Emalkay discusses both the U.K. and U.S. dubstep scenes

[_boring]

every city has its own scene.

we are currently attempting to really bring the deeper/funkier/steppier/melodic stuff, but that doesnt mean we are forgetting tht people like some heavy bangers as well. its all about diversity and i think we are doing it well here in buffalo. different parties for different sounds.

and it is true, most people who talk shit on the net dont even come out to hear whats being played. i play to the crowd but i also challenge them. good times had by all.

[ottolag]

yeah ill go ahead and agree, definitely seems the american audience just dosnt have the patience (or want/curiosity/appreciation) for the more mellow tunes. kind of annoying, but whatever. still play whatever i like.

anybody recognize the tunes at 2:15 and 4:30?

yeah, the one at 4:30 is warface by jakes-either the vip or the 2010 vip, cant remember. and 2:15 has slipped my mind, will remember in a bit though!

[pkay]

and repeatedly bashed into by stupid fucks screaming "im so fucked up i dont even know what going on!" while sweating on you and displaying through the sense of smell that they havnt fully discovered deodorant.

This argument is so tired and boring. Worldwide, no matter where you go, no matter what genre of dance music, there are going to be people fucked on pills. This is electronic music 101. My visit to the UK last year had just as many e-tards and ket junkies as the average US show.

The solution to the problem is the same as it is everywhere else... if you don't want to party with 17 year olds, stick to the club events.

[hellfire machina]

Firstly my apologies to the original poster because along with most of what is being disscussed here has little to do with your initial post, my thoughts have very little to do with the Emalkay interview, I havn't actually watched it yet, I got preocupied with thought which led me to this after reading the first page.

Two things continue to puzzle me with threads such as this.

1) The audacity of people who are so self important that their music of choice is the right way or the good shit, rather than being their personal taste. It's almost like they need reassurance from others that what they are into is the right way, or that there can only be one vibe and of course the vibe they like is going to be the right vibe to be into.

It's funny isn't it, people don't really cast a shadow over film choice or tv choice but music choice becomes this declaration of what you should be into and if your not into what the elitists deem as being 'the good shit' then a great deal of energy is put into telling you how wrong you are and let the berating commence.

Shivas post in this thread is a perfect example of the point I'm trying to make. Nothing but love for you Shiva, imo your an awesome dj and I'm just using your post as an example and this is in no way a dig at you or even directed at you, it's not directed towards any individual, these are just my thoughts on what is being discussed in this thread.

The sad thing about all this is the division it causes, it's like being in the playground with all the kids trying to make you pick a side and of course their side is the coolest and the right side to be on. When edm movements first emerged the common factor was unity, a sub culture and alternative to manufactured neatly packaged consumerism. Granted it's evolved into something so big now that there is a manufactured neatly packaged branding ethos in the styles or adopted by musicians/dj's/singers etc that are more appealing to the masses, it comes down to sales techniques really, anyone with any marketing or sales knowledge will resonate with what I'm saying. As the old saying goes, the mainstream becomes more and more manufactured and the underground gets more creative. From Bedingfield to Burial, everything has it's place.

And all the people that are die hard fans of say Britney Spears or Take That or any other contrived act or performer, they have the right to enjoy what they want to just as much as we do. Our musical taste doesn't make us better than anyone else, IT'S NOT A COMPETITION! There are no prizes.

99% of trance I've ever heard makes me cringe and I experience something that is horrifying to me in that it makes me prefer silence over music, but that is just my personal experience and reflection of my taste, my own INDIVIDUAL experience that I have no right to force onto others as being the right way.

There are literally millions of people who don't agree with that last statement, trance to them is the dogs bollox, they love it so much and escape to it on the regs. Is it for me? Hell no. Does it make me better than them? Hell no.


I listen to a stupidly wide range of music because I genuinly have total love and possible an unhealthy obssesion for sound and the interaction we have with it as organic lifeforms. When it comes to djing and producing, both myself and Tom do what feels right at the time, it changes like the wind and we move with the vibe. BUT as dj's we are also paid proffesionals to do a job and part of that job is to give the people that have paid to come and see you perform the greatest experience possible. From playing the stuff they expect and want, to taking them on unexpected turns and sometimes taking them places they didn't know existed and other times playing all their favourites or the biggest tunes of the last however many months . Granted you can't please everybody all of the time, but the smiles and screams and other crowd reactions (and the emails, and tweets and im's etc) are a surefire (no pun intended) indication of wether the majority of the people in attendance have had a great night or not. There are always going to be some people that if they don't get exactly what they want 100% of the time will react badly to it, that's just the way of the world, spoilt little children springs to mind but hey it really isn't for me to judge just as it isn't for anyone to judge someone else on the music they listen to, spin or produce. Everyone has the right to an opinion, those opinions dont come with wigs and wooden hammers though and certainly don't come with a right to judge.

