Interview: DJ Fresh

These days no one bats an eyelid when pop princesses such as Britney spears incorporate half step rhythms into their tracks, and lairy dubstep is blaring out the speakers on a daytime Radio One show.TNS speaks to a veteran of the underground drum and bass and dubstep scene, DJ Fresh, to find out how he feels about the mainstream explosion of the genre, and what this means for his future.

DJ Fresh has been in the business, producing and releasing drum and bass and dubstep tunes for over 19 years, founding the record label Breakbeat Kaos, and working with huge names such as Pendulum and Chase and Status. For someone that clearly knows his stuff, I wonder if it’s frustrating to see big US starts latch onto a genre he has been formulating before they could tie their shoelaces.

“Not at all, interest like that shows that its working and if anything it encourages people to dig deeper and find more sounds within it. The bigger dubstep gets, the more interesting and varied it becomes. It’s not that people like Britney are making dubstep records, it’s that they are trying to, they are emulating the genre. That’s what’s important”

Despite this pretty positive appraisal of Britters, DJ Fresh just giggled and tried to move on when I asked him what he thought of Justin Beiber recently stating his desire to “mess with” dubstep beats on his next album. Regardless of his diplomatic silence, I think it’s fair to say we are all pretty scared about that one.

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We all know DJ Fresh for his recent chart toppers 'Golddust' and 'Louder', the latter being the first dubstep track ever to reach a number one in the UK. However, there’s more to this seasoned producer than you’d think.

As proud as DJ Fresh is of such an achievement, the record is not actually his favourite.

“I like the message that goes with 'Louder', I’m a bit of a rebel and it’s about people standing up against their oppressors.”

However after a bit of deliberation, Fresh settles on 'Chacruna', a track from his last album as his favourite. This far more mellow song indicates there are many strings to this DJ’s bow; apparently he’s not only about making the type of music my parents refer to as “just noise.”

“I’m a bit of an indie kid at heart,” he says, and is looking forward to weaving more diverse influences into his upcoming work. An even bigger surprise; the man responsible for 'Louder' writes poetry to get his creative juices flowing! “I’m really excited about song writing at the moment. I think I’m finally starting to get out what I’m really good at. It takes a lot of confidence to pursue what you want to do and I feel like I’m there now. I’ve got a bit more freedom as an artist.”

So watch this space, it seems we may get a bit of a surprise when his next record is released. This big player in the emergence of dubstep and drum and bass is keen to embrace its growing scope, proving he’s probably going to remain at the top for some time yet.

Interview: DJ Fresh

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