Featuring Iconic artists DJ Sneak, Blakkat, Eric D Clark, & Single Cell Orchestra On Remix Duties

Photo credit: Jeaneen Lund

Shaman Durek is a widely celebrated sixth generation Shaman whose teachings have impacted thousands (one being Gwyneth Paltrow), and has been recognized in publications such as Vanity Fair and The New York Times. 

He’s also been inextricably tied to the rave scene for nearly three decades, helping grow and promote respected underground parties from SF to NY, and was even a VJ on the classic MTV show ‘The Grind’ with Frankie Knuckles & Louie Vega in the 90s. 

He recently made his debut as an artist with his jackin’ single “My House” and now Durek is thrilled to present two remix compilations, featuring DJ Sneak, Blakkat, Eric D Clark, & Single Cell Orchestra. These remixes are available today on all streaming platforms.

This title is quite eloquent. How did you come up with this title and artwork?

The title came first, it keeps the lyric on track, and simple is usually best.

“My House”, says it all!

Stuart Patterson from Colorola (www.colorola.com) created the cover artwork. We wanted something strong and I think we got it! The picture and a thousand words cliché works perfectly here.

What do you think this remix adds to the original work?

All the remixes are fantastic! DJ Sneak created one of his best remixes I’ve heard in a very long time! Tasteful, Jackin’ House Chicago style! The Single Cell Orchestra remix is very special, it’s a modern Electro breaks vibe that makes me want to bust out the limo. The Blakkat Remix is a darker, spookier vibe that sounds so good on a big sound system, and Eric D Clark of Disco 2 Disco fame created a more playful eccentric version, perfect for his DJ sets

You’ve been such an iconic presence in the rave scenes in SF & NY. Why do you think that is? What makes you stand out?

I was a club kid. I saw it as a spiritual movement that brings people together in a world that wants to tear people apart.

What’s your mindset before a show? How do you get in character so to speak?

I look at everything as a ritual, the connection to ancestors, the vibe of spirit. The realization that the music is coming from far beyond with a message, that only we can decode when we come together or experience individually. Music is not what people think it is. It’s a guideline, sent from something far more intelligent than us, to help us to create an authentic community. The DJ is just a vessel it passes through, the muse ,the alchemist, the messenger, that’s how I see it.

You connect your passion for house music to your self discovery and sexuality. What was that turning point like for you? 

The underground house scene was a safe place for me to open up myself and be vulnerable. It’s the first place I kissed a man while my girlfriend was watching, we both loved it, it felt like creative freedom, what’s more sexy that freedom. I am a soul sexual being, whatever connects with me on a deep deep deep spiritual level I’m attracted to.

You mention Chicago and Detroit scenes as inspirational for you. What were some artists or realities that shaped your own creativity from those scenes?

House Music is global, the roots come from everywhere, Italo Disco, Hi NRG, Disco, Funk, New Wave, Salsoul etc. saying that It was Chicago that gives us the name House Music and obviously Frankie Knuckles is very important for the music he made and played, along with Ron Hardy, Larry Heard, Lil Louis, Marshall Jefferson and the many others who were there from the beginning. Detroit has a similar story of a city that built its own scene through it’s love of the music and I think it’s that passion, excitement and innovation that the Kevin Saunderson’s and UR and later on artists like Moodymann. I think all these artists have been a source of inspiration and have shown the way.

How do you see your own music and act evolving?

Music gives me a chance to express my multi dimensional spirits, and to help people remember what it was like and what it can still be. I look for originality, I look for spaces I can go, that I can only normally go in deep ritual. 

It’s passionate and provocative, it gives me a way to communicate both my feminine and masculine side. It evolves as I do.

What’s something you would like to change or tweak in the modern club scene?

I personally prefer well produced underground parties. There’s no bottle service, low key security, excellent DJ lineups that are not the same big names playing the global superstar circuit, great sound and lighting and above all, an amazing atmosphere. I’m not a big fan of “Super clubs”and all of the uncomfortable things that go with it, but I do understand that these places are the lifeblood of the big agents and managers who work their clients to play as often as possible to keep that machine running.

In a perfect world there’d be no cell phones on the dance floor!