Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs has, probably, the most enviable job going for dubstep fanatics around the world.  She's regarded as the person who broke the sound on an international scale with the famous Dubstep Warz special in 2006. But that was over four years ago, now Mary Anne discusses the sound in 2010.

 

What do you make of the sound's progression since that special back in 2006?

It’s just been a crazy ride. It's been meteoric. One of the most exciting things about dubstep, in spite of its enormous global success, it has remained completely independent.

 

It’s kind of almost created a new blueprint for the way in which scenes can operate. The one most fascinating thing for me about the entire scene is the fact that every Dubstep producer I know is the master of their own destiny. Nobody has gone cap in hand to the major labels, everybody is producing the music that they love.

 

They are running their own little labels, their own dances, they have created an entire world which is completely and utterly self sufficient and it doesn’t rely on any of the patronage of any of the old school music institutions that have, to be honest, completely trashed a lot of underground scenes that we have known in the past by wanting to jump on something that they thought was 'hip' but then not really understanding how to market and support and nurture underground artists. Major label involvement with a lot of underground scenes, historically, has gone disastrously wrong.

 

You mention major label involvement going wrong, can you think of one scene that dubstep would have looked back on as an example?

Yeah, they saw how garage fell apart and nobody wanted this scene to go the same way and with the advent of the internet opening up the way it did, it gave people an opportunity to become the masters of their own destiny which they now are and it’s really exciting to see.

 

It began for me in 2005, I was a latecomer to the scene, I'm part of the DMZ generation. The scene really began in 2001 around the time when Oris Jay, Zed Bias and Steve Gurley were producing the early plates that came out of that dark garage sound.

 

One of the most exciting aspects of the way the sound has progressed is the fact that even five years on, the same principles still apply. It’s all about independence, family and people doing things they’re own way.

 

As an artist, it’s really important to retain that complete sense of artistic control and identity

 

Many people would argue that the dubstep’s actually been better perceived, in the mainstream, over in the US where in recent times artists have been collaborating with big names. Refelecting on your US tours, what do you make of the Americans take on dubstep?

The Americans have got a much grimier, altogether dirtier sound. Their interpretation of Dubstep is very different, it's not as rich and warm, texturally as the UK sound. It is much more aggressive, a lot more mid range frequencies involved with the sound.

 

In the UK, Skream’s In For The Kill remix is regarded by many as the one tune that took dubstep onto the mainstream stage.  In the UK, remixing seems to be the way for dubstep artists to get mainstream recognition. Contrast this to the US where rap artists want to chat lyrics over beats and release it as an original piece of work, what do you make of that?

There's a culture in the US of bringing in vocalists, especially MCs but that is happening more so in the UK now, people understand to a degree that instrumental music can only go a certain distance and if you want to diversify with sound you can try different types of vocalists and that is no bad thing.

 

The two cultures are almost entirely different. In America, a lot of people who were heavily involved in d&b scene in America have suddenly completely had their heads turned. Overnight, they have become lock, stock and barrel dubstep producers.

 

In the UK, a few producers are toying with the sound but there is not quite so much that enormous transition that you will find in the States. That informs a lot of the American sound.

 

Drum & bass producers are taking a lot more of those mid range frequencies into the sound and they are making it almost like a hybrid. It still falls under the same umbrella largely but the US sound has a lot more testosterone coursing through its veins.

 

The meteoric rise of any genre will always lead to one question being asked, are people just jumping on the bandwagon and after a while it’s just going to die off or is dubstep really here to stay?

It's definitely here to stay, when you look at the way how the sound has diversified, there are absolutely no rules that apply at all in terms of the types of influences that can be drawn in and if you look at artists who are really, really pushing the boundaries be that the work of people like the Hestle Audio crew, Untold and all the Hemlock boys.  Whatever it may be, every month that passes, you will get a new crew springing up with a completely unique interpretation of the dubstep sound.

 

I would like to feel that it draws in loads and loads of different families, that there is a really fascinating symbiotic relationship with say all the Brainfeeder crew who are traditionally more post hip-hop but they are still making more 21st Century bass music and that family aspect, the idea that there are all these types of pockets and different crews all over the world but everybody's interpretation is unique and everybody's interpretation has a slightly different bent towards one of the more traditional genres be it d&b or hip-hop. It keeps the sound really fresh. That flow, exchange and wonderful transition of ideas and energy between different camps at the moment is keeping music really exciting.

 

If it really is here to stay then surely it cannot stay underground forever.  In the UK, it’s already had some mainstream success but what about the people who want it stay in the, as mentioned earlier, 'filthy, dirty, pitch black, grimey clubs', is there any danger of it selling out?

You can’t stop progress, you just can't. Imagine you get a job as a tea boy at a film production company because all you ever dreamed of is becoming a film director, you can't keep a man in the role of tea boy. He might make the greatest cup of tea on earth but at some point, he's going to want that Hollywood premiere.”

 

Everybody deserves success at whatever level they crave it. If you’re talking about artists like Skream, Rusko, Caspa and Benga who have very commercial ambitions, I say that’s totally fair play because it is for the artists themselves to define how it is they want to live their life and where it is they see their future.

 

From the perspective of what is in my heart. I absolutely love what happens at the fringes of sound. The most fascinating aspect of all sound is right at the genesis point, when you find somebody who is brand new and is creating something that you have never heard before. That, for me, is the exciting bit.

 

However, I am also very conscious of the fact that artists are opening up doors, especially for younger audiences and making easier gateways for people to come through and once you are behind that gateway there is a whole world of amazing artists and producers to explore and I think it is really important that those gateways are there, especially for the younger generation.

 

There can be a real snobbery about people saying, for example, 'Skream's sold out', but I don't think he has, at all. This is a person who has been producing for well over a decade and any success he's achieved is very hard earned and he really deserves it and if he has ambitions for a number one record then good on him. I would much rather see Skream at number one in the charts then I would do some manufactured pop star. Skream has earned it and that is big news for everybody.”

 

Beyond the big hitters is this incredible and multi textured world and all it takes is to step a couple of paces beyond the gateway that you first walked through and you will find those artists. I think Skream, Rusko and all the others are doing a great service, on the flipside, for the other younger artists that are coming through.

 

You're widely accredited as being the first broadcaster to take the sound onto the stage it is now performing on but if a person came up to you in the middle of the street and said, "Show me dubstep in one album," what would it be?

As artist albums go, I still really love Degenerate by Vex'd. It was the first ever dubstep album released in 2005 and I still think it is the single most accomplished and important record in album form of the genre.  It demonstrates all of the fantastic energy, ferocity and early promise of dubstep. You can see from that point how the sound has expanded but you can see how brave and fearless Vex’d really were when they put that out. It's still a seminal piece of work, check it out!

 

Mary Anne Hobbs was speaking to Sam Moir.

 

• Mary Anne Hobbs

Related Links:

• Mary Anne Hobbs Joins XFM
• Mary Anne Hobbs Leaves Radio 1
• Dubstep Warz Uploaded To Mixcloud
• Bassweight Dubstep Documentary
• New Mary Anne Hobbs Compilation

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