12.05.2021
This week’s guest mix is by Metawav., the DJ duo made up of Suga Shane (Shane) and Detroit Wolf (Colin).
They came onto the Detroit scene with a bang within the last year, slamming out tracks, playing events and streams, and joining the Guilty Records crew. There is definitely a lot in store for these two and their future.
They have played at places like Tangent Gallery, Green Beat, Magic Stick, Big Daddy Games, The Grasshopper Underground, and Woodbridge Pub. They have also taken part in a Charivari Festival livestream, and one recently for DIME Detroit.
In their interview, we talk about things like how Metawav. started and their vision for it and their respective solo projects, events coming up, past history in bands, what they have learned from each other, their inspiration for the “Shift” music video featuring local dancers, tattoos, chocolate, and more.
Each mix will exclusively premiere on Deep Space Radio at noon on Wednesday – and then be available on the detroit.dance SoundCloud as per usual at 3:13pm EST.
Be sure to check out their mix, on SoundCloud now.
detroit.dance: What do you do outside of music?
Shane: I sell cell phones. I’ve been doing that for about five years now.
Colin: I am a professionally licensed barber. I’ve done a lot of things but right now I am a business owner and a barber. This year will be my fourth year licensed. I’ve been cutting hair since I was about 17. I started with my hair, and then it turned into my friends asking me to do it because we were all broke… and they wanted a cooler cut than what Great Clips would give you. I’ve always been in bands and I’ve always noticed that in most successful groups, the faces of the group have distinct looks – whether good or bad,
detroit.dance: What are some of your hobbies?
Shane: Outside of making music, I work out a lot. I like to go to the gym and be outside. And hanging out with friends.
Colin: Music is my main thought process, I don’t really think of anything else. DJing, producing, barbering, and spending time with my fiancé are the things I focus on. I also like to travel and work out.
detroit.dance: Shane, I creeped on your FB a little bit and noticed that you used to do MMA – how long did you do that for?
Shane: I still actively train, I don’t fight anymore. I’m focusing on making music right now, and fighting is a full-time job. I did that for about eight years, and started when I was 19. It’s fun and a great way to stay in shape. Honestly, it’s the best workout I’ve ever had.
detroit.dance: I also noticed that you both were in bands, what were the names of them and what were their sound?
Shane: I was in a couple of them. A bunch of local bands, no one crazy. Hardcore, heavy stuff. I started playing guitar in high school and did that until I was about 21. It’s really hard to keep a band together at that age.
Colin: Right outside of high school, I was in a band called Take Notice. Take Notice did pretty well for what it was, it was a pop-punk band. We got signed to some labels, did a couple of small tours and traveled to California to do a record. Then I was in a couple bands here and there, and in about 2013-2014 I started a band named Wolfshark that did pretty well. We played a couple of Warped Tour dates, played a couple festivals, and we were getting some album buzz.
I think the album buzz started tearing apart the band, because when you start talking about money that’s not there, a lot of things get put into play that people start arguing about and then the dynamic of everything gets frustrating. I have been asked pretty recently to be in a few other bands, but I’m 32 years old and that’s not really what I want to be doing right now.
detroit.dance: How did Metawav. come to be?
Shane: I started making techno music a couple years ago. Then Colin reached out to me and said that he liked what I was doing. We got together during quarantine last March and the ideas started to flow…so instead of making a single track together, we figured we’d just make a whole project together. We like a lot of the same type of music. We actually went to high school together too, so it all happened naturally.
Colin: Yeah, we had been acquaintances for a while but never really did anything together. So I reached out after hearing his Suga Shane project and over COVID we finally got together. I think we complement each other way better than a lot of the bands that I used to be in. He’s always pushing me to be better and vice versa. We figured out our sound, and what we wanted our look to be really quickly. I have had a saved note in my phone of various band or project names, and “Metawav.” was the one that we felt fit the best.
detroit.dance: For people that don’t know Metawav., what is your sound?
Shane: We do a tech-house mix with bass house/bass tech.
detroit.dance: What is the direction that you are going with the Metawav. project?
Shane: We have some new stuff on the way… a couple photoshoots coming up. We are definitely going towards a darker look. We both naturally wear a lot of black. Our vision is a darker feel – we have always been like that but we are starting to embrace it more.
