I listened, and I was intrigued. I wanted to know more.  So I went to find out about the two South African DJs behind this show, Shaun Holiday and Scott Small, and their company Mixed-up Productions.  Shaun graciously took the time to answer some of my questions:

Tell us about yourselves.  Who are you, where are you from, and what is Mixed-up Productions all about?

Nothing too extravagant to report here. I suppose we’re just two ordinary guys that have, what some (Scott Small’s Girlfriend) may describe, as an unhealthy obsession with Trance & Progressive music. Its just a form that moves us in a profound way. The only variation to the stereotype, is that the obsession is very separate from, some would say inconsistent with, our day-to-day activities.

I am a qualified chartered accountant (queue: destroy preconceptions about accountants please) and Scott Small is a Businessman / Entrepreneur, working for his family’s Marine Electrical Supplies company. Both of us were born and bred – and still live in – Cape Town. Our love for the music developed independently of each other. We have a mutual friend who, about a year ago now, suggested we meet up for a drink, as he thought we had a bit in common.

A bottle of Johnnie Walker was demolished and during that time we decided that Cape Town – and South Africa –  had forgotten about arguably the most popular electronic music genre in the world and that we would start MixedUp and simultaneously do our events (“Halo”) and our radio show (“Come Down Monday on Soundrepublic.co.za) and promote the DJs and artists who we feel deserve as much exposure as they can get.

How did you get into this, and why decide to podcast your show?  Is it available on regular radio?

Come Down Monday is not an altogether-new concept. I started Come Down Monday on UCT Radio 104.5FM, whilst doing my Business Science undergraduate degree. Leaving UCT once I’d graduated meant the regular radio had to stop (unfortunately) and another outlet found.

South African terrestrial radio has disowned Trance and Progressive music, even though the likes of Armin van Buuren’s “A State of Trance” and Above and Beyond’s “Trance Around the World”, are the most popular and listened to radio shows on the planet (+ 30 million listeners every week apparently). Podcasting became the only available option, which in South Africa, with bandwidth limitations and high associated costs, is a real disadvantage.

Ultimately being able to do a show available on the FM band would be fantastic and I truly believe it would be successful, but in such a regulated industry such as that in South Africa, it’s highly improbable. Here’s hoping! But podcasting does give us an element of creative freedom that we exploit to the full. I’m not the most politically correct at the best of times! And it allows us to add a dimension of humour that I believe is fundamental to making any radio show a success regardless of the music played.

Bummer. What are your influences/favorite artists to play

Gosh, I think it varies over time.  My intial influence was Paul Oakenfold and his legendary “Essential Mix” World Tour sets that became the soundtrack to my late night varsity study sessions. Then PvD and Tiesto were it (though now Tiesto is in my humble opinion the Third Anti-Christ with the Yankee pop-trance he is now trying to “pioneer”). Now …it’s not so much the established artists, but the up-and-comers who stand out.

Frankly I would prefer it if Oakie, PvD, Tiesto and even Ferry and Armin would just retire and let the younger, fresher guys, whose music the big boys use, but who the big boys seemingly don’t do enough to promote, take over (but that’s my opinion).  Gareth Emery is on fire at the moment after an almost five year lull, after smashing onto the scene with ‘GTR – Mistral’. We play an awful lot of his stuff right now, as he has almost created an entire subgenre of trance all by himself. First State has put out some great records recently, but I think this year for both Scott Small and Myself … it’s Markus Schulz, in particular, everything under his “Dakota” alias. We hammered everything on the 2009 Dakota album and will continue to do so well into 2010.

Do you guys perform live anywhere, and if so where and when can we catch you?

We both have DJ dates, but Scott Small in particular is in demand and plays a fair amount. I’m not as committed to playing at 3am on a Sunday morning as my hard working (and more talented) co-host and am comfortable with restricted appearances and at our branded “Halo” events, which is Cape Town’s only concept dedicated to Trance and Progressive.

The past few months, we have hosted some awesome talent including Daniel Wanrooy (who mixed the prestigious new In Trance We Trust 014 compilation) and First State (If I was BRAAAAAAAAVE!!!!!!!). We are working on bringing some more guys in the coming year.

You can find links to all our shows at mixedup.co.za (we will improve the website for launch in the new year as we recruited some talent there). We also put up numerous bonus mixes that will make your ipod very happy so check it out!

The electro scene has been gaining a lot of ground recently, and seems to be attracting a lot of the kids we used to see at trance nights.  We know it’s not a competition, but how do you see the future of progressive dance music in SA?

Fuck, it certainly is a competition. And it’s gained ground because it’s promoted. As a genre, I think it’s about as deep as a tadpole’s pond and as fun as a prostrate exam (Ed: I’m inclined to agree.  I’m sorry Electroboy, but I still need more convincing.)

But its on 5fm with Roger Goode (though he doesn’t play it exclusively) and that other “Studio 55” bird and they (especially Roger), do a top job by combining the music they like with an on-air personality that is entertaining and, it’s been perceived as the full length and breadth of electronic dance music, which is nonsense. How can you expect people to relate to things they have never heard or seen? (Faith only works in a religious context!)

In Cape Town, 5fm is not a particularly popular radio station (official listnership figures) either and there really is nothing dance-orientated anywhere else (a little fidget stuff on GHFM). So it’s going to be tough until something different is given a crack to a wider audience. But, there is this stigma that dance music shows are not “entertainment”.  (Nick E Louder really fucked it up for everyone with his attempt at a dance music show on GHFM a few years back.)  That’s why I hope that on the next dance show that is given a real chance, the presenters bring more to the show than just “track A by artist B and remix by artist C”.

A dance music show cannot work by the music alone. It must be funny, it must be broad, and the presenters need to be genuine. If that happens, then I believe Trance and Progressive will be hugely popular, because it is a community that many can relate to, an addictive sound that brings you in and evokes emotion. The 6 000 people at Armin Van Buuren (Cape Town) earlier this year, can’t all of a sudden not like trance anymore! (Unless they were all there to get high as kites!) I believe there is massive potential: It will only take a small amount of exposure.

Thanks guys, that certainly sheds a little more light on a scene I think a lot more people would be interested in, if they knew it was around.  You can catch their show tonight on Sound Republic Radio (at 14:00, 22:00 and then on Tuesdays at 06:00), or you can download it from mixedup.co.za.

In the meantime, become a fan of Come Down Monday’s facebook page if you want them to let you know when they’re about to broadcast their pirate signal!