Reading 2011: Tom Vek Talks DJ Shadow Collaboration

Yesterday (Friday 26th August), DIY caught up with Tom Vek at Reading Festival to talk a bit about his recent collaboration with DJ Shadow.

‘I’m appearing on a track on DJ Shadow’s new album, that’s coming out in September,’ he told us. ‘We’ve just announced some more tour dates for November time and I think we’ll be putting another single out before that, so we’re just working on that and some remixes and videos. And a couple of other things behind the scenes that will blossom - or not - depending on a load of factors.’

The pair teamed up after Vek approached DJ Shadow to do a remix of his comeback single, ‘A Chore’: ‘I’ve always been aware that I’m on the same label as DJ Shadow and I’m a huge fan of his work. I asked my A&R guy if there was any way we could get a DJ Shadow remix and it transpired that he was a bit too busy to do the remix - he’s only done like two remixes ever, which I hadn’t really realised.

‘A couple of weeks later, his management got in touch to say that he’s looking for people to collaborate with on the album and had a basis of a song in mind for me. I physically couldn’t have typed ‘yes’ any faster in the email going back. It probably came in and out in the same send and receive thing. We worked remotely on it and were emailing things back and forward and got it done. It’s a thrilling experience and a lot of fun to be able to offer something that he enjoys and liked for the track. You never know which way these things are gonna go. We’re happy to announce it now that I can see the tracklisting up online and it’s definitely on the album!’

Tom Vek will play Leeds Festival today (Saturday 27th August) on the Festival Republic Stage at 8pm. Check back for the full interview later in the week.

DJ Shadow’s new album, ‘The Less You Know The Better’, will be released on 26th September via Island.