SoulShaker is the love child of Sydney based DJs Mr Glass and Robin Knight. Friends since the late 80’s and occasionally sharing the same stage throughout the 90’s, they found themselves tussling over the same decks on an ever-increasing regularity in the new millennium. This was read as a signal from the Gods that resulted in their decision to partner up as a package. At the time very few dj’s were playing the music they wanted to play or hear, so it was only natural they should go down this path. In the wild I think this may be natural selection.
The SoulShaker sound is really both Pete and Robin’s joint musical heritage, fused seamlessly together to produce a unique sound system. Not wanting to be pigeon-holed these days is hard to avoid, but SoulShaker achieves this by playing across numerous musical styles, and by not being afraid to experiment by dropping the “weird”, the “surprising”, the “classic”, the “obscure” or simply the “wonderful” at unexpected moments during a set.
Today, SoulShaker as a brand has grown far greater than just a couple of dj’s and has developed into a hub of entertainment services with a collective stable of impressive niche market dj’s, club nights, sound systems & live performers.
A quick peek into our crackerjack DJ & artists roster will revel accomplished bios with a sublime record of venues & events we have played and international artists we have shared the stage with.
THE SOULSHAKER STORY
MR GLASS Bio
Throughout his 15 year career Mr. Glass has fused the best of soul, jazz, funk and rare grooves with a connoisseur’s ear and passion that has helped build a reputation as a Sydney authority Dee-Jay. He speared headed Sydney’s rare groove and funk revival in the early 90’s that took it from the warehouse scene and returned it to the nightclub dance floors. Simultaneously he introduced Australia to giant soul jazz greats like Roy Ayres & Lonnie Liston Smith and was the first promoter to present Norman Jay on his debut tour of 93. In doing so he forged a relationship with Norman that continues today as they play together every year he visits the Australian shores under the Good Times banner.
With his pedigree and taste, Mr. Glass brings a rare experience to every venue by executing a critical vibe that holds any room. In addition Mr. Glass comes equipped with an enviable, superb and eclectic musical collection. His adaptive style has found the spotlight from within the most audacious grand public events through to exclusive private & intimate celebrations.
In high demand his talents have been sort out by those promoters who want a guarantee of a creative delivery. It should come as no surprise he has been booked for numerous marathon gigs for high profile fashion parades and some of the most international acclaimed film parties Australia has ever played witness to. Private events and clients have included exclusive parties for Mick Jagger, Jennifer Hawkins, George Lucas and an ever increasing list of celebrities
His performance track record reflects the best in Sydney’s ever evolving venues, parties & events. In fact, it’s almost endless including: The Loft, Bungalow 8, Opera bar, De Nom, Ruby Rabbit, the Basement, The Opera House, Ravesis, Oxford Art Factory, Tonic, Albion Place hotel, Icebergs, Marble Bar- Hilton Hotel, Bourbon & Beefsteak, Candy's Apartment, Cauldron, Chinese Laundry, Slip Inn, Dragonfly, Freezer, Gaelic Club, Gas, Bohem, Globe, Goodbar, Grand Pacific Blue Room, Jimmy Liks, Kinselas, Piano room, Tank, Les Girls, L'otel, Moulin Rouge, O Bar, Q Bar, Plan B, Roof Top, Kings Cross Hotel, Spago’s, Sugar Reef, Tattlers, Will & Toby's, Zoom, Banta Room, Soda Bar-Golden Sheaf, Astral Bar-Star Casino, The Eastern, Beach Rd Hotel, Vibes On A Summer’s Day, Peats Ridge Festival, Playground Festival, Sydney Festival, Speigletent, Future Music Festival, Days Like This Festival, Funk Inc, No Where To Go, Bottom End, PRT, Private, Icebox, Respecta Selecta, TAA, Vamp Parties, Strip Parties, Bondi Pavilion Christmas day events, Pioneer Studio parties, Sun Studio parties and far too numerous NYE & NYD events.
Mr. Glass’ style has crossed international boundaries having toured in San Francisco playing as the headline act at the city’s most unique venues such as the Art Hotel, Nickel bag of Funk @ The Make out room, Budonkadonk @ Poleng lounge, and playing The Bubble Lounge-Champagne bar.
Mr Glass has graced the stage with International names such as: Giles Peterson, Keb Darge, Norman Jay, Tom Thump, Greyboy, Jay Boogie, Regal, Karsten John, Roy Davis Jr. Mo Horizons, Crazy Penis, Sharon Jones & the Dapp Kings, Belleruche, ?uestlove, Cut Chemist, People Under the Stairs, Russ Dewbury, Elizabeth Troy, Lanu (from The Bamboos), Cookin on 3 Burners, Unabombers, Elliot Eastwick, Dimitri from Paris, Judge Jules, Pete Tong…… As well as being on the Bill with dozens more huge house DJ’s and internationals acts playing the side stages, back room, VIP bars and after parties.
Style Summary: Soul, Jazz, Funk, Disco, Boogie, Rare Groove, Latin, a little Exotica, some Hip-Hop, Ska, Dub and a touch of House. "If it’s soulful & funky I like it"
ROBIN KNIGHT Bio
From the late 70’s, he had started a love affair of black music that endures today. With a love of soul, funk, and jazz, coupled with an addiction to buying vinyl, he saw the absence of quality club nights as a signal to enter the dance music arena in Australia. After cutting his teeth as a DJ during a three year solo stint as the resident at Western Sydney’s largest nightclub of the time (Sweethearts) a return trip to London and Spain in 1988 convinced him that the warehouse parties and new emerging dance clubs were the coming thing. A move back to Sydney the same year saw Robin join forces and resources with some like-minded locals and other UK ex-pats to start the underground dance scene, with a series of warehouse parties and events, giving birth to Sydney’s “Summer of Love” in 1989. Events included The Whole of the Moon party, Sydney’s first outdoor rave, a year or more before Happy Valley got going. Robin was a regular DJ at all of the major dance events of the time that have now become part of Sydney’s dance folklore including RAT, ZOO, Madchester @ The Dome, Happy Valley, Love, Flim-Flam and others too numerous to mention. He was also a co-promoter on many events around this period including Welcome 92 and SuperNature. Club residencies and appearnces continued during the late 80’s and through the 90’s and included most major dance venue in Sydney such as Kinselas, Zoom, The Underground, Freezer, Spago’s, Slipp Inn, The Lord Roberts, Site, Home, The Basement. During this time Robin was also a regular (and crowd favorite) at the hugely influential Vibes On a Summers Day, and was one of only two DJ’s to play every event in its 10-year history. Over the past years, Robin has moved actively into promoting and touring acts under the SoulShaker production and promotion company. This has seen him promote nights for the likes of Snowboy, Mr Scruff, Jazzanova, Masters at Work, Norman Jay, The People Under the Stairs and Grey Boy. Still collecting records avidly (and now a self confessed vinyl junkie) he remains active on the Sydney dance scene, still promoting and playing regularly at events, nights and festivals around Australia under the SoulShaker banner with business partner Pete Glass.