Dubstep feature - Serie B 2006

Dec 28

Dubstep feature - Serie B 2006

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Dubstep feature – Published in Serie B magazine, 2006

This article contains extracts from a series of interviews conducted in person and over the internet with Skream, Kode 9, Scuba, Bruno Belluomini, NuMaestro and Infinite over the spring of 2006.

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Dubstep: Doin’ it in your earhole

London has always been a cauldron of musical activity - a unique recipient for cultures, ideas and sounds to clash, merge and form anew. At the turn of the century the explosion of UK Garage led to the emergence of various new strains of the sound, spread across the capital. In the years following these strains engrained themselves in various London boroughs and continued to mutate, emerging more recently - first in and around London and gradually spreading outwards. Grime is one of those strains. Another is Dubstep, a music that is just now starting to get a lot of attention.

While Grime emerged from the council estates of east London, it was in the south London borough of Croydon that a darker variant of Garage emerged. Built around the bouncy patterns of 2step combined with dark sounds, heavy bass and reggae, dancehall and dub samples and influences, as opposed to the rnb influences that dominated at the time, it was first pioneered and experimented by the likes of El-B, Steve Gurley and Zed Bias. In the years following it further developed and mutated thanks to producers like Horsepower, Menta, Artwork, Hatcha, Skream and Benga who built on the darker 2step foundations and were centred around the now defunct Croydon-based record shop and label Big Apple. Big Apple was instrumental in the early developments of this sound, as was Ammunition Promotions who were, and still are, responsible for the leading label Tempa, and the Forward>> club night. Ammunition coined the term Dubstep for a magazine article, a term that would slowly stick as the music bloomed over the years.

Between 03 and 05 Dubstep continued to evolve – from its darker 2step origins to more minimalist, bass driven styles with wide influences. Forward>>, also home to early styles of Grime, was the primary place for showcasing new sounds with DJs like Hatcha and Kode 9 armed with dubplates of the latest sonic experiments. Rinse FM also gave regular airplay to Dubstep DJs and producers, helping the sound spread outside of its central and south London contingencies. While the Garage scene as a whole turned its back on its offshoots, Rinse FM and FWD>> embraced them and gave them the space and platforms to develop.

What’s really striking about Dubstep is its growth from Garage, a genre disliked by many, to a constantly evolving and mutating music with roots extending to 2step, Dub, Reggae, House, Jungle and more. All linked by two things – heavy-duty bass and sub, and uncluttered, space-y production. These values combined with wide influences have created a musical style that a lot of people seem to freely embrace after first coming into contact with it – regardless of their musical origins.

The scene was, and still is, a close-knit community of DJs, producers and fans that grew from the early days. Hatcha established himself as the prime purveyor of new dubplates, Kode 9 started pushing a more vocal take on the sound with his label Hyperdub, Digital Mystikz (Coki & Mala) and Loefah brought new sensibilities to the music, like dub and reggae sound system values and influences as well as tracks that range from upbeat poly-rhythms to slow, skanked out half step, with their DMZ label and associated night, while Skream and Benga grew from teenage producing wonders to established pioneers. By 2005 new producers like Vex’d, Distance, D1, Random Trio, Scuba, Pinch, N-Type, and releases on labels like Planet Mu, Tectonic, Hotflush and Skull Disco, ensured that mutations were still happening and things kept fresh.

By then the sound was also increasingly spreading outside London – in Bristol, Pinch and the Subloaded night formed the first major non-London outpost for the music, in Manchester, Grime producer Mark One was experimenting with the sound, in America Joe Nice and the Dub War night gave Dubstep a new home. Everywhere scenes and supporters were cropping up: Canada, Belgium, Germany, Australia… This expansion was also carried by factors such as blogs and forums, the spread of recorded Rinse FM sets online, two misnamed ‘Grime’ compilations on Rephlex that featured Dubstep producers, the incredible cross-genre success of Skream’s ‘Midnight Request Line’ (Tempa), an anthem of unexpected proportions, and a special edition of the Breezeblock radio show on BBC Radio 1.

