Shaun Frank Talks About Producers to Watch And The Craziness at bassPOD in Exclusive iEDM Interview

EDC is known for many things, from the extravagant stages to the sheer amount of talent that descends upon the eight stages at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

I had an opportunity to sit down and talk with Shaun Frank after his Saturday set at kineticFIELD about everything EDM, from how he got started producing music to the craziness at bassPOD and how genres are growing and flowing.  

iEDM: So you started off as a singer in The Envy, correct? So how did you make the transition from singing to EDM? 

Shaun: Well, I was singing in the band and near the end of the band's career I started getting a lot of messages from producers in Europe asking me to sing on their records because they thought I had kind of a John Martin thing and that was when Swedish House Mafia was taking off. Everyone wanted that male vocal like that and I kinda sang like that, so I did a few records and one of them ended up being a really big thing in Spain of all places, and I ended up going over there and touring as a singer. It kind of introduced me to the whole scene and I fell in love with it. It was really refreshing to me because I've been playing in bands for years and this was a new thing. And when I came home, I was like I had to learn how to make the music and not just sing it. So I came home and got to work. 

iEDM: Learning on the fly, that's tough. 

Shaun: Yeah, I remember I sang on these early records of mine. And I'm actually singing on my next record which is dropping in July. 

iEDM: Oh that's awesome. I was just about to ask if you ever play those songs that you sang on during your sets. 

Shaun: Yeah, I mean some of the older stuff I don't because it was a little bit of a different thing that I was doing then. But this new one that I'm dropping, yeah I'm really excited. I haven't sung on a record in a long time. This is the first of hopefully many. 

iEDM: Did this track get airtime tonight during your set? 

Shaun: I played at kineticFIELD earlier and I debuted with Delaney Jane, another record that we have together. It's actually a duet, so I'm singing on that one as well. That one we haven't released yet, but it's coming. 

iEDM: That's exciting! You've collaborated with The Chainsmokers, KSHMR and a lot of other artists. Do you have any dream collaborations? 

Shaun: I've always been such a Porter Robinson and Mat Zo fan, that music never gets old for me. I'd love to get in the room with one of those guys one day. There's also these guys, I'm obsessed, they're called Oliver. One's from Vancouver and one's from LA and they have some of the best sounding music. And it'd be sick to hear my stuff kind of done their way. 

iEDM: Alright, sounds great. There's a lot going on at these kinds of festivals: lights, people dancing, people naked. What's one of the craziest things you've ever seen?

Shaun: We actually saw some naked people on the way over here. 

iEDM: Fair enough. 

Shaun: But, last year I saw the craziest shit. At the bassPOD, this guy climbed up on one of the bass pods, but the thing was shooting fire. And then he back somersaulted off of it, landed on his back on the lower level of this thing, got up and gave a big 'look at me' and then security got him. But it was so intense. He falls, hits the ground, gets up and is like "ahhhh."

iEDM: Okay, wow that's intense. 

Shaun: So we're hoping we see something as fun this year, and hopefully nobody gets hurt. 

iEDM: Yeah, as long as no one gets fried at bassPOD, that's good. You've done EDC before, what brought you back?

Shaun: This is my second EDC, I played last year and this year they offered me the slot on kineticFIELD, which was amazing. EDC is the pinnacle of electronic music festivals in America, this is the one you want to play. So I hope it becomes a regular thing for me.  

iEDM: Definitely. Last question, do you have any DJs or musicians that inspire you and make you want to bring their sound into your music? 

Shaun: Well, I gotta say that the new Delaney Jane music that's coming out, I've worked with her a lot in the past and her new music is very inspiring. So I'm looking forward to hearing it come out. I've become friends with the Louis the Child guys, and I think all their new music is really cool. There's a lot of really fresh stuff coming out and it's cool to see so many genres being successful. Even at this festival, there are so many genres happening. And people are really open-minded to things now. I think a couple years ago, it was a little bit more "I listen to trance" or "I listen to dubstep" and now everyone's kind of vibing on a whole bunch of different things and everything is mixing together in a cool way. 

Thanks so much for your time Shaun. We're excited to hear your new music and especially psyched that you'll be singing on your new tracks! Check out Shaun's SoundCloud to stay up to date with all his new music that he'll be dropping. In case you didn't catch Shaun's Saturday show, you can still listen to his EDC set on MixCloud. 

If you missed EDC, don't worry. There's still a ton of festivals to look forward to. Make sure you're dressed your best with bestsellers from our Festival Season collection.