Rub-a-Dub Dubstep
The Dubstep duo tell us how they achieved a raw, live and truthful vibe on Fabriclive's latest mix
Fabriclive are back with yet another new live mix and this time they've pulled in dubstep soldiers Caspa and Rusko. The alacritous twosome recorded and mixed this multifarious offering in a phenomenally snappy three days and we caught them in a chirpy and playful mood as they divulged some of their DJ slash producer secrets.
The dubstep sound typically borrows elements from dub reggae and 2-step, with early roots originally coming from the UK garage scene. For those unfamiliar with the sound, Rusko offers up a wonderfully frank explanation: "It's just basslines innit. Every conceivable way you can make a phat bassline. It's got a lot of energy, it's quite open to interpretation, there's lots of different angles from it but it's always got a phat bassline."
Caspa proceeds to enlighten us as to how they went about putting the mix together: "We just played exactly what was in our bags. There's no marketing about it, there's just tunes on there that we actually play every single set and we actually like." Rusko continues: "All the dubplates still had the dirt scratches on 'em from the night before when we played up in Sheffield. It really is true to form, we mixed it live in an empty club, just straight off the record, crackle and everything. Raw, live and in a way kinda truthful because of that."
Considering the scene is largely projected as very serious-minded, it's refreshing that they chose to include a Catchphrase sample on 'Mr Chips' and also a helping of 'Hammer Time' thrown in for jokes. Rusko clarifies: "A lot of my tracks have got a big element of humour in 'em, they're kind of uptempo, kind of jump-up for the dancefloor. It's not a serious, sit down with your headphones on and smoke a cigar and stroke your beard type of music." In defiance of the serious leanings, it's interesting to find some D&B flexes emanating from the mix too.
The boys are hitting up Fabric next month to showcase their brilliant live set and Caspa explains why this D&B influence will be great to experience live: "We bring the energy that we love in jump-up to dubstep. We love doing it. We're not trying to recreate jump-up at 140 bpm, we're just trying to bring an energy across dubstep. People think that drum & bass has got formulaic and become a dirty word and they don't wanna associate it with dubstep but if the producers are conscious of that and they're aware of what they're doing then just let it be what it's gonna be." Rusko pipes up: "With dubstep being so fast-moving, the set two months after we did the Fabriclive [37] set will be completely different to the CD." We recommend checking it out, just make sure you pack some shock absorbers 'cause they typically turn the bass up so loud that it shakes your body to the root of your spine. Naughty, naughty.
Words: Naomi Misquita-Rice
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