Glasgow music legends SLAM and Glasvegas collaborate to release new mix

Glasvegas and SLAM have teamed up to release the new mix of Shake the Cage next week, Friday, November 25.
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Two Glasgow music legends at opposite ends of the genre spectrum, Glasvegas and SLAM, have teamed up to release a new mix.

Glasvegas are an indie rock band from Glasgow - getting their start in the city in the 2000s. SLAM on the other hand are Techno giants in the city who have been playing sets since 1988.

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The two stellar artists have flown the musical flag for Glasgow and Scotland, bringing international attention to Glasgow’s music scene - yet bizarrely the two had never met or even explored each other’s music.

The new mix of Glasvegas song ‘Shake the Cage (fur Theo) in collaboration with SLAM will release on next Friday on November 25. The original mix of Shake the Cage can be found on Glasvegas latest album, Godspeed.

Glasvegas frontman and songwriter, James Allan, came up with the original mix for Shake The Cage (für Theo) last year. A driving, synth-powered slice of electronica with powerful spoken word lyrics in a Glaswegian accent - dedicated to his young nephew Theo.

The song hooked Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle when they heard it at a party, spent the night talking about what they could do with it - and just like that the collaboration idea was born. The Glasvegas frontman instantly agreed to the collab.

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James said: “I think when it comes to remixing a song it can be more possible to find a way in when you’re coming at it from a different angle. And Glasvegas and SLAM are pretty much coming from opposite sides, but that kinda just means they found a way into the song that was completely different from where I was. Dressing it up in a different way, and it still suits the song. I’m glad we got the chance to work together.

“The sounds they added are brilliant. There are a lot of nuanced details that they’ve included, that are more complicated to achieve than you might think when first hearing the song. And the reason I know that is because I’ve spent hours with the song in the first place.

“The remix sounds quite vicious, and you can never really go wrong with that. I urge the listener to turn it up loud and let their house fall down. It will be worth it.”

James told SLAM they could do whatever they wanted with the song. The result is a sublime rework that sits somewhere between the two artists, capturing the soul of the original in a dramatically different way.

Shake the Cage by Glasvegas will receive a new mix from SLAM - coming out next Friday November 25.Shake the Cage by Glasvegas will receive a new mix from SLAM - coming out next Friday November 25.
Shake the Cage by Glasvegas will receive a new mix from SLAM - coming out next Friday November 25.
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Shake The Cage originally appeared on Glasvegas’ most recent album Godspeed, and was included in the Alan McGee film ‘Creation Stories.’

Stuart McMillan of Slam said: “We were brought together by a mutual friend, it was at the height of the lockdown period. A time when everything and everybody somehow felt displaced and disconnected. The track just seemed to fit the mood of the world then as it does now.

“When we heard the song we loved the experimental and emotional elements of the original. That’s something we tried to keep when we made the remix. It’s a fusion of distorted and dark broken beat electronica. A bleak unsettling undercurrent in juxtapose with the emotive nature of the strings and vocals from the original track.”

Over a year in the making, this collaboration sees two of the most innovative artists in music bring together their passions and their sounds to produce an entirely different breed, and it seems the beginning of a potential partnership with all sorts of ideas flying around.

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Glasvegas play their traditional festive homecoming show at Glasgow Barrowland on December 17 and limited tickets are available here.

SLAM will play their next gig at Pressure in Glasgow on November 25, before embarking on a tour across Europe - returning to Sub Club on December 9.

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