Manufactured Superstars-Interview

Jenn Cohen | October 1, 2012 | 0 Comments

by Sal Christ

The Manufactured Superstars are the Denver-based DJ/production duo comprising of Beatport founding member Bradley Roulier and Beatport original employee Shawn Sabo (both are now current members). Festivalgoers will know the duo by their immediately recognizable getups of matching NASA spacesuits and yes, they were even hired to play Sir Richard Branson’s official party for the launch of Virgin Galactic, Branson’s company offering private flights into outer space. Music fans will know the Manufactured Superstars by their radio-friendly hits, including, “Take Me Over” featuring Scarlett Quinn (which lasted on SiriusXM Radio for many many weeks, as well as the music video on BPM-TV at the #1 chart position); “Silver Splits The Blue” featuring Christian Burns (a collaboration with Jquintel & Jeziel Quintela); “Born To Rock” featuring Selina Albright (a collab with LA Riots); and even a bootleg of the classic Annie Lennox song, “Little Bird.” The latest tune to come from the Manufactured Superstars features none other than U.F.C. Octagon vixen (evidently she is also a decent vocalist), Arianny Celeste, on the track “Top Of The World.”

With club residencies at XS Club in Las Vegas, the Gansevoort in New York City, Beta Nightclub in Denver (which Roulier co-owns, incidentally), and DJ slots at Global Dance/Red Rocks here in Denver and all of the EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival) festivals and then some, it’s a wonder the guys have time to produce music or sleep, for that matter. Back from playing Pacha in Ibiza with Tiësto and returning to their nonstop North American dates, the Manufactured Superstars grabbed a quiet moment to catch up with Colorado Music Buzz.com.

CMB: Both of you had a hand in getting Beatport off the ground. Where do you see the digital landscape of the music business going in the next five years?

Manufactured Superstars: We think it’ll continue to expand, especially with what Beatport’s been doing with the mixes section and adding sample CDs and parking for songs. From a DJ’s perspective, it’ll evolve and grow until all that type of stuff comes to fruition and until DJ technology evolves. We’ve just got Native Instruments to help us trigger DJ software in Traktor, and there’s lots that’s going to happen down the road.

CMB: What are your thoughts on the EDM scene in Denver? Trends? Genres that are blowing up/dying out? Specific producers/DJs?

Manufactured Superstars: The scene in Denver is just amazing! We’ve had a great summer. Red Rocks, Beta’s been amazing…the people here are really lucky and in a great location. Denver’s a good-sized city with lots of big DJs always coming through. It’s a great place for fans of music and the arts. What’s blowing up? A lot of young kids in Denver, besides us; over the next 18 to 36 months, you’ll see other DJs arise out of this territory. Take Jquintel & Jeziel Quintela, for instance, or Dragon & Jontron, who are Beta residents.

CMB: What do you think about mashup culture (i.e. Girl Talk, 2ManyDJs, etc)?

Manufactured Superstars: Our style is a little bit mashup, but we’re really more house DJs. Every DJ edits, especially on the international circuit, who just plays regular songs unedited. Manipulating music is part of DJ culture and the skill set will continue to evolve. That’s what we like to focus on with Manufactured Superstars, to try to keep people on their toes and put two, three, four songs together, or two or three different remixes of a song to make things a little bit different.

CMB: You’ve released a couple of singles and an EP over the last year. Are you two planning a full-length release? If so, when?

Manufactured Superstars: We are working towards a full-length artist album but we already did an E.P. release of original tunes recently called Freak On You. We release lots of singles because there is a big demand from the music audience, and sometimes those singles might not necessarily be coherent for an album, in the traditional sense of what an “album” is. Our latest track is a really cool tune featuring Arianny [Celeste], who was in the music video for our track, “Silver Splits The Blue,” and it turns out she is formally trained as a singer. We just vibed during the filming of the music video, we asked her to come into the studio, and she was a total pro during the studio sessions and she can sing, and we got a great vibe going on “Top Of The World” and that’s how it came to be. We also have a track with Luciana and much, much more to come! Our plan is to have a full-length album out by the end of 2012. That’s what we’re shooting for.

Online: manufacturedsuperstars.com