Detroit Techno Militia is proud to present a brief history of Anthony "Shake" Shakir. If you aren't familiar with one of our favorite producers/dj's, now is the chance expand your knowledge base.
Anthony "Shake" Shakir
Frictional Recordings - Detroit
One of Detroit Techno's great unsung heroes, Anthony "Shake" Shakir has been a talent integral to the genre since it's formative years. Like many producers, Shake started out as a DJ while at Cooley High School (also the alma mater of Carl Craig), though he spun Electro, R & B and funk rather than House. He was introduced to Derrick May and Juan Atkins (and subsequently the nascent Techno subculture in Detroit) through DJs Mike Huckaby and Eric Sims. Shake had been experimenting with keyboards around the same time, and gave some of his tracks to May on tape. By his own admission, those early songs were "pretty terrible", but one track that mimicked Fingers Inc.'s "Mystery of Love" caught May's attention and he recognised Shake's potential.
Before long, he found himself contributing to the seminal 1988 compilation Techno! - The New Dance Sound of Detroit on 10/Virgin. Shake recalls recording his contribution, "Sequence 10", while compiler Neil Rushton was in Detroit finalising the album's running order. But while other artists rode the waves of attention that the compilation attracted, Shake remained behind the scenes for several years after, preferring the roles of producer, A & R and remixer instead. Many have benefited from Shake's talents and connection to May, Atkins and Saunderson - most notably Octave One, whose suprise anthem "I Believe" he co-produced, co-wrote and mixed.
Shake re-emerged as a solo Techno artist on Metroplex with 1992's 5% Solution EP and continued to find outlets such as KMS, Trancefusion and Peacefrog. In the following years he founded two labels: Frictional Recordings with Claude Young in 1995 and Puzzlebox with Keith Tucker in 1996. While Puzzlebox is now Tucker's responsibility, Shake continues to run Frictional on his own and the label has provided a home for brilliant an diverse series of releases, including "Mood Music for the Moody", "Club Scam II" and the "The Revisionist's Theory".
In addition to his Techno productions, Shake has also been involved with local hip-hop artists like Scarelly Moe. He has also remixed many artists, including Inner City and the Belgian Techno-pop band Telex, but one of his finest moments remains his co-production of Urban Tribe's exceptional album for Mo' Wax, The Collapse of Modern Culture (1988).
-Tim Barr, Techno: The Rough Guide
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discogs bio
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Detroit producer Anthony "Shake" Shakir is one of the more underrecognized, underappreciated names in American techno. A bedroom producer since 1981, Shake had an important role in helping shape the early Motor City sound associated with artists such as Juan Atkins / Model 500 and Derrick May. He worked with May and Carl Craig as a producer, writer, or engineer on several early tracks on Metroplex, and worked in management and A&R for the label (as well, he's often joked, as being the janitor) during its formative years. His first solo material appeared on Virgin's seminal Techno! The New Dance Sound Of Detroit compilation with 'Sequence 10'. Known as something of a techno purist, Shake has distanced himself from the European scene many of his colleagues have turned to for support (this accounts somewhat for his continuing obscurity), and his music is stylistically closer to second wave artists such as "Mad Mike" Banks and Claude Young — hard, stripped-down tracks which owe equally to techno, electro, hip-hop, and funk. Shake's visibility and reputation have risen in more recent years as a result of his Frictional and Puzzlebox labels, the latter of which he formed in 1996 with fellow Detroit electro / techno producer Keith Tucker (formerly of Aux 88). Releasing a series of records both solo and in combination (usually under the name Da Sampla), Shake and Tucker's Puzzlebox Records has, along with Underground Resistance and Guidance Recordings, become one of the more coveted sources of straight-up, no-bones Detroit techno.
- Sean Cooper, All Music Guide
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More Reading
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Shaken and stirred - Metrotimes (2002)
Interview - TechnoTourist.org (2003)
Artist Profile - Metrotimes
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Techno History 
