Disconnect between dubstep on dubstepforum vs. in real life

[Omega Dub]

I understand that this is an international forum, so obviously there will be different perspectives - I'm really interested in hearing from people from all over the place.

I live in the US (Denver, Colorado), and every time I spend some time on this forum, I'm really amazed at how different the online dubstep community (as represented here on dsf, at least) is from the dubstep events that I go to (and perform at) regularly. If I had no exposure to the scene in real life, and only knew of it from this forum, I would think that a dubstep party would be all about very dark, moody, somewhat minimal music, with a crowd of people mostly interested in a meditative, pensive, introverted experience.

But the reality of most dubstep events (at least where I live) is so far from that, it's just absurd. They are all about really intense, upbeat music (sometimes aggressive, sometimes pretty, often times both), and the people are very social, all about dancing, and often twisted on all sorts of mind altering substances. Now obviously any internet forum dedicated to a style of music will tend to be populated more by the "purists" than the party kids... but I've frequented a lot of forums and their respective party scenes, and I've never encountered this extreme of a disconnect. So I'm just wondering, are there other folks that have noticed this?

[rez pez]

its because promoters and party throwers dont know the scene and are thinking in terms of $$$ and mass appeal. and by mass appeal i mean people that think dubstep is so crazy because loud jarring tunes smack them in the face sans atmosphere nor character. its easier to be extreme than it is to balance something to perfection.

[Phigure]

i've never had any exposure to the scene in real life but I know that it's not "all about very dark, moody, somewhat minimal music, with a crowd of people mostly interested in a meditative, pensive, introverted experience. "

[thrush]

u live in the us

[Miniature]

It all depends where you go, yea a lot of promoters will put on the big names to draw in the New kids on the block and sometimes give upcoming artists a chance to play allongside some big names in the genre. However Usually when you have a crowd full of people drinking and taking "mind altering drugs" most times people want to take things to the next level.

Bein in liverpool there are big names coming every so often but its more about when you can go see them lets just go all out and blow their faces off.

Baisically if i had a headfull of extacy and a stomach full of ale, the last thing i would want to come on would be some Deep Dark Dub, but on the other hand if i had a head full of K and a lung full of Weed then I would be Dying for that shit to be played.

Its all about the crowd and the genral atmosphere of the club your playing at IMO dude.

[jolly wailer]

what is this "real life" which you speak of?

[cakeplz]

it's not a disconnect, it's called the atlantic ocean.

[MUT3]

Its all about having a good time and making people brock out here in LA.

Theres still the dark brooders... but all in all everyone loves it when the dance is... HOT!

[human?]

theres at least 6 different "dubstep" scenes in nyc, all poppin, something for everyone.

so basically what im saying is nyc is the shit, and over generalizations suck.

[Shum]

it's not a disconnect, it's called the atlantic ocean.

[seckle]

this site has never come close to representing anything like the whole "scene". thousands of people go to events every weekend that've probably never signed on to a forum in their lives. even if you can't afford to go to london now, work for it, and go, because until you do, you'll never fully understand this sound. london culture is unique on the planet. i don't care if you disagree. it just is.
you could be the biggest reggae collector in your country, go to every reggae website you can find, go to every reggae dance in your area....but you won't understand reggae until you've been to jamaica, and walked those streets.....eaten roast fish from a street vendor.....been to a few soundsystems. same with new york and hip hop. same with country music and nashville.

when a certain sound gets under your skin, you go as close as possible, to the kitchen where it came from.
the internet will never provide that experience for you.

[gergbot]

what is this "real life" which you speak of?

* edit: Just made that my sig. won't make sense to me next week, but its deep man!

[Phigure]

this site has never come close to representing anything like the whole "scene". thousands of people go to events every weekend that've probably never signed on to a forum in their lives. even if you can't afford to go to london now, work for it, and go, because until you do, you'll never fully understand this sound. london culture is unique on the planet. i don't care if you disagree. it just is.
you could be the biggest reggae collector in your country, go to every reggae website you can find, go to every reggae dance in your area....but you won't understand reggae until you've been to jamaica, and walked those streets.....eaten roast fish from a street vendor.....been to a few soundsystems. same with new york and hip hop. same with country music and nashville.

when a certain sound gets under your skin, you go as close as possible, to the kitchen where it came from.
the internet will never provide that experience for you.

that was great...

