Q&A with Distinct Motive: Reinventing The Wheel of 140 Music

We caught up with Toronto's fastest rising act Distinct Motive, who's bringing 140 BPM music back in style. With massive success on Beatport charts through tracks like 'Mellow Man' played by , Distinct Motive is reaching major milestones in his career, including festival debuts at EDC Vegas and the release of his Dubs EP on Deadbeats.

Your new "Dubs" EP showcases your signature wonky bass style while exploring different dimensions throughout the five tracks. How do you balance maintaining your distinctive sound while continuing to evolve and push boundaries in the bass music scene?

I would say I just make what I like, I’ve never really followed any trends in sounds when it comes to dubstep, I’m not super aware of all the latest synths as well, so it kinda puts a limitation on my creative process. I find keeping things simple and effective seems to have connected with a lot of people.

You've received support from industry heavyweights like Zeds Dead, Excision, and more with your hit “Mellow Man” and now you're releasing on Zeds Dead's Deadbeats label. How has this recognition from established artists influenced your creative approach and career vision?

Having heavyweights in the scene supporting your music is always a great feeling. I’ve never made music with “oh zeds dead is going to play this” in mind. If it happens, that’s just an added bonus! As far as career vision and approach, it’s made me realize that people are into the more minimal simple sounds of dubstep and it makes me happy for the future of dubstep on a larger scale.

With your upcoming milestone debut at EDC Las Vegas and performances at major festivals like Elements and North Coast, how does your production process in the studio translate to these large-scale live experiences?

My production process doesn’t change, I’m never going to change the way I make music to fit in on a line up. The reason i’ve been booked is because they wanted to hear a distinct motive set. I hope the opportunities to play these amazing festivals continue. I’m all about growing the sound and getting more ears on the deeper flavours of dubstep.

"WATCHIN YOU" features MC Illaman and you've included both the vocal version and a stripped-down raw version on the EP. What was the collaborative process like, and what inspired you to present both interpretations of the track?

Watching you was originally a single instrumental version and it was going off at the raves! Many many months later I had linked with Illaman and sent him a pack of tunes to work on , and he just blew me away with his bars! He’s an incredible mc / lyricist / vibe creator / all around badman. He was the first MC i’ve ever worked with as well. It was a great learning curve for me, especially when it came to the mixdowns and getting the vocals to sit well. Working with deadbeats on this one was great! We even did a music video,(check it on youtube).

Coming from Toronto, you've been described as putting your hometown "on the map in international bass music circles." How has your Canadian roots and Toronto's electronic scene shaped your artistic identity and the sound we hear on the "Dubs" EP?

Toronto gave me the opportunity to play to some of my first crowds, especially alongside the 40hz sound system crew. It's a great community of people in Toronto! Without those building blocks I'd find it very hard to be inspired to make music.

Anything else fans can anticipate later this year?

Dubstep!