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

[jolly wailer]

Interesting vid. What's with the glow-sticks? Glad that hasn't caught on over here...

I guess kids just get twacked on drugs and put on their glowsticks, never really got it myself.

this is like going to a rave and being surprised that the dj isn't playing "real instruments" ...

[vishnu]

lol at glowsticks for dubstep nights.

All I retained from this video was that Emalkay is a badman

[joeki]

thanks for that clarification seckle, your post made the most sense for me.
I guess if I was a youngster and had to go to great lengths to just catch a DJ for one time, I would make sure the night was worth it. And if that means glow-sticks, why not? fuck it?

I wouldn't advise anyone to do that here though...seriously...

[jolly wailer]

an angler fish wouldn't plumb the depths without his glowstick

[joeki]

an angler fish wouldn't plumb the depths without his glowstick

haha i admit , I chuckled

[cosby]

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)

kidlogic - sorry to be the irritant, and although my post is a grand over-exaggeration, a lot of it is unfortunately real talk. You and I both live in major cities, so its easy to lose sight of what its really like out in the "real" parts of America. In my experience, its still the held over "fuck everyone except me" mentality that plagued and mortally wounded drum n' bass in the States. It's just random, toxic aggression not focused on anything - dudes need to watch Lifetime or go to a counselor and dead that.

The second part of what you are saying is what up-and-comers should be doing, finding the music they like and incorporating that into their sets, I totally agree. Unfortunately, crews feel like one head with questionable tastes and a lot of yes-men around them. DJs are trying to mimic each other because its the quickest way to get booked and, over time, everyone loses because everyone is playing the same boring shit.

PS. Tell me people don't do pills on the playa. Let's be real.

[djshiva]

@ 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.

I hear ya. B2B for the sake of more DJs is not what I am suggesting. Targeted, well thought out changeups in how we present the music is what I am aiming for, dig?

DJs are trying to mimic each other because its the quickest way to get booked and, over time, everyone loses because everyone is playing the same boring shit.

Spot on. This is what I meant.

On the other hand, what I do think is interesting about America is that because we are SO spread out, and our scenes can be SO far apart geographically, sometimes there can be really drastically different sounds coming from each area. I think people in the UK and Europe kinda don't realize just HOW big America really is, and how separated from each other we are. So it's really difficult to cast us all under the same umbrella.

It's also a huge part of the reason why electronic music has such a hard time gaining hold. It has little pocketed scenes where things are hot, but then you drive for 10 hours, you're in another state and they've never fucking heard it. So it has to start all over again from the bottom up.

[atnytelounj]

hey can any Americans tell me how the techier/housier side of dubstep goes over down there? I wouldn't want to call them "deep" necessarily, but I would imagine in a country where house and techno were (and probably still are) so large, at least in those cities where they were "birthed" (not that it necessarily matters...)

[cosby]

hey can any Americans tell me how the techier/housier side of dubstep goes over down there? I wouldn't want to call them "deep" necessarily, but I would imagine in a country where house and techno were (and probably still are) so large, at least in those cities where they were "birthed" (not that it necessarily matters...)

The tech side goes down well here because it's a tech city. Mad people are excited for Shackleton coming through.

[HearingAIDS]

Man these general statements bug the piss out of me.

As an American I can honestly say that I prefer the more chill stuff. I can see why people like both the harder and more chill styles. I like them both. The problem isn't with the people going out. People in Texas complaining that chill doesn't bring heads to the dance, this question is for you:

How many people show up in general anyway, regardless of style? Basically none? I've been to packed nights on both coasts and in the midwest.

The first Dubstep headliner I ever saw was Loefah. I had an awesome time. Still listening years later. I still dance to the hard and the chill stuff. If you bring them, I will come and buy beer. Rather than sit here on the laptop and cry that it's not my particular niche.

I swear, Dubstep is only dead on this forum.

3 years ago Dubstep was little known and more or less unplayed stateside. The fact that it is selling here at all is a testament to the varied tastes of American listeners. It's just the "us vs them" mentallity. Nationalism is a crock of shit. Your niche is shit and your crew are all bitches. Let us take the ego back 2 notches and have a cup of tea. We could have a 20 page thread about how Bristol is better than London as well. It'd be equally worthless and unnecessary.

Your job as a DJ is to move asses by any means necessary. If that means you play a couple of cheesy tracks to open people up to your other stuff, deflate your ego and do your job. Sex isn't just one big orgasm gentlemen and ladies. How about some foreplay eh?

