Breaking dubstep in Berlin: Scuba talks Sub:stance

Breaking dubstep in Berlin: Scuba talks Sub:stance

3 July, 2009 | 6.02AM

• Written by: Caleb Rakes
• Filed under: Music News: hotflush, scuba, sub:stance

One year ago two British DJs decided that Berlin, the capital of techno, needed to dance to a different beat. They launched Sub:stance, Europe’s biggest dubstep night at Berlin’s famous techno bastion Berghain.

One year on, Paul Fowler (former owner of the label Spymania) and Scuba’s experiment spearheads the growing techno and dubstep soundclash via headliners like Shackleton, T++, and Appleblim. The brand is already going global with parties having been held in New York.

With the one year anniversary party coming up on the 10th July, we met Scuba to find out how he and Fowler managed to pull off a dubstep night in Berlin and to discuss the secrets to their success.

You can also listen to an exclusive live DJ mix from Scuba after the jump.

Listen: Scuba mix

Sub:stance boss Scuba throws down a lush and explorative dubstep mix exclusively for Beatportal.

One year ago people would have said you were crazy to put on a big dubstep night outside of the UK. Are you surprised by the success you’ve received?

Everyone was surprised on the first night a year ago. It was a gamble for everyone involved, but obviously it paid off and all four parties so far have been great.

What was the initial reasoning to start such a night and were you primarily focused on pushing dubstep at the time?

We wanted it to be a proper dubstep night in a big club, which hadn’t really been done before in Berlin.

But also to make sure that all the different elements of the sound were represented and all the cross-over elements as well. So there’s been a lot of musical variety at each of the nights, from Distance playing the harder stuff, Martyn and Kode 9 whose sets were really house-influenced, Shackleton and T++ bring their respective unique styles, and of course the DMZ guys. 

Has the initial paradigm of the night changed?

Not really, although there will be some faster music at the first birthday.

It has become a bit of a tradition for us to descend into old jungle during the last set of the night so we thought we’d do it properly with Remarc this time.

I’m also really looking forward to D Bridge’s set, as he’s one of the most interesting producers around at the moment. And obviously we have the Panorama Bar as well this time so this one is far from being just a dubstep night.

Would you say your line-ups are indicative to the changing styles of current dubstep trends with more techno and experimental acts featured at your events?

All we’ve tried to do really is make sure the full spectrum of the music is heard.

Now that dubstep has become so successful there’s a tendency to give attention to just the more mainstream elements of the sound, but there’s far more to it than that.

We’ve just tried to give the more interesting music a platform. What we’ve been doing with my label Hotflush fits into that way of thinking as well so the two things go hand in hand.

Managing to get Berghain, Resident Advisor’s number one top club in the world to open its doors for the first time on a Friday night for a non-techno night is quite an achievement. How did you manage to pull it off?

They’ve been really supportive since the very first meeting we had with them to be honest.

In the last year they’ve been doing quite a lot of different things in addition to the regular weekend nights, concerts, and also the Leisure System night that we always go to.

The people who run the club are very open-minded and always do things in the right way, they’re great to work with.

Do you find the Berlin crowd to be more open minded, do you think such a party could work in the UK for example?

I do think the concept Sub:stance could work in the UK, but the venue is a big part of it. It wouldn’t feel the same doing it anywhere else.

In terms of the crowd, it’s certainly different and people are much more used to 4/4 music here than the dubstep crowd is in the UK.

Some of the more challenging stuff we’ve put on has gone down really well, but I’d like to think that wouldn’t be any different in Bristol or London.

You recently held your first Sub:stance night in New York. How was it received there and how does the scene differ there from Berlin?

The party in New York went really well. We did it in conjunction with a night called Dub War which has been pushing dubstep over there for years.

There’s a much bigger difference in the crowd in the States than there is between Berlin and London, they’re much more used to the mainstream dubstep stuff, but Appleblim and I both played quite techy sets and both went down really well.

The first anniversary line up is far more eclectic than anything else previously attempted with the likes of Stacey Pullen and D Bridge. What was the main idea in expanding the range of styles for this one?

As I mentioned before, D Bridge for me is killing it at the moment, I can’t wait to see him play.

The Panorama Bar line up was always going to be centred on house, so having Appleblim up there is great because he is a massive frustrated house DJ.

We thought about lots of different names to get in, but Stacey was the one I really wanted, his music has always been a big influence on me.

Having so much variation is going to be very interesting, it’s what all club nights should strive for I think. It can be difficult to pull off but I think this line up is going to work really well.

Finally, who haven’t you booked yet that you would really want to play and what’s been one of the best Substance sets so far?

Well…the line up for the party in October is already confirmed but I can’t give any details of that yet!

The best sets so far I think have been Mala at the first party, 2562 at the second one, and Shackleton at the last one, but to be honest everyone who has played has been great, there’s been no disappointment at all.

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