At the edge of East Asia, vastly separated culturally and geographically from London, the Japanese dubstep scene is flourishing. Although not much older than the mecca-like London dubstep scene, Tokyo's dubstep culture is growing fast. Japanese and foreign DJs, promoters and producers built the scene from the ground up and are beginning to export Japanese dubstep to the world, here are their stories.

The only foreign resident at Back To Chill and quickly becoming a central figure in Tokyo dubstep is French DJ, producer and label owner Greg G. Originally from Nantes, Greg operates dubstep and drum & bass-focused 7even Recordings and works for a music distribution company in the day.

Like many people Greg became interested in dubstep through the experimental vibe that he first heard in drum & bass years before: "It was fresh and I could have the sensation that I had with jungle – like experimentation with the sound, a lot of different dubstep-influenced dub or dubstep-influenced hip-hop or techno – like with jungle in the beginning."

Does Greg bring a French-style of dubstep to Tokyo? "Dubstep was British at the beginning but I don't think we can say there is an American style or a French style. I don't think we have the maturity of the British way yet."

But with an outsider perspective Greg can notice different distinctions than the Japanese: "Maybe there is more of a Japanese style of dubstep than a French style. The dark style is working well here. Dark dubstep or sometimes brutal dubstep. And there is a lot of experimentation. They blend all the styles too. I can see more of an identity of the sound here from Japanese producers."

A common foreign impression of Japanese culture is the apparent intensity Japanese apply to their hobbies. As that relates to dubstep Greg sees eye to eye with Ena: "The most impressive thing is that there are a lot of producers here. And a lot of producers play live as well which is quite rare in the dubstep scene. They do it in more extreme ways here too. People come to events here to listen to music seriously, sometimes too seriously! Sometimes here I miss how crazy things don't happen at events like in France. But people are always listening to music and they always say something to you. They know why they come to the event, especially BTC it's a very underground night – they come because they want to listen to dubstep music."

Words: Blair McBride

 

• Greg G

Related Links:

• Japanese Dubstep: Harikiri
• Japanese Dubstep: Hyaku-mado
• Japanese Dubstep: Ena
• Japanese Dubstep: Goth-trad
• F Interview

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