El Sid, Kode 9 & Joe Nice

Hotflush Recordings & HyperDub / London, UK -- Gourmet Beats / Baltimore, USA
(Above Photo: l to r - Kode 9, El Sid, Joe Nice)

Dubstep has been bubbling under for the last few years, constantly growing despite being commercially overshadowed by UK Garage in the early years and Grime as of late. But from the sounds of things, this has allowed the offshoot sound to evolve rather than emulate and become something that can stand on its own. To get the dirt on what’s rumbling in the underbelly of South London, DeepSix (D6) sits down with three stalwarts of the scene, Hotflush co-leader DJ El Sid (ES), Hyperdub main man Kode 9 (K9), and the US Ambassador to Dubstep Joe Nice (JN).

D6: Describe what dubstep means to you. 
ES: Dubstep music is an exploration of bass. It is a multicultural music, finding its roots in urban London. To me it means smoky, sweaty, pirate radio stations and dark, loud, intimate nightclubs. Dubstep is 21st century London, a paranoid, melting pot of people expressing themselves through sound.
JN: It's what I love - the music I love and the music that I love to play for others. It's been years since I've been excited about anything musically. For me, it all started on June 8, 2002 at a local Baltimore event called Starscape. There were a bunch of the big names that performed there - Zed Bias, Oris Jay, Benny Ill, J Da Flex - but the one guy that got me hooked was Hatcha. He was louder, deeper, and different. I couldn’t move my feet, nor did I want to. I stood there in absolute amazement. Right then and there, I was hooked. I had never EVER heard anything like him before. That night, I drove home LITERALLY questioning the possibility of sound and depth. It was that night when I chose to make the commitment to doing what I do now - bringing something different to the table, pushing the envelope and challenging the listener. I want people here to feel the way I felt that night. I honestly believe that Dubstep will take over. It's the next sound that people will latch onto. It's the irresistible force...
K9: It vibrates the parts other musics just don't reach!

D6: What makes it different from UKG or Grime?
ES: Dubstep is a London sound, finding its roots in 2-Step UK garage and DrumnBass.
K9: Dubstep, Grime, and Breakstep all came from the darker side of UKG, but have pulled in different, but sometimes overlapping, directions. At its core, Grime is centred around the MC culture and emerged from UKG crews like So Solid, Pay As U Go etc. Dubstep emerged out of UKG and used sped up dancehall and soca rhythms from producers like El-B and Horsepower. Breakstep came more from a slowed down DrumnBass type sound of with producers like Zed Bias, Oris Jay and DJ Zinc pushing this sound. But now, a lot of Breakstep sounds like DrumnBass post '98 - the stuff that put me off DrumnBass!
Grime's instrumental side shares much with Dubstep, but Dubstep tends to be sparser, has more low end, a less brash finish, and obviously a heavy dub influence. Grime tends to focus on riffs and hooks, and often sound a bit like faster Crunk. But these are just generalizations. What is exciting about these genres just now is that they are still moving and haven't settled into a formula yet.
ES: It differs from grime and UKG primarily I feel due to the quality of its production. Dubstep is seriously well made music, with a producer community that sets its standards very high.

D6: How has the sound mutated since the early days?
ES: I didn’t particularly care much for the early dubstep sound. It didn’t do much and was pretty boring. People who did come thru and push the scene out a bit more were producers like Oris Jay, and Zed Bias. They successfully created a bridge between the minimal early Dubstep sound and the Nu Skool Breaks sound that was finding its feet then as well. Their sound had a lot more energy and bite – it took a lot from DrumnBass.
The influx and influence of MC’s in UK Garage also played an important part. Because they wanted beats they could rhyme over, the sound became more bass heavy and minimal to cater to the MCs. This meant that we were in for a lot of bass driven music. Loads of it was totally wack, but some of it – what dubstep is as it is today - is truly amazing.
New Dubstep producers came into the game over the years and have kept pushing the boundaries forward, each one bringing a unique take on the scene. The great thing about Dubstep is that it’s a tight knit and very friendly/proactive community – everyone wants to and actually has the power to build the scene. That people can truly contribute to the scene is exciting. You can argue that there is a slight polarity in the scene in terms of style and content nowadays. There are producer’s who make breakier Dubstep – such as Search & Destroy, Oris Jay, Toasty, Vex’d - and those who follow a more dubby flavour – such as Digital Mystikz, Skream and Loefah. This has been a point of contention, causing much heated debate! My own view and as a DJ is that the more variety the better – I couldn’t play just one style, it would bore me to tears, so its good having such a wide selection of styles to choose from!
JN: In the "early" days, the sound seemed to be more energetic. Over time, the sound has become deeper, darker and, at times, more spiritual. For me, there's more of an emotional attachment to the music than ever before. There's a soul to the music. It's something you feel inside. It's up to the listener to decide on how you feel when you hear what you hear.
K9: Recently, as the role of the MC has increased, grime and dubstep have adopted a half-step, more hip-hop feel - this minimal sound leaves more room for vocalists.

