Spirit Catcher – Shakemaker Mix – December 2008

During my time in Tokyo I had many memorable nights out. One of the most memorable was at AgeHa, Asia’s largest nightclub. What made the night so enjoyable was the live set performed by Spirit Catcher. Although it was only about an hour long, it was one of the best sets I heard throughout my entire time in Japan.

This duo from Belgium has been consistently releasing quality productions that have been played by DJs the world over. Jean Vanesse, the production wizard with a degree in music production, and Thomas Sohet, equally masterful in the studio, who lends his vocals to some of their tracks, brought amazing energy to the over 1000 people who flooded the dance floor that night.

The entire hour was exclusively their own production. Tom was doing vocals and playing the keyboard, while Jean was mixing; both were creating and mixing their own music live. I have never seen this done before, and in such a lively way! Their energy poured into the crowd, it was amazing.

Ever since this most memorable event, I have been eager to get a set of theirs to share with the bringthebeats crew. But Tom and Jean are so busy these days, touring the world with their live act and playing DJ sets; and when they aren’t on the road, they are in the studio creating more spectacular tracks.

So you can imagine that when I finally found this mix in my inbox, I was thrilled. It’s smoothly blended with a jazzy, funky tech-house feel. I’m sure it will lift your spirit!

Download (left-click and unzip):
Spirit Catcher – Shakemaker Mix – December 2008

Here is some Spirit Catcher trivia for you…

Where did they meet? Was it on the Internet like so many do these days? Was it at a music conference? Nope, it was in university where they both studied music production.

While many of their peers continued on to create scores for movies or compose tracks for commercials, Tom and Jean decided to use their musical prowess for what they love and do best, house music. Good choice guys!

Do you know where they got their name from? Why Spirit Catcher? Are they trying to steal your spirit? Of course not, the name has nothing to do with this.

When they were surfing the net one day they came across an image, of a statue, which really caught their eye. Funny enough, this sculpture sits high about Barrie, Ontario, not far from Toronto, and yes it’s called a Spirit Catcher. They liked it so much they decided to use it as their name and logo.

So an unlikely Canadian sculpture, that was originally built for Expo ‘86, is now representing these Belgium boys worldwide. I knew they had great taste.