You Don't Need a Science Degree to Appreciate Shagabond's Kinetic Mix

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You Don't Need a Science Degree to Appreciate Shagabond's Kinetic Mix

HW&W's latest signee drops off 36 minutes of unreleased music, hip-hop flips, and contemporary crowd-pleasers.

Nicholas Arvanitis DJs as Shagabond on weekends, but from Monday to Friday, you're more likely to find him in the library stacks than behind the decks. Since appearing on UK electronic duo Bondax's 2014 compilation Bondax & Friends, the now 20-year-old producer moved away from his hometown of Waterloo, Ontario, to attend university in Toronto. While academia and dance music could be seen as two mutually exclusive worlds, Arvanitis hasn't compromised his commitment to either.

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He recently finished his second year at University of Toronto, where he's studying environmental science, and getting ready to put out a new project on taste-making indie label HW&W Recordings. His latest kaleidoscopic single "Citrus Shampoo" builds on a previous string of elastic one-offs, and his SoundCloud play-racking "galaxy hop" remixes of songs by DUCKWRTH, GoldLink, and others.

To give fans a taste of what they can expect from the upcoming release, today Shagabond's shared an exclusive 36-minute mix with THUMP, which consists largely of unreleased material. There's also a flip of Kendrick Lamar's "BLOOD.," nostalgia-triggering R&B and pop ("The Boy is Mine," "Let's Ride"), and contemporary crowd-pleasers by the likes of Flume, Jacques Greene, and Kaytranada.

Stream the downtime-ready mix below and read a brief Q&A with the producer.


THUMP: How would you introduce yourself to someone who has never heard your music?

Shagabond: I would probably introduce myself in the electronic realm of things. Hip-hop is definitely a giant influence. I would put my music under the hip-hop spectrum as well, but electronic is just such an elastic kind of word. The stuff that I do is a little bit more experimental.

What did you grow up listening to?
When I was super young, my dad was a pretty big classic rock fan. I grew up listening to a lot of Boston, Fleetwood Mac, and stuff like that. As I got older, I started to listen to more hip-hop and alternative indie rock. The first hip-hop artist I was introduced to was 50 Cent by my brother. As I got older, I got more into electronic music, and it just kind of branched off. Now I would say that I listen to more 70s soul, golden age R&B, genre-pushing electronic [music] from 2009.

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Can you recommend some 70s soul?
My all-time favourite soul artist is Teddy Pendergrass. He's just amazing. If you ever want a good album to listen to, his Greatest Hits is just insanity. You're currently studying environmental science at university. What made you decide to pursue that and what are your plans after you graduate?
Going to school was something that I always pictured myself doing. Music is the ultimate goal. It's something that's always going to be my obsession, regardless of what happens in my life. At the same time, getting educated is something that I wanted as well. It's been a bit of a difficult struggle between the two, because they're extremely different forms. It's like I live two different lives half of the time, but in the end I think it's worth it.

In a previous interview, you mentioned that the distance from Toronto's musical landscape was healthy for you. Now that you're in the thick of it, how has that changed, and where do you see yourself within the community?
It's been odd. I live alone in Toronto. Living alone has been really great, to be able to just write a lot of music, and have space to do whatever I want. I still find that I make the best music when I go home. I love Toronto, and I love being here, but there's just something about the nostalgia when I go home. It's overwhelming creative energy. I'm happy that I had the opportunity to cultivate myself, before coming here and getting involved with people.

What's the perfect setting for listening to this mix?
I would say just enjoy it with friends. The most I can hope for is that you're with other people enjoying something I put together. You've included a lot of unreleased material on here, can we expect to hear any of these tracks on an upcoming release?
Two of the tracks on there are going to be on an upcoming project. One of them is the next single that we're going to be releasing. Three of the ten unreleased tracks are getting released very soon.

Track List: Kendrick Lamar - BLOOD. (Shagabond Flip)
Shagabond - ???
Shagabond - Citrus Shampoo
Chingy feat. Fatman Scoop - Let's Ride
Chance the Rapper feat. Knox Fortune - All Night (Kaytranada Extended Joint)
Shagabond - Dream Fabric
Shagabond - ???
Bonobo feat. Innov Gnawa - Bambro Koyo Ganda
Flume - Holdin On (Kaytranada Remix)
Noah & Shagabond - ???
Shagabond - ???
Swerzie - NewPhone, Who Dis?
Shagabond - ???
Shagabond - ???
Brandy & Monica - The Boy is Mine (Architechs Bootleg)
DJ Gregory & Gregor Salto - Canoa
Shagabond - ???
DUCKWRTH - LOWRIDR (Shagabond Remix)
Jacques Greene - Afterglow
Rich The Kid feat. Migos - Jumpin Like Jordan (Jeftuz Remix)
Sepalcure - Pencil Pimp
A. G. Cook - Beautiful (Rustie Edit)

Corinne Przybyslawski is on Twitter.

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