2) The other thing that puzzles me is the lack of knowledge many of the most outspoken people have about the music they love. I'm not talking about naming every track 'insert fave producer here' has written or released. I'm talking about what goes into making the tracks, the techniques and skills involved in crafting all styles of this music. Sure there's a cookie cutter factor to everything and that will never change but that's not only akin to one side it's relevant to all styles, genres etc and even the cookie cutter end of the scale requires a level of skill, knowledge and talent to pull it off. The general conensus that you push a few buttons and hey presto a banger pops out the hatch is borderline moronic and definatly ignorant, and the same goes for the view that you power up the sub bass, pray to Mala , make a sacrifice to the one true god Burial and hey presto you have the next deep medi single on your hard drive.


Again it comes down to an open minded attitude, do YOU, enjoy what you enjoy and if you struggle to find somewhere to do this then try harder, as hard as you have to in order to reach your special place with the music you love. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS LOW FREQUENCY don't hate on others because your not getting your way or your not hearing what you want to hear 100% of the time. It's simple really, go find the place that does cater for you or better yet create your own. Take your vision and make a difference rather than taking the venom/frustration you have built up inside and unleashing it on others.

SMOG/DUBWAR/PURE FILTH/DMZ/FWD/EXODUS/RINSE/DUBSTEPFM etc etc were all built on a vision, wether it be individual or shared. One or more persons enabled their vision to exist in this reality and not just in the 'what if' folder in their minds. Those visions are now legendary within our culture, go and manifest your own visions and make them reality and they in turn will become a little bit of the history of this thing we all love.


There is so much awesome music under the bass culture umbrella, as many different shapes and forms as your mind will allow you to imagine, it's all there for us, wether we find it as a result of someone elses vision or create it ourselves. Aligning yourself to only one type or style or sub genre or whatever is a very sad thing because it's not a tale of two cities, there's a whole universe out there to explore so go revel in it and enjoy it.

My two pennys/cents/euroes/pesos/baht etc etc


Jody

[spire]

The solution to the problem is the same as it is everywhere else... if you don't want to party with 17 year olds, stick to the club events.

thats a horrible argument. they have been club events. and the debate isnt the club, its the crowd coming to hear whatevers being played. i said i dont like the crowd sometimes associated with the heavier stuff, people at "club events" act stupid too, once people get past the age of 17 they dont magically "grow up".

and dont say "well if you dont like it, stay home". cause yes it bothers me, im expressing that. but it dosnt make me wish i never went. i still love the music thats being played, thats why i go. if i get lucky with a more mature or respectful crowd, great, if i dont, oh well.

[pkay]

if i get lucky with a more mature or respectful crowd, great, if i dont, oh well.

Mature and respectful? You're going to listen to dance music and heaven forbid dance. Not sit at the bar and compare cock sizes with another shit talking forumstepper.

Stateside dubstep gets a bit pretentious at times. Too many dj's producers worried about making moves to support their own personal interests and hating on anyone thats doing something they arent involved in.

[djshiva]

@ hellfire: my point was less about genre stratifications, and more about DJs (and producers) being more adventurous so as not to oversaturate with one sound, or as a DJ, to stand out musically in a crowd of people playing very similar sounds.

i believe there's room for all kinds of variety. in fact, i prefer it that way. i don't mind mash-you-in-the-face stuff, but i don't wanna hear it all fucking night. nor do i want to hear super deep medi vibes ALLLL night.

what i have noticed time and time again is that a buncha DJs start playing the same sound and hammer it to death, and basically becomes this indistinguishable noise from any and all directions. doesn't matter what genre it is, really. pick any of em. i've seen it happen for years, before dubstep was a glimmer in someone's eye. ask me how i feel about the last few years in techno. it got overrun by anyone and everyone playing plink plonk leaky sink music. and it was boring as shit.

this wasn't about genre or subgenre, so much as being disappointed that more people don't attempt to do something interesting. you can play hard as fucking nails, or play 2 step influenced technoey crap. doesn't matter. both can be dreadfully boring, or twisted up and made into something genuinely adventurous. multicolored, if you will, instead of monochromatic.

honestly, that was my only point. don't get it twisted.

p.s. all that said, i don't think it's entirely the fault of the DJs. promoters (of all genres) could stand to be a bit more creative/adventurous with their booking choices as well as their formatting. it's damn tough to spread out and show any range with one hour timeslots, no matter who or how good you are.
i would like for one hour sets to go the way of the dinosaur, and more b2b2b action, or longer sets with b2b sets in between. i have always found that to be a more interesting and challenging way to play.