D6: Where does it come from and where is it going?
K9: To generalize, Dubstep comes from South London while Grime comes from East London.
JN: CR7, SE25, Norwood, Thornton Heath....Croydon....etc. The South. It's going worldwide. It has to. The sounds are undeniable.
ES: It comes from the dubplate culture and pirate radio scene. Where it’s going, God only knows.

D6: Geographically speaking, it's a very London-based sound - how are you pushing it outside of those borders?
K9: I run the HYPERDUB.COM website has exposed the darker sounds that emerged from UKG to an overseas audience since 2001, providing a media platform to underground UK music which has poor media coverage, both in terms of quantity and quality. Over the last couple of years, I've been one of the first London based DJs to take Dubstep and grime to countries as diverse as Australia and Brazil. Also in August, I'm playing at music festivals in Italy and Germany.
We've just sorted out some distribution for our Hyperdub label outside the UK in Japan, Germany and the US. We are also selling mp3s for our label at WWW.BLEEP.COM
ES: As a DJ I’ve had the honour and pleasure of taking the sound abroad – this year I’ve played in Hungary and also Croatia, both of which were outstanding! It’s amazing how enthusiastic people are outside of England. As Londoners we truly are spoilt for choice. There are plans of hitting up Australia and maybe the States at some point before the end of the year.
Our music gets to places primarily via the distributors we use – we are now touching all 4 corners of the globe and have also embraced the digital revolution. This makes it easier and cheaper for our international consumers through digital distributors such as WWW.KARMADOWNLOAD.COM and WWW.BLEEP.COM. Essentially everyone involved in the scene is doing their part to make it grow – in my view the most important thing is for a steady stream of new music to be available for the consumer – so the more labels putting out beats, the better. We also DJ on WWW.PYROTECHNICRADIO.COM, an internet station which is going digital – similar to BBC 1XTRA. Our mixes are hosted on various sites which are accessible to everyone.
JN: I do two on-line radio shows each month. FIRST Tuesdays from 7p - 8p est on BREAKS FM. The second show is on GOURMETBEATS.COM, third Tuesdays from 9p - 10p. Secondly, I play shows around Baltimore and other regional venues. Anytime I get the opportunity to travel outside of Baltimore, I'm in. There's nothing like hearing Dubstep live...especially on a proper sound system!

D6: What are your thoughts on FWD and DMZ, the two best known dubstep club nights?  What makes them different from each other?
JN: FWD and DMZ are so necessary. Nights like these are needed. FWD is now twice a month and that's a good strategy. More people can hear the sounds and get involved. DMZ is good. With a event every other month, you build anticipation for the performers and the beats that you're gonna hear that night.
DMZ is a night that allows for people that aren’t really "in the scene" to experience Dubstep live. the sound system is second to none. It's a physical listening experience!
The night grabs hold of senses and pushes them to the limit. It's something that I can’t put into words. You have to experience the event for yourself.
ES: FWD is a midweek session that been going for yonks. It has a regular crowd of industry types and is more a place for where people involved in the scene come, mingle and swap music etc. It’s all about the amazing sound system they have in Plastic People. You end up breathing bass, literally! DMZ is Digital Mystikz’s shindig and naturally its held in South London, at a place called 3rd Base in Brixton. This is the weekend “rave” for the Dubstep scene. It goes till 6:00 a.m. The last couple of parties they’ve had have been outstanding.
K9: FWD has been running for 3-4 years. It’s an intense little night at a venue called Plastic People in East London with a lush sound system, where people come to listen to fresh music across a range of styles - Dubstep, Grime, Broken Beats and Breakstep. Its predominantly a dubstep nigh and is much more of party atmosphere than FWD. DMZ attracts a bigger, more lively crowd. It shares much with a dub sound system event.

D6: So, what are your next moves in the scene?
JN: My next moves....hmm... Eventually, I'd like to produce, but I'm much more interested in exposing new audiences to the sound. there's nothing seeing the looks on people's faces and people telling you, "Joe, I've never heard beats like these. I'm hooked." Another ambition of mine is an American-based Dubstep label.
ES: We’re currently launching our new label called Scuba Recordings. Scuba’s focus is purely Dubstep/Grime as opposed to our main label, Hotflush, which spans a lot of different styles in the 130-140 bpm range. Ironically – and maybe a point of confusion for people out there – the first beat on Scuba is by a producer of the same name, i.e. Scuba… With regards to Hotflush, we’re launching a couple of new artists before year end – lookout for releases by Boxcutter and Automan. In 2006, we plan to release an artist album! I can’t say who it’s gonna be by just yet, but believe me your in for a treat! Our website WWW.HOTFLUSHRECORDINGS.COM is currently having a bit of a facelift – we’re incorporating a mixes/sets section where you will be able to hear new DJ mixes by us and our crew, all free and available to download.
K9: The next 10" release on our Hyperdub label is Kode9 + the Spaceape - 'Kingstown' which is released early August. We are also currently working on an album, and are doing the occasional live performance involving video projections.

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