Here at Dance Music Northwest, we’ve made no secret of our love for Shambhala Music Festival. In the spirit of that love, we’ve teamed up with them to bring you the latest edition in their pre-festival mix series, featuring Fractal Forest headliner (and PNW favorite), Defunk!
The 47-minute mix features all the funky Fractal goodness you can possibly handle, building on Defunk’s debut appearance at the festival last year. Listen in to the full mix now, and peep a full interview with the artist of the hour below, courtesy of the hard-working folks over at Shambhala HQ!
Shambhala Mix Series #8
Defunk Interview
First off, tell us a bit about the mix. Who have you have you included, and are there any tasty exclusives from your own studio we should be looking out for?
Defunk: This mix is part summer vibes and part prime-time-party-smasher. In this mix I’ve included about 4 unreleased tracks, plus some of my latest releases and some of my classics. I’ve also included music by some of my favorite artists like Whethan, Shades, Pigeon Hole, K+Lab, Gramatik, and Noisia. Its a taste of what I’ve been into in the recent months, but it’s really just the tip of the iceberg for what I’ll bring to my Shambhala set.
Tell us a bit about your relationship with Shambhala, if you could. How long have you been playing / attending the festival. Are you excited to be performing at the 20th edition?
DF: My first year attending Shambhala was 2011, but this will be my 5th year going. I volunteered for a couple of stages throughout the years and eventually played officially for the first time in 2016. Its my second time playing and I’m super excited for all the fans I made last year and those friends who heard about my set afterwards to see my set this year. I couldn’t be happier!
What else have you got going on this summer? Any releases that we should be on the look out for, or other high-profile performances you’re particularly excited about?
DF: I’m going to be playing quite a few new markets this summer, including Iowa, Ohio, New Brunswick, Quebec, and I’m really excited to see what those folks are all about. 515 Festival with Griz, Gucci Mane, and Nghtmre, or UpNorth Festival with Louis the Child, G Jones and Haywyre will be huge. As for music, I have a whole EP worth of new material waiting to find a release plan and I’ll be putting out remixes throughout the summer.
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