[spire]

Mature and respectful? You're going to listen to dance music and heaven forbid dance. Not sit at the bar and compare cock sizes with another shit talking forumstepper.

maybe "mature and respectful" is just a hard concept for you to grasp. people jumpin around, having a good time, fine with me. people pretty much throwing fists and elbows without taking into account that theres other people around them, not so cool.

[ÆIUM]

Steez Promo found it highly necessary to add U.K. dubstep champions Emalkay and 16-Bit to the lineup of "And Here it is, The Return of Fall Massive." The event took place in Baltimore, MD and was pure madness to say the least.

Dub Nation Video Blog Vol 2.0 features an interview and concert performance footage of “Birmingham’s finest”, Emalkay. In the featured interview, he discusses both the U.K. and U.S. dubstep scenes.

I'm in that video.

To respond to Emalkay, people here do appreciate the deeper stuff. But, you usually find that sort of thing being played at smaller parties. You have to understand, Steez Promo is the biggest game in town, and when they throw a big party with UK headliners (that's a big deal over here), people come in expecting the night to be crazy. Everyone gets hyped up for it, so they respond to the harder sounds.

To be frank, alot of the people that come out to the big big Steez Promo events have never even heard dubstep while they are sober, and (through little fault of their own) are somewhat ignorant to the other side of the music. At smaller events I think generally you have a different cross section of people who tend to be more knowledgeable and appreciate more diversity and depth to the sets. The irony here is, because you guy's are UK headliners (a big draw), you will probably never see that side of the scene over here.

But thats just my take on it.

[hellfire machina]

@ hellfire: my point was less about genre stratifications, and more about DJs (and producers) being more adventurous so as not to oversaturate with one sound, or as a DJ, to stand out musically in a crowd of people playing very similar sounds.

i believe there's room for all kinds of variety. in fact, i prefer it that way. i don't mind mash-you-in-the-face stuff, but i don't wanna hear it all fucking night. nor do i want to hear super deep medi vibes ALLLL night.

what i have noticed time and time again is that a buncha DJs start playing the same sound and hammer it to death, and basically becomes this indistinguishable noise from any and all directions. doesn't matter what genre it is, really. pick any of em. i've seen it happen for years, before dubstep was a glimmer in someone's eye. ask me how i feel about the last few years in techno. it got overrun by anyone and everyone playing plink plonk leaky sink music. and it was boring as shit.

this wasn't about genre or subgenre, so much as being disappointed that more people don't attempt to do something interesting. you can play hard as fucking nails, or play 2 step influenced technoey crap. doesn't matter. both can be dreadfully boring, or twisted up and made into something genuinely adventurous. multicolored, if you will, instead of monochromatic.

honestly, that was my only point. don't get it twisted.


p.s. all that said, i don't think it's entirely the fault of the DJs. promoters (of all genres) could stand to be a bit more creative/adventurous with their booking choices as well as their formatting. it's damn tough to spread out and show any range with one hour timeslots, no matter who or how good you are.
i would like for one hour sets to go the way of the dinosaur, and more b2b2b action, or longer sets with b2b sets in between. i have always found that to be a more interesting and challenging way to play.

I hear you, I guess I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by people doing interesting things, one of the bonuses of moving to the rottun apple. There is so much variety here. For b2b action you really should come to Darkroom one month, 30 min tag sets all night. We start off subby and rolling and end up in a climax of madness, sweat, spilt beer and lots of smiling faces.

[ÆIUM]

Again it comes down to an open minded attitude, do YOU, enjoy what you enjoy and if you struggle to find somewhere to do this then try harder, as hard as you have to in order to reach your special place with the music you love. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS LOW FREQUENCY don't hate on others because your not getting your way or your not hearing what you want to hear 100% of the time. It's simple really, go find the place that does cater for you or better yet create your own. Take your vision and make a difference rather than taking the venom/frustration you have built up inside and unleashing it on others.
y

Ok... closing my eyes, vision....vision....

I envision myself... hating on others because I am not getting my way.







In all seriousness though, good post. If there is something valuable to the music, something that it seems like we might be losing, it would probably be better try and save it through the music itself instead of saving it through forum ugliness. If it's worth what we think it's worth, the whole thing will probably work out fine.