All these things had combined to expose the music to worldwide audiences by 2006 in turn ensuring an explosion in interest, much like Grime had witnessed a few years earlier. Record sales are up, nights like DMZ and FWD>> are seeing record attendances and moving to bigger and more mainstream venues, new producers, DJs and labels are cropping up, regular nights are being held in Berlin, Leeds, Manchester, Australia and NY and local scenes worldwide are catching the bug, online and in the flesh.

Thus Dubstep has well and truly emerged from its London shadow, yet another sound birthed in the capital’s cultural melting pot. After years of hard graft people are reaping the fruits of their labour. This year is set to be the turning point – whether Dubstep blows up and sinks back to its underground status or continues to build on its strong foundations and establish itself as just another genre is yet to be decided. It needs a vocal counterpart to its primary instrumental nature to survive in the limelight, something that is already happening more, and it needs to learn to cope with attention while continuing to mutate healthily and offer the public more of what makes it so appealing. Already the success of albums by the likes of Vex’d, Burial, Boxcutter and Skream (forthcoming) as well as nights like DMZ and FWD>> in and out of the scene show that it can do both and still offer music that is truly remarkable regardless of classification. I have faith that the virus will continue to mutate and infect – it seems predestined to.

To give a further insight into the music we caught some words with artists in the UK, Spain and Brazil.

Kode 9 - Hyperdub, Rinse FM, FWD>> - London

The music has mutated a lot since it started. When a music isn’t getting that much attention there is no reason to stay with one strain of sound but you’ve got to keep your interest strong, so the sound mutates. The danger of attention is that it is easier for people to just focus on what works to a majority who are unaware, uninterested in the diversity of the sound and things can become formulaic. At the same time, getting a bit of hype is a challenge. In spite of the hype though we’ll just keep moving along at our own speed. Things are really unpredictable right now.

Bruno Belluomini – Safari Recordings, Submusica - Brasil

I work hard to promote the sound out here. Gigs here can be great because the crowds are really diverse but the majority of them have never encountered music like this. I might play some Dubstep or Grime and afterwards people will come up and say that they’ve had an amazing time. It’s like trying to educate people. That’s what I try to do with my sets and productions. My main effort now is to write about the music and its origins in Portuguese so people learn and understand where it came from and where it’s now. Techno and House became popular here because someone did that before. I believe the sound can be global, because we live in a global world.

Skream – Tempa, Rinse FM – London

When I first heard Hatcha and the darker 2step stuff I was taken in. I knew I wanted to make music and just kept at it through the years and it’s now paid off. I spent hours trying to imitate tracks I loved and in the process came out with something that was similar but my own, unique. People like Mystikz were influential in helping move this music forward. Without them I don’t think things would be the same today. 2006 has been an amazing year so far. People are starting to recognise the music for what it is and that’s why I like seeing magazines getting interested, tunes reviewed, etc… It has been the year for everyone, everyone has been brought through, all those who’ve been grafting and I can only see it getting better.

Howie Roach – Producer/DJ – Barcelona

It’s possible that the music will take hold in Spain, but unlikely in the immediate future. I imagine promoters are unlikely to want to back something so new, it’s not exactly a sure bet. I’m not sure about other Spanish cities and ultimately I respect that you can’t just shove your culture down somebody’s throat. It’s a bit of a pity though. Response to stuff I play out has been pretty positive but more for the breakier stuff - if we had a decent sound system that might change. Dostreceradio supported the sound for a while and Skyfunk is the only promotion who supports the sound on a regular basis- running the RAVALBASS night at Zentraus.

Paul Rose – Hotflush, Scuba - London

Hotflush was never intented to be a Dubstep label. The aim was to release music that reflected what we played in the club night of the same name – from garage to breaks and broken beats. The Scuba offshoot is more defined in the Dubstep sense. I think the rise in interest has been good. We sell more records but it also means bandwagon jumpers and egos. Dubstep has stayed fresh due to the willingness of producers to experiment and DJs to play experimental tunes, especially on the radio. Hopefully this will continue to happen. It seems the open-mindedness in the music seems to be dying, and if people aren’t careful it will lose everything that was good about it.

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