Invurt

The sounds of bass and scattered breakbeats play an important part in the New Zealand electronic scene, and, more often than not, one of the common sounds heard emanating from clubs across the Islands is dubstep. Working at the forefront of this effusive culture, Olie Bassweight, or DJ Evil as he is otherwise known, is one of many talented individuals who have helped turn New Zealand into a virtual Mecca for the dub phenomenon. With his DJ sets, production releases and the success of his Bassweight label, home to popular artists such as Organikismness, Optimus Gryme and Consequence, he is consistently one of NZs busiest DJs, and, as such, is as good an envoy for his homelands music as any other.

“I have always been into d’n'b and breakbeat, and my first taste of breakbeat culture was probably the first time I ever heard Leftfield.” he cites, describing his introduction to the world of breaks. “At the time I was listening to a bit of electronica – Chemical brothers, underworld, etc – the biggest artists that were around at the time. Leftfield absolutely blew me away, the album Leftisim had sounds that were familiar to me but were arranged in a way that I’d never heard before. This intrigued the shit out of me, and sort of started my introduction to the breakbeat realm.”

“I was then introduced to the jungle & d’n’b, and was hooked from the very first taste,” he continues. “Albums like ‘Exorcise the Demons’ by Source Direct and ‘Wormhole’ by Ed Rush and optical, also the prototype years, a compilation by Grooverider, were my first tastes. The more I heard the more it consumed me, and the more the passion for sharing that to others came, which brings me to what I do today.

As time passed, Evil found himself gravitating more and more towards more salubrious elements within the breakbeat genre, and, as such, discovered a love and understanding for elements of dub and its various permutations in his homeland, a sound that he also hopes to help champion within Australia and the rest the world.

“New Zealand has sort of been on a breakbeat and dub honeymoon. Artists like Concord Dawn, Pitch Black and Salmonella Dub have all been prominent New Zealand artists for years now, and drum and bass, reggae and dub has been the music of choice for a long time as well,” he explains of the centricity of the dub orientated style within NZ musical culture. “In my experience, a majority of the electronic music in Australia is a more trance, house and electro orientated market. “

“I think dubstep is a very accessible genre because it brings influences from so many other genres,” he continues, drawing correlations between the various sub-sects of electronic music in order to rationalise why it is so popular amongst such diffuse listeners. “The kind of dubstep that is being made today has elements of Dub, Jungle, Techno, d’n'b, Trance and electro. Just about every style of electronic music has influenced dubstep, and the audience also brings together such a broad range of appreciators which I don’t think has been seen within the electronic community for quite a long time.”

With a self professed ability to play to his surroundings, and with a busy DJing schedule in his native New Zeland, he also finds time to get into the studio in order to continue to contribute to the music that he loves.

“In terms of production I am very busy. I usually spend about 3 -4 hours a day in the studio when at home, sometimes more,” he muses. “I have been working on my first album which I plan to have finished by the end of the year, which is a collection of stuff I have been working on over the last couple of years which includes quite a few different genres mostly within the dubstep, d’n’b, breakbeat genres. I have a forthcoming 12” on Stupid Fly Records hailing out of Jacksonville, Florida, also a collaboration between myself and another producer from New Zealand, Grouch, who has been vigorously touring throughout the Australia, coming out on Bassweight Recordings next year.”

Thus, having immersed himself into the world of bass and beats, it is little surprise that another of his primary focus’s has been the creation of his Bassweight Recordings label , which has thus far proven itself a worthy support mechanism for the burgeoning New Zealand dub-esque soundscape and its artists.

“Bassweight has been a whirlwind from the start, and it’s been an ever changing, ever evolving entity. When I first launched it I had no idea that dubstep would be where it is today, which has been quite overwhelming at times,” he explains, with a mixture of fervour and nearly-bridled excitement.

“It was originally launched as a way to get Kiwi dubstep out to the world,” he explains. “Before I launched Bassweight, I was touring a lot around New Zealand and I met a ton of amazing producers along the way. I was amazed to the point where I was like “fuck so much of this kiwi dubstep stuff is awesome, it needs to be heard!” So I decided I needed to take matters into my own hands to make that happen, and I think that goal has deft been achieved. A lot artists that have releases on the label are receiving praise from all over the planet, and many of them are doing quite well. Bassweight isn’t exclusively all New Zealand artists however, the next digital EP is a compilation of Australian artists – Western Synthetics, Thesis and a few others that I cant really announce just yet.”

“I originally started it off as just digital releases, but I’ve now secured a worldwide vinyl distribution deal through Load Media,” he finishes, espousing his enthusiasm for his label. “So look out for the first Bassweight 12”s hitting shops early next year. We also have the first full CD release coming out on the label at the end of the year from New Zealands own Organikismness, called “Form in Motion” – its a collection of their best dubstep tracks. I’m just very, very pleased their album, I think it will definitely open some ears.”

Tags: bassweight recordings, Concord Dawn, Consequence, dj evil, Dubstep, Grouch, Load Media, new zealand, Olie Bassweight, Optimus Gryme, Organikismness, Pitch Black, salmonella dub, Thesis, Western Synthetics

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 10:21 am and is filed under Dubstep, Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.