[illregulators]

Mate, why would you think it 'would be all about very dark, moody, somewhat minimal music' when clearly that's not what all of dubstep is (or even the bulk of what people talk about here)? Here in Sydney we have nights like Void that will put on a wide range of dubstep and UK bass and host anyone from Rusko to Kryptic Minds, and then there's nights like Index which will feature more of the experimental and genre-defying stuff. With more than 4 regular nights now running here you've got the chance to go out and hear a massively diverse selection of tunes on any given weekend, so I think it might either be a case of you not having enough of a range of sub-genres being represented in your local scene, or you're just ignoring it.

Besides you being in the US, I don't really see the issue of disconnection here, I think the guys on these forums are as on it and diverse in their dubstep listening preferences as they could be. For every person that rips on Borgore and Excision in a thread there's three or four more that will say they enjoy them. Take a look at the house and dubs section of the forum, more diversity than you could poke a stick at man, DSF has never just been about the dark tunes.

[sigbowls]

trees

[ehl75767]

I see a disconnect. I'd mostly put that down to a lot of forum members being unable to cope with the fact that dubstep is changing and growing.

Just look at the poor guy who tried to get song IDs for an Excision set. No helpful answers so far, just people ripping.

A lot of people on this forum are unhelpful stnuc.

I feel lucky because New Zealand gets regular internationals from all points on the dubstep spectrum. It also has a wicked local scene.

Growth and diversity is healthy. Then again, i'm from New Zealand, the land that spat out Mt Eden, not Mala or Burial. So what the fuck would I know

[nousd]

I see a disconnect. I'd mostly put that down to a lot of forum members being unable to cope with the fact that dubstep is changing and growing.

Dunno about being unable to cope...(altho 2009 was hard to take)
could be the ignorance of recent listeners about origins and such...
not their fault of course,
it takes a long while to listen to recent tracks
let alone everything since 04.
Teen testosterone tends to attract to brock out stuff;
it takes awhile to discriminate between derivative, boring heaviness
and elevating, saturating sub-bass,
to appreciate the input of garage, breakstep & two-step
but don't kid yourself that the deeper, minimal side is only attractive on drugs.

....Then again, i'm from New Zealand, the land that spat out Mt Eden, not Mala or Burial. So what the fuck would I know

perhaps not the Truth

[ehl75767]

I see a disconnect. I'd mostly put that down to a lot of forum members being unable to cope with the fact that dubstep is changing and growing.

Dunno about being unable to cope...(altho 2009 was hard to take)
could be the ignorance of recent listeners about origins and such...
not their fault of course,
it takes a long while to listen to recent tracks
let alone everything since 04.
Teen testosterone tends to attract to brock out stuff;
it takes awhile to discriminate between derivative, boring heaviness
and elevating, saturating sub-bass,
to appreciate the input of garage, breakstep & two-step
but don't kid yourself that the deeper, minimal side is only attractive on drugs.

[quote="L707 "....Then again, i'm from New Zealand, the land that spat out Mt Eden, not Mala or Burial. So what the fuck would I know

True, particularly if your reference for iconic kiwi ds isn't Truth.[/quote]

it was a joke, an obvious one i thought. good point about ignorance of the past though. peace

[nousd]

[Phyalow]

I see a disconnect. I'd mostly put that down to a lot of forum members being unable to cope with the fact that dubstep is changing and growing.

Just look at the poor guy who tried to get song IDs for an Excision set. No helpful answers so far, just people ripping.

A lot of people on this forum are unhelpful stnuc.

I feel lucky because New Zealand gets regular internationals from all points on the dubstep spectrum. It also has a wicked local scene.

Growth and diversity is healthy. Then again, i'm from New Zealand, the land that spat out Mt Eden, not Mala or Burial. So what the fuck would I know

This!

But hey its not all about mt. gayden, we got truth, dutty ranks, og...