trap appeal, this latest one has a bit of a wonkier feel. Are you testing the waters with a new style that we can expect to hear more of in the coming year?
I think our style and sound is both targeted and unique at the same time. Sitting down to write music it’s often hard to prevent influences from subconsciously entering your artwork. We listen to/play out all of the Wakaan stuff and love it, sometimes it’s hard to not let that influence our sound. All in all we try to remain true to ourselves and we only decide to put out tracks we feel are a great representation of what we like. Andrew and I have a ton, shall I say shit ton, of new stuff set for 2019. This for sure will include that downtempo Shanghai stuff we both have a blast making but it will also begin to breach some heavier and wonkier areas too. There’s also some stuff we have ready that feels so fresh and new we don’t really know what to call it, and believe me we are really fucking excited for everyone to hear it.