[section 8]

the techier stuff tends to go off here more here in Atlanta, but we've had great crowds for artists like 2562 as well. all depends on the venue/vibe of the night. Untold coming up on Feb 20th!

[hellfire machina]

ATL rocks, last gig I played there was 50% hip hop and 50% dubstep ( I got to spin for Akil's (Jurassic 5) set too, get the fuck in son!) and the place was rammed to capacity going absolutly nuts. Unfortunatly one of the decks died on me after the first 4 or 5 tunes so I rode it out in selector one deck fashion, brap! Biggles to the mc for holding down the mic.

[kidshuffle]

To be frank, alot of the people that come out to the big big Steez Promo events have never even heard dubstep while they are sober, and (through little fault of their own) are somewhat ignorant to the other side of the music. At smaller events I think generally you have a different cross section of people who tend to be more knowledgeable and appreciate more diversity and depth to the sets. The irony here is, because you guy's are UK headliners (a big draw), you will probably never see that side of the scene over here.

But thats just my take on it.

I don't think I could have said it any better.

I have to disagree with anyone who says that we don't appreciate the deeper side of dubstep over here, although I will agree that you don't see it on the dance floors as much. From what I've seen, most people (unfortunately) just don't see the eyes down tunes as dance music; they'd rather just sit at home and smoke a spliff to it or something along those lines. And at the end of the day, whats wrong with that?

[rbnc]

the US has always liked harder music in comparison to the UK in almost every genre... breaks, dubstep, drum and bass, hip hop, whatever. We're a louder more aggressive culture than our UK friends... only suits us that we'd listen to louder more aggressive tunes.

Nothing wrong with either side of things

A more aggressive culture? You've clearly not had a stroll around Hackney Wick at 10pm.

[netrik]

Firstly my apologies to the original poster because along with most of what is being disscussed here has little to do with your initial post, my thoughts have very little to do with the Emalkay interview, I havn't actually watched it yet, I got preocupied with thought which led me to this after reading the first page.

Two things continue to puzzle me with threads such as this.

1) The audacity of people who are so self important that their music of choice is the right way or the good shit, rather than being their personal taste. It's almost like they need reassurance from others that what they are into is the right way, or that there can only be one vibe and of course the vibe they like is going to be the right vibe to be into.

It's funny isn't it, people don't really cast a shadow over film choice or tv choice but music choice becomes this declaration of what you should be into and if your not into what the elitists deem as being 'the good shit' then a great deal of energy is put into telling you how wrong you are and let the berating commence.

Shivas post in this thread is a perfect example of the point I'm trying to make. Nothing but love for you Shiva, imo your an awesome dj and I'm just using your post as an example and this is in no way a dig at you or even directed at you, it's not directed towards any individual, these are just my thoughts on what is being discussed in this thread.

The sad thing about all this is the division it causes, it's like being in the playground with all the kids trying to make you pick a side and of course their side is the coolest and the right side to be on. When edm movements first emerged the common factor was unity, a sub culture and alternative to manufactured neatly packaged consumerism. Granted it's evolved into something so big now that there is a manufactured neatly packaged branding ethos in the styles or adopted by musicians/dj's/singers etc that are more appealing to the masses, it comes down to sales techniques really, anyone with any marketing or sales knowledge will resonate with what I'm saying. As the old saying goes, the mainstream becomes more and more manufactured and the underground gets more creative. From Bedingfield to Burial, everything has it's place.

And all the people that are die hard fans of say Britney Spears or Take That or any other contrived act or performer, they have the right to enjoy what they want to just as much as we do. Our musical taste doesn't make us better than anyone else, IT'S NOT A COMPETITION! There are no prizes.

99% of trance I've ever heard makes me cringe and I experience something that is horrifying to me in that it makes me prefer silence over music, but that is just my personal experience and reflection of my taste, my own INDIVIDUAL experience that I have no right to force onto others as being the right way.

There are literally millions of people who don't agree with that last statement, trance to them is the dogs bollox, they love it so much and escape to it on the regs. Is it for me? Hell no. Does it make me better than them? Hell no.


I listen to a stupidly wide range of music because I genuinly have total love and possible an unhealthy obssesion for sound and the interaction we have with it as organic lifeforms. When it comes to djing and producing, both myself and Tom do what feels right at the time, it changes like the wind and we move with the vibe. BUT as dj's we are also paid proffesionals to do a job and part of that job is to give the people that have paid to come and see you perform the greatest experience possible. From playing the stuff they expect and want, to taking them on unexpected turns and sometimes taking them places they didn't know existed and other times playing all their favourites or the biggest tunes of the last however many months . Granted you can't please everybody all of the time, but the smiles and screams and other crowd reactions (and the emails, and tweets and im's etc) are a surefire (no pun intended) indication of wether the majority of the people in attendance have had a great night or not. There are always going to be some people that if they don't get exactly what they want 100% of the time will react badly to it, that's just the way of the world, spoilt little children springs to mind but hey it really isn't for me to judge just as it isn't for anyone to judge someone else on the music they listen to, spin or produce. Everyone has the right to an opinion, those opinions dont come with wigs and wooden hammers though and certainly don't come with a right to judge.

