How SHDW Built Mutual Rytm by Going Back to the Groove
If you've been following groove-led techno over the past few years, chances are you've come across Mutual Rytm. But behind the records, the label has a story that's just as interesting as the music itself.
Before going solo, Stuttgart's SHDW (Marco Bläsi) spent nearly a decade as one half of SHDW & Obscure Shape. Together, they built a name through their productions, international shows and first label, From Another Mind. But by 2019, something wasn't quite clicking anymore.
As techno continued getting faster and harder, the pair found themselves drifting away from the music they originally loved. In a 2023 interview with Wololo Sound, they explained how the pandemic gave them time to revisit their roots: the rolling grooves, stripped-back percussion and timeless sounds of '90s and early-2000s techno.
That shift eventually gave us Mutual Rytm.
Rather than creating another platform solely for their own productions, the idea was to give other artists room to develop their sound. The label launched with the Federation Of Rytm I compilation, featuring artists including Alarico and Lars Huismann, and has since released music from Chlär, Phil Berg, ANNĒ and plenty more.
What's interesting is that SHDW has never wanted every release to sound the same. In a recent interview with Underton, he explained that the label isn't about following whatever happens to be popular. It's about finding music with its own identity, supporting the artists behind it and building something that lasts.
And it's clearly resonating. According to Mutual Rytm's 2025 retrospective, the label released 18 records that year alone, alongside its first full-length album and a growing series of label events.
Since 2024, SHDW has also been forging his own path as a solo artist, bringing that same love of groove and carefully selected records into his DJ sets.
Sydney gets to experience it on Saturday 28 November, when SHDW joins Nina Kraviz and ANNĒ at Manning Open-Air.
NINA KRAVIZ + ANNĒ + SHDW
SYDNEY — MANNING OPEN-AIR
SATURDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2026