[Dark Reign]

what was that about western canada?

come check synkro and hxdb this saturday @ the astoria
and 2562, martyn, daega, shackleton later month.

is that the heavy bangers scene you're talking bout?

I was talkin about the glowstick comment.

A for the scene theres both, like you guys throw down the deeper stuff and Excision throws his banger parties best of both worlds IMO

[nicenice]

Its not age that makes maturity and its not countries that make good music. Has no one heard Vaccine, Falty DL, Starkey? The last two being two of the best dubstep producers I've ever heard. And let us not forget that Britain is home to more then its fair share of mid-range shit. Both sides of the ocean make good and bad dubstep and both make good. The more commercial shit is going to filter from the cities and into 'real America' first so obviously there's going to be more focus on that. Give it time and I reckon the scene will develop like ours did. Maybe a bit more house orientated though.

And on the matter of 17 year olds, not all of us go to clubs hoping that they'll drop the remix of in for the kill followed by wheres my money, spend all of our money on probably pma pills and take our tops off covered in sweat gurning trying to chat up girls. Yeah, I'm sure there are loads like that but then the majority of my friends that I hang with and listen to dubstep are into the 'deeper' side. Then again dubstep is too diverse to be classified as deep or aggressive. All pointless bickering and tl;dr's.

[Pesticle90]

did anyone else notice he appeared to be slightly intoxicated in that interview.
Big up Emalkay all the way though still.. lol.

[setspeed]

did anyone else notice he appeared to be slightly intoxicated in that interview.
Big up Emalkay all the way though still.. lol.

yeah i thought he .... looked .... <chew> er, what was teh questions?

[Blue Patterns]

Its not age that makes maturity and its not countries that make good music. Has no one heard Vaccine, Falty DL, Starkey? The last two being two of the best dubstep producers I've ever heard. And let us not forget that Britain is home to more then its fair share of mid-range shit.

exactly.

[tacospheros]

hey can any Americans tell me how the techier/housier side of dubstep goes over down there? I wouldn't want to call them "deep" necessarily, but I would imagine in a country where house and techno were (and probably still are) so large, at least in those cities where they were "birthed" (not that it necessarily matters...)

Brackles played Dubwar a few months back , and he absolutely murdered the place. lots of funky, some ikonika tunes , crazy crazy set . people were loving it

honestly as long as the tunes are good and the dj can really mix , people will get the f down on the dancefloor


another issue as always is a DJ's skills on the decks . just beatmatching is one thing , but really knowing the tunes and the structure , knowing when to bring in the next tune for maximum effect (and im not just talking about the biggest drop,) is most definitely important. i've seen plenty of sets full of tunes that i really like but that were so poorly executed that I along with everyone else in the dance was left kind of confused and never really felt the impact . so yeah, the kids will brock out to the deep stuff if it's done right , except if it's not their taste of course

[tacospheros]

also, Jody you're a badman ! i needed that word "baht" for a crossword i was doing last night ! Boh selectaaaaaa !!

[♫♪♫]

Emalkay made the brostep anthem "When I Look At You". He knows what's up.

[Acre]

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?

i think a lot of the eyes down stuff is often underestimated as how well it would go down at a night, for example i used to listen to New Life Baby Paris - Mala at home and think
"yeah this is a nice tune, has alot of energy but also nice and chilled".
Then i played it out on a rig and i'll just say that tune is NOT something you can just sit down and chin stroke to!
i say get playing the deeper stuff, once people realise actually how much sub bass is behind those tunes they'll soon forget about midrange wobble

[_boring]

i dno i just played this set out in buffalo at a house vs dubstep kinda night and it went great.

Ramadanman - Every Next Day
Sines - Tenderoni
Distal - Notlanta
Matt U - Chase Pack
Killeralien - Intimidate
Sines - Blu
Unknown - Train
Untold - I Can't Stop This Feeling (Pangaea remix)
Distal - Tortelli's Slave
Skream - Minimalistix
Untold - Stop What You're Doing (James Blake Remix)
Silkie & Harry Craze - Favela
Qualified - Just Being Fooled (Brokenbeat Mix)
Distal - Off With His Head
Cosmic Revenge - On the Block
El - B - Buck and Bury
Id - Leaves
Dark Knight - Broken Beats
Synkro & Indigo - Heaven
Asusu - Small Hours
James Blake - Sparing the Hoarses
Kromestar - Bloodclart