2) The other thing that puzzles me is the lack of knowledge many of the most outspoken people have about the music they love. I'm not talking about naming every track 'insert fave producer here' has written or released. I'm talking about what goes into making the tracks, the techniques and skills involved in crafting all styles of this music. Sure there's a cookie cutter factor to everything and that will never change but that's not only akin to one side it's relevant to all styles, genres etc and even the cookie cutter end of the scale requires a level of skill, knowledge and talent to pull it off. The general conensus that you push a few buttons and hey presto a banger pops out the hatch is borderline moronic and definatly ignorant, and the same goes for the view that you power up the sub bass, pray to Mala , make a sacrifice to the one true god Burial and hey presto you have the next deep medi single on your hard drive.


Again it comes down to an open minded attitude, do YOU, enjoy what you enjoy and if you struggle to find somewhere to do this then try harder, as hard as you have to in order to reach your special place with the music you love. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS LOW FREQUENCY don't hate on others because your not getting your way or your not hearing what you want to hear 100% of the time. It's simple really, go find the place that does cater for you or better yet create your own. Take your vision and make a difference rather than taking the venom/frustration you have built up inside and unleashing it on others.

SMOG/DUBWAR/PURE FILTH/DMZ/FWD/EXODUS/RINSE/DUBSTEPFM etc etc were all built on a vision, wether it be individual or shared. One or more persons enabled their vision to exist in this reality and not just in the 'what if' folder in their minds. Those visions are now legendary within our culture, go and manifest your own visions and make them reality and they in turn will become a little bit of the history of this thing we all love.


There is so much awesome music under the bass culture umbrella, as many different shapes and forms as your mind will allow you to imagine, it's all there for us, wether we find it as a result of someone elses vision or create it ourselves. Aligning yourself to only one type or style or sub genre or whatever is a very sad thing because it's not a tale of two cities, there's a whole universe out there to explore so go revel in it and enjoy it.

My two pennys/cents/euroes/pesos/baht etc etc


Jody

[kidlogic]

The "Warface" version he played was the Distorted Minds DnB remix, not sure about the other tune...

@ Shiva - I agree with most of what you said, all but the B2B... personally I hate them and see them as a way for promoters to fit more DJs on the bill at the sacrifice of quality. The only good B2B sets are when the DJs request it and who they play with.

Kids in America like the grindy stuff because kids in America have anger issues. I think there are quite a lot of more mature heads who like the deeper stuff, but they aren't the types who are going to spend $25 to see a lower-middle tier DJ and get fucked up on pills (most mature people can score pills away from warehouses).

Kids in America also like:
* Glow sticks
* Hot Topic
* McDonalds / Being fat
* Nickelback
* Pick up trucks

So basically, DJs and producers who want to play before the lower-middle tier DJs in America are going to have to play Hot Topic, pick up truck, fat people music. It's weak, but there you have it - that is what America is dealing with.

This post really irritates me. Not only for the blanket generalizations about a country this big, and not only because said generalizations are from a fellow American, but also because you dont have to "deal" with this.

Play what you want, what you like and what you want to hear out - it might take you a bit longer to get noticed, but its a lot more satisfying when you do. DJing is about self expression, not trying to fit in.

Also, (most mature people dont do pills)

[deamonds]

yea maybe you dont grandad

[slushpup]

I only listen to Steve Goodman because he has a PhD

[seckle]

The 21 and over effect really does make a massive difference to the energy and experience of the night. 18 and over nights generally bring a crowd that wants pure energy release....intensity all night , etc. 21 and over usually wants a bit of moderation with peaks and valleys in the sets. Ive seen this over and over. Older crowds are usually open to everything, whereas if you play deep experimental non drop orientated sets to a younger crowd, you can have people standing arms folded looking at the dj booth.

Id say that theres certain cities (usually the big college cities) that have the most flexible open minded crowds. In smaller cities you'd probably have people driving hours to expect a "rave". Glowsticks, flares , pills, etc. Both kinds of crowds make up the vibe in america, so its very hard to say america is one thing over another.