N Type Interview

You started out playing drum n bass as a youth, when did your DJing and production style start morphing into dubstep-

It was when I was back at school. One of my mates was also a DJ but he played garage and 2step (DJ Walsh, another dubstep DJ/producer).

One day he lent me a DJ EZ tape, live at Stush, and I gave him an Andy C tape from One Nation. That was the most significant moments in the history of my DJing and the main reason my sound sounds like it does today.

I started buying both garage and dnb, then the dnb sound started changing and I wasn't as in some of the tracks. I liked the darker side of garage so Walsh and I teamed up as back-to-back selectors and got a show on Delight FM. As darker garage developed, artists like Horsepower, El B, Zed Bias and Oris Jay started getting releases and before I knew it, I was playing a large majority of that sound in my sets.

Dubstep as a genre seems to be firmly rooted in the dub plate and vinyl tradition, but your bio mentions that you use FX and samples when you can, do you ever employ laptop technology such as Ableton in your sets-

I mainly use the DJM800 mixer for effects now as they as close to hand and sound good. Back in the day I used the first Kaos pad as well as the DJM 500/600 to create duel effects. Now I'm more interested in developing to three and four decks rather than learning Ableton or laptop technology.

I think Ableton works well for producers like Magnetic Man and Kode 9 as they can rework their tracks live. I'm more of a DJ than a producer - I don't really see the point in playing other people's tracks on it, that would be just cheating a mix in my eyes. I would like to have a go on it but I'm more into seeing DJs smash a set live on Technics with dub plates or records.

You're pretty much booked until the end of the year - do you like being on the road that much-

Being on the road is heavy, but there are good and bad sides to it. I go to some sick parties and have played to amazing crowds all over the world and met some cool people. I would feel lost with out being busy travelling and DJing etc. - it is what I was meant to do.

I prefer touring countries in small sections like two to three weeks max. I like to come home for a little break (even [just] a few days) between bookings. I miss my girl, friends and family and I like to sleep in my own bed. Plus I don't get a lot of time to make music.

You've produced a few tunes and mixed quite a few CDs, do you have a debut artist album in the works-

Yep, I'm building for an album now but I've got a long way to go yet. I don't get a lot of time to build as I'm always working - whether it be on tour, cutting and collecting dubs, or doing graphics work in the scene.

I want to be happy with it and not rush it. I've started doing a few collaborations that are sounding good and I will finish when I return from this tour.

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