An interesting and much debated point.... this has been relevant for the last 3 years i think......Kamex wrote:nicee
- Where do you think dubstep will go in the next couple years?
Dubstep always had a 'subbass at 140' mantra and this was so all encompassing that the term 'dubstep' meant you could mix pinch with oris jay with distance with toasty with garagey bits, with breaky bits with dubby bits and everyone was open to everything.... There was a real feeling that you knew the type of set to expect from a DJ...Deep and halfstep from Yunx, dirty from Vex'd etc.... and really it was DJs interpreting their vision of dubstep.... As more people move in things begin to get formulaic and people think they know what dubstep 'should' sound like.... the whole point originally is that NO ONE knew what it should sound like.... at the early raves outside of FWD (like the Rephlex Grime launch party) no one even knew how to dance to the music!
I suppose it is the nature of genres that people feel the need to impose restrictions...either because newcomers need a formula to follow and try to recreate, or because journalists never dig deep enough into a genre to realise how deep the sound goes.....
So where are things going now? Well really dubstep has already fragmented...it would be nice to think that the 'subbass at 140' mantra could stand strong and all the different facets could work under a loose umbrella but sadly i think this time has already passed. The problem is when a genre becomes so massive as dubstep now, and dnb 10 years ago, the only way for newcomers and established producers who aren;t as well known as Skream etc... to get recognition is to define their sound as something different..... I may be a producer with some releases and radio show in dubstep, same as many other people...but if i suddenly announced that i write 'squigglestep' then i am the only person making it and am therefore the number 1 producer. Obviously that is facetious but the example rings true if you know look at all the splintering sub-genres..... whistla, submerse, resketch, M2J & KingThing have all found a strong identity with Future Garage and for all of them the power of having a genre behind them means their reach to a fanbase is bigger than as a solo artist.... if they are not identified as dubstep then the potential audience who like 'dubstep' may be reduced but you have to hope that the genre grows with you..... Back in 2002 when garage splintered into grime, breakstep, dubstep & sublow there was loads of crossover in sounds. Dubstep happened to be the one name which seemed to succeed so the names closely identified with it (i.e Skream & Benga) grew with the genre.... it has taken around 8 years to get signed to a major and have massive commercial success. Grime obviously is strong on the streets but the major artists all seem to be happy counting the reddies by pumping out collabs with N-Dubz or making pop music.... Sublow died....
Along with this there is a growing movement who are working more in the breakbeat/rave sort of sound.... Noiz, Full Spektrum, ScanOne, Gunjack, Molez, Paradigm X... This is an extension of the breakstep sound... a sound I have always related myself to more than dubstep (although really as an artist all you do is make music rather than categorise it). I think the future breakstep/darkfloor sound is really strong although at present not as commercial as future garage (future garage could prove to be the club music of 2014 onwards). I am really pleased that the breakstep sound is
re-emerging as for a while around 2006 when halfstep took over the breaks became really unfashionable (maybe too close in aesthetic to dnb which dubstep was trying to distance itself from). The fact that Magnetic Man have put some breaks in their tracks has opened up that sort of sound to the masses...but the sound that the aforementioned producers are working in is something more complex, darker and more experimental than just throwing an Amen or Apache break on a pop tune.
Obviously there is the Hyperdub/Ikonika/Untold sound which is sonically interesting - an to me the closest thing there is to what is known as dubstep at the moment.... I think more people will jump on the UK Funky sounds (and hopefully make the genre a bit more raw and a bit less gastropub).
Not forgetting the brostep massive.....it seems to me that for a lot of kids they seem to think this IS dubstep. When this happens leave them to it. Why should we get precious with a genre name? It is just a loose description. I would prefer that people asked me what i wrote and i had to describe it rather than give a name which they will interpret as something it is not. I spent all my time between 2003 and 2006 trying to describe dubstep (and convincing people it wasn't dub music) so nothing has changed other than the name.
So where are things going?? They are shattering into a million pieces. Some sub-genres will survive and others won't but dubstep as a name will no doubt be used as journalists to describe music which conforms to a formula rather than the 'subbass at 140' being true anymore. Dubstep can now enjoy it's radio 1 playlisting for big tunes and it can be used on BBC idents and everything else and some people will do well out of it but really it will be difficult to anything wildly different under the name dubstep...much better to just make what you make and get the right DJs to play it.
& Respect!