Colin: Metawav. is probably going to evolve a few times. I want to have us help music evolve and change to break through to something new. The end of the summer is going to get a lot bassier. Shane and I definitely want to move more into bass house. Our next track release is more of a deep house sound, which isn’t really our focus, but we made the track and loved it. You don’t throw away a good track. The best part about music is that you don’t have to play by anyone else’s rules but your own. As long as you are having a good time.
detroit.dance: What is something that you have learned from each other?
Shane: Colin has taught me a lot about making music.
Colin: If it wasn’t for Shane I would have never released any music. I couldn’t ask for a better music partner. I need someone to be there to be that 2nd pair of ears, because if I don’t have that I’ll think something is awesome at first and then I think it all sucks after I’ve heard it a million times.
I’ve also learned a lot about how to respond to people from Shane. I like to call myself an introverted extrovert, and I’m very particular with things and tend to focus more on the negative aspects of things. Shane is really good at getting me to think more about the positive side of things.
detroit.dance: Who is more organized?
Shane: 100% Colin.
Colin: Shane.
detroit.dance: When you guys produce together, what is your process?
Shane: We do it a couple different ways. There’ve been times that we get together in one space and record something. But we both have a studio at our house, and we live a half hour away from each other so it’s hard to do that all the time. When we don’t get together, we send each other pieces of things that we are working on and build upon that, and continue to send it back and forth.
detroit.dance: You came onto the scene with a bang – track releases, nonstop shows, the “Shift” music video with local dancers… what is your motivation?
Shane: Colin and I are both always working. We work, record, and mix every single day. We have so much stuff right now that we are ready to release. We don’t want to put it all out at once, obviously. But you know, we’re trying to stay consistent. This is what him and I want to do full time, to do this DJ thing big. We both motivate each other but we already have that drive to begin with.
Colin: It just feels right. Music in general motivates me. I’ve been playing guitar since I was 6 and writing music since I was 12, so music has always been a big part of my life. You should keep going after what makes you feel good.
detroit.dance: What was your inspiration for the “Shift” music video?
Shane: We definitely wanted to do something with Detroit, because that’s where we’re based, and we really wanted to give it a city feel. For electronic music, you can literally do whatever you want in a music video which is nice. So we liked the feel-good, dancing in the city vibe. Then we found some really good dancers through Colin and it all worked out perfectly. It turned out exactly how we wanted it to.
detroit.dance: What has been one of your most memorable gigs so far?
Shane: Honestly, my most memorable one has to be the Taco Tuesday that we played at the Magic Stick Alley Deck last November right before the restrictions happened again. That was a really hype show, shout out to Grant Jackson for that one. The tacos there are amazing.
Colin: Definitely the Taco Tuesday show.
detroit.dance: Do you have any events or streams coming up that you would like to mention?
Shane: We are playing as Metawav. at The Grasshopper Underground on May 15th with Hyde and Ancient Mermaids, and we are playing May 22nd at Still Loading… Music Festival in downtown Detroit put on by D.I Techno. It is a free 2-Day festival and we play on Saturday May 22nd. We may also be playing an afterparty so look out for that.
detroit.dance: You recently did the DIME Detroit charity event livestream, how did that come about? How did that go?
Shane: It went really well. Our good friend Hank that comes to a lot of our shows – shout out to Hank – asked us to hop on the livestream, and of course we are going to. We pre-recorded it so I was able to actually sit at home and watch it, so that was a lot of fun.
detroit.dance: Do you have any tracks coming out soon?
Shane: Over the next two months, we have three tracks coming out. We don’t have specific dates yet. Personally, they are my three favorite tracks that we have put out so far.
detroit.dance: Do you have any merch available?
Shane: We do not yet – we are looking to have some made. We want to get some sweats and shorts done. We do have stickers though!
detroit.dance: Shane – your solo project is called Suga Shane – talk about how that differs from the Metawav. project.
Shane: My solo project is more techno-focused, with a harder and darker feel. I’ve been doing that for a few years now and it is definitely my favorite genre to play. It is nice to switch it up with the Metawav. project too. But Suga Shane sounds more like Charlotte DeWitte, i_o, underground after hours vibes.
detroit.dance: Do you have any tracks you are releasing soon?
