Tracklist:June Miller - Drowning Man (Jubei's mix) (dub)
Heavy1 - Heavy Tone (dub)
Enei - Zeus (Avantgarde dub)
Amoss - Flex (Renegade Hardware dub)
Dabs & Grotesque - Checkmate (Dust Audio dub)
Nymfo - Sideways in Time (C.I.A Deep Kut dub)
Icicle feat. SPMC - Dreadnaught (Shogun)
Dabs & Mayhem - Blackmore (Full Force dub)
Octane, DLR & Survival - After Glow (Audio Tactics dub)
Need For Mirrors - Type 4 (Shogun:Ltd dub)
Dabs & Kantyze - Brainiac (Sinuous dub)
Dabs & Future Signal - Two Point Zero (Cyanide dub)
Misanthrop - Latitude (Neosignal dub)
Dabs - Envious Eyes (Citrus dub)
Cause 4 Concern - Distress Signal (Full Force dub)
Jade & Mindscape - Banshee (Dose remix) (Eatbrain dub)
Dose - Reason Being - (Samurai dub)
Break & Survival - Your Time Will Come (Dispatch dub)
Cause 4 Concern - Dropout (Mindscape remix) (C4C dub)
The Upbeats - Tor (Audio remix) (Bad Taste dub)
Cern & Dabs - Oh the Horror (Dispatch dub)
Jade & Matt.U - Moblaw (Fourward remix) (Eatbrain dub)
Blokhe4d - Cretin (Prolix Remix) (Bad Taste dub)
BTK - El Commando (Mindscape remix) (Dutty Audio dub)
Chris.SU & Mindscape - Timerider (Subtitles dub)
Quadrant - Rage and Rapture (State of Mind remix) (Citrus dub)
Chook - Spadge (Full Force dub)
Quadrant - Dermaphoria (Fokuz dub)
Nickbee & Malk - Go Away (Mindtech dub) >> EBK - Hybrid (Revolution dub)
Concord Dawn - Without Sun (Spearhead dub)
Cern & Dabs - What Remains? (Project 51 dub)
>> download
Interview:Italian drum & bass producer Dabs is one of the most exciting up-and-coming artists around just now. His sound ranges from dancefloor to deeper atmospheric vibes but all have that all-important funk element. With forthcoming collaborations with the likes of Mayhem, Cern, Muffler, Future Signal and releases due on labels like Citrus, Dispatch, Disturbed, Icarus and Modulate, 2011 is shaping up to be a big year. We caught up with Dabs to find out more...
Give us a bit of background about yourself and how you got into music and then production...
My musical influences mostly belong to classic hip hop and, before that, Euro dance music in general. I originally got into production making rap instrumentals for some friends and then began experimenting with electronic music through techno and breakbeat around 2003.
For people unfamiliar with your music how would you describe your sound?
I won't use 'cool' sub-generic words to do that. It's just pure future funk drum & bass music.
What's the Italian scene like right now?
Nowadays there are some serious artists up-and-coming and representing Italy's corner in the drum & bass scene. People like Maztek, Aeph, Arp XP, Grotesque, Hallucinator and a few others. Sometimes our output is appreciated more abroad than here and big promoters often look outside of the country without considering what is happening just in front of their eyes. Politics and personal contacts influence the events business too much, just like so many aspects of the Italian social system!
You had a brief spell in Australia, what was the scene like there and how does it compare?
Hotter!!! If have to do a comparison I would say that there's more music-meritocracy in Australia than in Italy and people at the parties know much more about drum & bass music culture. I was based in Perth which has a small but very healthy dnb / dubstep scene with some off the hook parties every week. Plus my Melbourne gig alongside Phace was amazing!
You've been producing eight years, what do you think about the current state of drum & bass now?
It's always evolving in new forms and influenced from all sides. That's what I like best of dnb, it's always got one eye on the past and one on the future. At the moment many new artists are proving to have serious skills and musical consciousness, but some well-known artists new work is over-rated - just like in every genre I guess.
Who over the years have been your influences and who inspires you?
I'm into (almost) all kind of drum & bass, as long as it sounds interesting to me vibe and production-wise but Ed Rush & Optical, Break, Phace, Misanthrop and Noisia have been a source of great inspiration for me. At the moment I'm influenced by movie soundtracks, old classic hardcore, hip hop vibes and deep electronic music in general. Sometimes they help to give character, vibe and soul in a tune.
If you could give new producers one golden tip what would it be?
Be precise and not obvious in production and always compare your mixdown with something else that sounds brilliant. Try to make music you would play out as good as any other favourite banger in your bag!
Your release with Aeph on Modulate Recordings signals a strong start to this year, what else do we have to look forward to?
First of all a 12" on Dispatch with Cern and Safire respectively, which is gonna hit stores March 21st. Then a collaboration with Mayhem called Blackmore is coming out on 12" on Luxembourg imprint Full Force with a 12" on Bulletproof's label Cyanide to follow. Recently I did an official remix of one of the tracks on the new Subsonica LP (a well recognized Italian band) which has had a good response. I've also made some new tracks together with my mate Ollie Cern, which I really look forward to rolling out, as well as some others collaborations with producers like Optiv, June Miller, Amoss and Maztek and more unscheduled material and remixes to be released on Dispatch, Citrus, etc..
Any last words?
Yeah, first of all I wanna give a big shout to Anthony at Dispatch, he's doing an excellent job with the label, even in artist relations and communication. Then to my agency Diamond Society and Modulate Recordings, both are doing very helpful work for me, thanks a lot guys! Thanks to Kmag for the opportunity despite your busy 'to do' list and, last but not least, a kiss goes to my girlfriend who supports me and makes my life sweet every day!
Words: Jon Swan
