Rituals in realtime _{by Madelaine Empson}

Shapeshifter will celebrate their 25^th birthday with an epic gig at TSB Arena on the 27^th of June. Vocalist Paora ‘PDigsss’ Apera says it’s such an amazing achievement and feeling just to make it to 25 years with the band.

“We have done a lot of growing together... It means a lot to us to still be making music and to still push our skills and abilities both in the studio and on stage. Let’s go!”

Nick Robinson (bass, synths, MPC) describes 25 years as a lifetime and says Shapeshifter’s highlights have included playing overseas festivals like Glastonbury, EXIT, and The Big Chill.

“For most of those years we travelled to Europe every European summer and you can’t beat the adventure of touring in a tour bus with your best friends.”

Looking back from their debut Realtime (2001) to their latest Rituals (2021), Nick says they’ve gone into each album inspired to do something different. Each with its own flavour, he says some have been hits, some have been misses, but all they have liked personally – without the weight of what others think. 

“We’ve gotten older and there’s conscious evolving in our music but I think over time there’s an underlying element that stays the same.”

In PDigsss’ words, Shapeshifter “got together through our love and passion for jungle/drum and bass music”. At the time, live D&B wasn’t a done thing.

“It is an honour to know our passion has been a part of the growth of dance music in Aotearoa.”