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Introducing: Datsik Ahead of his debut at Dub Police this Friday

The special guest at Dub Police this Friday night is one of the leading lights of American dubstep, Datsik. Having worked with a plethora of different artists and cultivated a sound that sometimes strikes out temperamentally at the world around it he joins a cast of his influences in the DJ booth of Room One. Ahead of his appearance and between dates on his tour, we caught up with him to ask him about maintaining a hip hop outlook and what he loves about working with other people. You say your music is heavily rooted in hip hop, which given the proximity in tempo to dubstep does make a lot of sense. How did you learn about dubstep in the first place? I honestly kinda stumbled upon it. When I was about 15-16 years old I had been screwing around with Fruity Loops always making really weird dark hip hop. Looking back now at those tracks buried in the depths of an old hard drive, I was fully making dubstep without knowing that it was dubstep. A year or 2 later I finally heard it being played at Shambhala music festival on a big system and I searched for it online and found out there was actually a big scene for this kind of music in the UK. From there I found dubstepforum and met with other likeminded producers (at the time it was Flux P, Downlink, Excision, Trolley Snatcha, and a few others) and now here I am! Crazy. How do you think you maintain the hip hop aspect in your music? Is it more in the openness in sampling? I think so… I've obtained a bad habit of sampling whatever I feel like and releasing tracks and dealing with the repercussions later. So far it's been OK (asides from maybe once or twice) but it's always kind of been a foundation of my music and I will still continue to sample away. That's one way I've tried to keep it kind of hip hop. On top of that, I am obsessed with making tracks with triplets in dubstep, which gives it hella swing! Your attitude to music and collaboration also seems pretty open. Like you’ve worked with a bunch of people already… what were some of the most interesting collaborations that you’ve done to date? I think collaboration is so important in keeping music fresh, and it gives crazy insight into how others work. I feel like collaborations are the way forward. I always love hearing two of my favorite producers try and maintain both of their styles on one track. I've really enjoyed working with people like Bassnectar, Diplo, Flux, and Downlink. They all have a really open mind to trying new things and stepping out of the box. Expect more collabs with them in the future. Were you pleased with the response your Vitamin D album got? Like do you feel like the EDM explosion in the States has aided your career on a worldwide level? I was really happy with the way the album went and what I got out of it from a career stand point. The one thing I regret was succumbing to the way of others and internet haters, and trying to make "more accessible" music that wasn't as dark as my old stuff... On my last EP on Firepower Records, I reverted to the stuff I really enjoy making. I made the whole EP pretty dark and it ended up crushing the sales of my last album and sat at number 1 on iTunes dance in North America for quite some time. That was a really good feeling, the fact that dark EDM music could become popular amongst the mainstream, where they have been fed poppy house and whatever else for such a long time. I've witnessed dubstep since the day it was born in North America and it's crazy to see how far it has come. I am super lucky and fortunate to have turned my passion into a career! You’re coming over to play at Dub Police in April here at fabric. Is that a big deal for you? 110% it’s a big deal for me. fabric is legendary! I am happy to finally be giving the chance to rinse it with some of my biggest influences, in the place that started it all! Catch Datsik at Dub Police in Room One this Friday for Caspa’s Alpha Omega album launch.
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