Exclusive Interview: Manufactured Superstars
Shawn Sabo of Manufactured Superstars discusses the origin of the Electronic Dance Music duo and their iconic spacesuits in an exclusive interview with EPIC Productions in Denver, Colorado. Manufactured Superstars are known for incorporating a variety of different tunes into their high-tech DJ sets. The space-duo's performance at Beta Nightclub on January 8th was nothing short of stellar.
Bradley Roulier, the other half of Manufactured Superstars, is the co-founder of Beatport -- the world's largest DJ and Electronic Dance Music community. While Bradley wasn't able to meet up before their set, Shawn was kind enough to slip in a short interview with us before 'blasting off' on stage.
EPIC PRODUCTIONS: What first sparked you guys to use the NASA spacesuits?
We used to play at Perfecto in Vegas and it was a space-themed party. We used to always wear matching outfits, so we found these spacesuits, and started wearing them there. We were playing there once a month for two years and it just kind of caught on. It was kind of like the Deadmau5 head. People would just show up wearing them. It's easy to pack.
EPIC PRODUCTIONS: What brought you into the DJ scene?
When I was a kid I was actually DJ-ing at a roller skate rink. I was about 14 at the time and started making mixed tapes with the pause button and just kind of got into music. I got a computer, got Logic, you couldn't do anything on a computer then like you can now. I just kind of got into and loved it. I moved out here in 1999 and went back to school in Denver for Audio Engineering and fell in love with music and have been doing it ever since.
EPIC PRODUCTIONS: The first time I saw you perform was at the Lief Festival in Utrecht back in 2011, how do you feel about the Netherlands and have you been back since?
That was a crazy weekend. We actually played in Vegas on Thursday, then flew to Amsterdam and played at the Lief Festival [in Utrecht], it was Labor Day weekend, and then flew back to Vegas and played on Sunday. I've been to Holland a bunch of times and actually think it's the most romantic city in the world besides Montreal.
EPIC PRODUCTIONS: Did you have any previous musical endeavors or significant musical influences?
I grew up in New York in kind of the lime light soundtracks with a lot of the early DJs, people that never even got that big. I listen to everything, man. I listen to Jazz, the Beastie Boys is like my favorite band. The Beatles. We DJ a little bit of everything. When we're going to write songs we listen to everything. Whether it's the newest pop track with Justin Timberlake for progression ideas or Trent Reznor and like weird shit. We've been doing a lot of Analog stuff recently. We like everything that they're doing with Dance music right now. Martin Garrix is staying true to Dance music and I think that's really great.