Shackleton

Sam Arthur Shackleton, better known by his stage name Shackleton, is an English electronic producer and founder of the record labels Skull Disco and Woe to the Septic Heart!.

History Sam Shackleton was born in Lancashire, England. He participated in various musical projects throughout the years, playing in punk bands as a teenager and later performing as part of a dancehall duo with Earl Fontainelle (a.k.a. Vengeance Tenfold). He first began producing music on a computer in 2003. Around this time, Shackleton was becoming more familiar with grime and dubstep through regular visits with Laurie Osborne (aka Appleblim), Necta Selecta, and Engine Room to FWD>> club nights.

Shackleton's first release was a track entitled "Stalker", released on Mordant Music in 2004. Shackleton was impressed with Appleblim's track "Mystikal Warrior", and it appeared on the first Skull Disco release, a double A-side with Shackleton's track "I Am Animal" on the flipside. In the same year, Shackleton relocated to Berlin. In 2010, Shackleton released Fabric 55, a studio mix based on a previous performance at Fabric. It was the fourth Fabric release to feature a set entirely made up of the artist's own material.

In 2011, Shackleton collaborated with Pinch on the album Pinch & Shackleton, released on Honest Jon's Records. That same year, Shackleton and Vengeance Tenfold were commissioned by SoundUK to create a "Sonic Journey" inspired by sections of two Devon "train lines – part of the main line between Exeter and Totnes, and a section of the Tarka Line between Exeter and Barnstaple."

In 2012, Shackleton's third album, Music for the Quiet Hour / The Drawbar Organ EPs, was released on Woe to the Septic Heart!, once again featuring a collaboration with Vengeance Tenfold providing spoken word vocals.

In 2016 his album with singer Ernesto Tomasini, Devotional Songs (also released on Honest Jon's), was among the year's best for a large number of specialised press, from The Wire and The Quietus to SentireAscoltare and Onda Rock.

Musical style Shackleton's musical style has been described in the past as falling under dubstep, garage, and techno, but his musical palette in releases in the 2010s has derived from minimalism, musique concrète and dark ambient. It has been noted for its "intense atmospheric gloom" and sense of "tension and paranoia".

Discography Albums Three EPs (2009), Perlon Pinch & Shackleton (2011), Honest Jon's Records – with Pinch Music for the Quiet Hour / The Drawbar Organ EPs (2012), Woe to the Septic Heart! Freezing Opening Thawing (2014), Woe to the Septic Heart! (EP) Devotional Songs (2016), Honest Jon's Records - with Ernesto Tomasini Sferic Ghost Transmits (2017), Honest Jon's Records - with Vengeance Tenfold Behind the Glass (2017), Woe to the Septic Heart! - with Anika Primal Forms (2020), Cosmo Rhythmatic - with Zimpel Departing Like Rivers (2021), Woe to the Septic Heart! The Scandal of Time (2023), Woe to the Septic Heart! Euphoria Bound (2026), AD 93

Mix albums Fabric 55 (2010), Fabric