Sub Focus’ album draws near

Sub Focus’ album draws near

5 August, 2009 | 9.37AM

• Written by: Dan Cole
• Filed under: Music News: ram records, sub focus

His latest single might be 180 BPM, but drum & bass DJ Sub Focus is crawling when it comes to the release of his debut album.

For over 12 months every adrenaline-seeking dnb head has eagerly anticipated the British producer’s opus since it was first announced, an appetite that really began seven years ago after his debut 12-inch on RAM’s sister label Frequency.

Since then he has built a huge following with his radio-friendly remixes and singles that includes a reworking of The Prodigy’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’, and the massive 2007 hit ‘Airplane’, a track that helped spearhead the latest drum & bass renaissance by bringing in a new generation of fans who weren’t necessarily into this type of fast-paced dance music.

Known to his friends as Nick Douwma, Sub Focus has openly expressed his passion for electro and house in interviews and he has attempted to craft something varied on his debut outing that comes close to expressing his individual taste. In a scene that finds difficulty in breaking the mould of standard big basslines and high tempos, Sub Focus is about the break the mold.

His brand new cut ‘Rock It’ reworks a sample of Daft Punk’s ‘Robot Rock’, that gradually builds up to a belting progressive cut. A tribute to the way the dnb industry works, the track itself had its first spin 14 months ago at last year’s Glastonbury festival and it has been in demand ever since.

Sub Focus’ album also promises to deliver the occasional 4/4 and dubstep offerings, as well as a cheeky rewind track or two. We caught up with Douwma after an impressive set at this year’s Exit Festival in Serbia, to find out where that album has got to.

The new album seems to have been delayed by almost a year now, what specifically was the issue?

There are a number of reasons why my album has been delayed: due to timing clashes with Chase & Status, samples that required replaying or re-singing, and me wanting to write more music for the record. I am pleased that I’ve not rushed things though. 

Do you think the delay has hyped the anticipation and worked in your favour?

Well, I would have never delayed the record on purpose, but it does seem that the timing is working well. It has given some of the newer tracks time to grow on people. 

What was your approach to making the album – is there a certain underlying theme? 

There are a few themes running through the record but I didn’t want to limit the record musically by taking one theme and sticking to it too much. I wanted to make sure there was a good variation of music on there to keep it interesting. 

‘Rock It’ was named ‘Hottest Record of the Year’ by BBC Radio 1’s Zane Lowe. How much credit do you think Zane deserves for bringing dnb back to daytime radio? 

Zane Lowe has been a big supporter of my music for a while, and it has been a massive boost for me. I think Radio 1’s open music policy is the main factor and that has definitely been shaped by DJs like Zane and Annie Mac. Annie tells me that this is in large part due to public demand, and that many people want to hear dnb on the radio. 

On the flip side of that release is ‘Follow The Light’, of which I’ve heard two separate versions, one including vocals. What’s inspired you to record a vocal version, as this is something never really done before on any of your previous works.

I’ve started to work with vocals much more in the last couple of years. People were already familiar with the instrumental version and I wanted to add vocals to the track so we decided to release both versions. 

Are there any other vocal tracks on the album and what do you make of vocals within dnb? Do you think they were one of the key factors for the success of Chase & Status?

Yes there are a few vocals on my LP, and I think vocals like any other sound can work well in dnb. It has definitely been a factor in the success of Chase & Status, along with their ability to successfully turn their hand to a number of different styles. 

Label mates Chase & Status were recently snapped up by Mercury – what do you make of this, and the multitude of reactions made by the drum & bass community at large?

I think it’s a good thing for dnb to have two big artists on major labels again. It can help the style continue to grow by exposing the sound to more people. There are numerous reasons for the core dnb crowd to react adversely to things like this, concerns about the music going too mainstream for example. But I personally think the positives outweigh the negatives. 

With the level of success you’re receiving are you expecting to be snapped up by a major at all? 

I always have thought my music was too underground to interest a major label. Of course I would be flattered if there was interest, but I’m certainly not expecting it. 

In an interview with ATM magazine last year you talked about your admiration for house music. What artists are you listening to and do you think you would ever delve into releasing more house based music? 

I have been making some house and techno for a while now, and I am going to be releasing some of this in the future. I’m really inspired by a lot of the production. There’s a wide variety of house and techno artists whose music I really like including Switch, Jack Beats, Stephan Bodzin, Dubfire, Deadmau5 and Surkin to name a few.

Recently Commix and Marcus Intalex have been delving into doing house and techno DJ sets. Can you foresee a time when dnb DJs can be more flexible with their styles?

I think that time is already here. Recently I have been playing house and electro tunes as well as dubstep and jungle in my dnb sets and it really seems to work. I think now people are much more open to hearing multiple genres in one DJ set. 

Listening to your tracks there is definitely a multitude of influences. ‘X-Ray’ always reminds me of Nirvana, whilst ‘Rock It’ is a good homage to Daft Punk. What other producers would you credit to influencing your work?

There’s a whole bunch of people that have influenced me over the years. I think Fresh was probably the most influential producer to me in my early days of making dnb. In the last few years I have been getting a lot of inspiration from outside dnb, notably from house and techno, as I’ve mentioned. 

With a lot of the tracks leaning towards a ‘rockier’ vibe, it suggests you used to play in bands when you were younger?

Yeah that’s right, I was in a band when I was growing up and that led to me to getting started with production. I would never really describe my music as ‘rocky’, but I guess there is a underlying rock feel to some of my music. It’s just one of the elements that I like that makes up my style. 

After the album what do you think the future beckons for you production wise?

I have a number of plans for the future. At the moment I am working on a number of remixes. I have just done another for The Prodigy’s next single ‘Take Me To The Hospital’ and there are a few more in the pipeline. I want to continue making music in a number of genres as Sub Focus and get started on my second album ASAP!

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