Shane: Yes – my new track “313” is coming out Friday May 14th on Guilty Records. Super excited about that one. Shout out to Versace James from Guilty Records.
detroit.dance: You just debuted a new logo – what prompted the change?
Shane: I liked my old logo with the outline of Michigan, but I had had it for a while. I’ve grown a lot as a producer and as an artist, I’ve done a lot, and I’ve released a lot. So I felt like it was time for an upgrade and for something more professional looking. Thanks to The Roz Projects for the help on that – definitely go to them with any rebranding needs.
detroit.dance: Colin – your solo alias is Detroit Wolf – talk about how that differs from the Metawav. project.
Colin: So, Detroit Wolf isn’t really much of a thing yet. I don’t know if or when it will be, I haven’t fully decided that. I am pretty committed to the Metawav. project. It’s the name that I use for myself when I DJ by myself when it is not me and Shane. I feel like it will be more of a writer’s alias for me than a performing alias. If I ever did go forward using Detroit Wolf it would be more hip-hop focused.
detroit.dance: You are part of the Guilty Records crew – how did you get involved in that?
Shane: Shout out to Versace James, CEO of Guilty Records, that’s my motherfucking brother! We met a little over a year ago.
Colin: Shane met Ryan at a show and then I ran into Ryan, he invited us to do a stream, and then a show, and another show and another show. It all happened naturally. QURL, Ryan, us… we all got closer at the same time so the crew thing fell in our lap. We haven’t released anything on the label yet but that is in the works for the future. Ryan is good at what he does, he’s been doing a great job with branding and making his thing pop and stand out.
detroit.dance: How do you like being part of a crew?
Shane: I like it because I love hanging out with people in my family. We all go to shows together, we all hang out together, and the vibes are always great. Our personalities mesh well.
Colin: I love how everyone is pushing each other up and motivating each other.
detroit.dance: Tattoos – you both have them. How many do you have and are there any that have a cool story?
Shane: I have one full sleeve, a half sleeve, my whole stomach and chest done. I would say that Colin actually has more than I do. I’m getting there. My coolest tattoo was when I went to a Wiz Khalifa concert, I got to go backstage and meet the guy that tattoos him, and tattooed a dream catcher on my arm. I got to hang out with Khalifa for a little bit while he was doing it. It’s a hell of a memory.
Colin: I don’t know how many I have. All of my tattoos have come from dreams that I’ve had where the tattoo was on me in the dream. Nothing with a specific deep meaning. I have a few that I actually plan on getting but that will be when I have the amount of money to spend on it for a really good artist.
detroit.dance: Would you play a gig where everyone was in the giant rolling balls?
Shane: Hell yeah. I would hope that they’d be smashing into each other the whole time. I don’t think I’d be able to play a good show because I’d be watching people run into each other and laughing.
Colin: Oh yeah, that would be hilarious.
detroit.dance: Dark, Milk, or White chocolate?
Shane: White. But I’ll take whatever is available.
Colin: Dark milk.
detroit.dance: Do you wish on 11:11?
Shane: Sometimes, if I happen to look down at my phone and see that it is 11:11.
Colin: No.
detroit.dance: What are your goals for 2021?
Shane: I would say the main goal is to get some more songs signed, get some of my solo stuff on some record labels too…and play a couple festivals since those are coming back around.
Colin: Miami and Vegas. I want to find contacts in those cities and get us booked there. I think we have a pretty good connection in Miami, the girl that runs D.I Techno and Still Loading… Festival. She’s been supporting the heck out of us. Getting a track or two signed to a bigger label would be nice.
detroit.dance: If you had your own ice cream flavor, what would it be?
Shane: Moose Tracks with extra chocolate chips.
Colin: Brownie. It would be called Poopydoodoo.
Make sure you check out Metawav.’s Destination Detroit – Hart Plaza and their TWO Recipe by Requests that will be posted on Friday (Lasagna and Stuffed Shells).
Keep up with Metawav. on their socials:
Keep up with Suga Shane:
Keep up with Detroit Wolf: