Simon Shackleton

Simon Shackleton

Simon Shackleton is a UK electronic musician and DJ who works under several aliases, including Elite Force, Lunatic Calm and Zodiac Cartel. His music spans breakbeat, breaks, deep house, downtempo, electronic, edm, house, techno and tech house. He is associated with the acts Headless Chickens, Lunatic Calm, Meat Katie & Elite Force, and Flicker Noise.

Career

Shackleton starts out during his university years in the Acid House era, where he studies classical composition and edits a campus magazine with a staff of 15. A meeting with Thom Yorke leads to his first vinyl release and helps establish his DJ and production career. His first show draws 1200 people and lasts five hours, before he owns a set of decks.

He builds a long career as a producer and DJ across multiple projects and is described as award-winning and prolific. His work appears on Hollywood films and on successful console games, including The Matrix, Charlie’s Angels, Wipeout, Motorstorm and Driveclub. He also soundtracks club floors with his house and techno sets, and performs in countries including Canada and mainland China, as well as at festivals in the US and Australia.

Labels and projects

Shackleton runs record labels including Stereophoenix, Used & Abused Recordings and Fused & Bruised, and he has releases on Nick Warren’s Hope Recordings. He also creates the One Series events, based on the idea of one DJ in one room playing all night, and these events connect with a wider network of participants and collaborators. Rise parties are also part of his self-promoted event work, with activity in San Francisco, Sydney, London, Los Angeles and Denver.

Screen and game work

Alongside DJ and label activity, Shackleton works as a sound designer and content creator for game developers. He also moves into film collaboration, including work with Klaus Badelt, whose credits include Gladiator and Pirates of the Caribbean.