In the Hot Seat Easter is 12th Planet!
His off-axis beats and subsonic frequencies orbit on the forefront of global bass. Penned “Los Angeles dubstep god” by Rolling Stone and credited by MTV as being the pioneering incubator of bass music in America, 12th Planet AKA John Dadzie and his influential label SMOG Records brought the British movement stateside and collaborated with Skrill (who also called him his mentor), KTN, Datsik and Plastician. He continues to be THE crucial force in the evolution of electronic music.
Q. CasueL: For us upcoming producers who aspire to one day
become an internationally recognized artist, and tour the world, what’s the one
most important piece of advice you could give us. when we sit down in our
bedroom studios, open up our DAW and get started on a track?
A. The best piece of advice I could give is to make sure you
maintain a steady income before you submerge yourself as an artist. Having a side hustle totally helps, because
being a starving artist sucks. I was a
starving artist, and Ill tell you I am most thankful for the ability to be able
to purchase a meal whenever I am hungry.
Second piece of advice would be, Use YouTube to answer all of your
questions about production. It is by far the cheapest method of learning new
techniques. If you ever have any
questions on how to do something in your DAW, or Plug in, you can go to YouTube
at anytime, and it will have the proper remedy for it.
Q. The Deep End Collective: Which directions do you see
Dubstep moving in the future? The genre has become so diverse, that it's hard
to cater to everyone; do you find yourself sitting in the middle?
A. I see Dubstep in the present moving in about 3 different
directions. You have the very
"Deep" movement which is influenced by Deep Medi, and the original
vibe of Dubstep. You have the
"Riddim / Swamp" movement, which is influenced by Hench &
Subfiltronik, and is kind of the new underground Dubstep movement. Then you have the "EDM" influenced
Dubstep, which is pretty much taking the formula of Big Room House, and
applying it to Dubstep. The EDM
influenced dub-step in my opinion has the highest production value, and the
best producers, maybe in the world. With
all of this diversity, I definitely find myself walking right down the middle
of all 3. I am influenced by all
versions of Dubstep, even the garage stuff from back in the day. It is
impossible to cater to all fans of Dubstep, so I guess the only thing you can
really do is be true to yourself, and play or produce the songs you want. Making the crowd happy is one thing, but
making yourself happy is the most important thing in making music.
Q. Axen: What was the biggest opportunity that paved the way
for you to move from being a local act to an international one?
The biggest opportunity that paved the way for me to move
from being a local act to an international one was when my production level got
high enough for other artists to play my music out live. Once you have Dj's from around the world
playing your original music, you will start to notice that the gigs will come
in.
Q. Evie: Which up n coming producer are you diggin’ right
now?
Right now I am working a lot with Lumberjvck from LA. We have
made about 6 songs this year, and finished 3. He is an LA native and a graduate
of The Icon Collective program, and he has inspired me the most while making
music. In fact, I should give a shout
out to The Icon Collective program in Los Angeles. They are a school that teaches you how to use
DAW's and Plug in's, and also teaches
you about what it is to be an artist, and how to market yourself. I would have killed to have been able to go
to a school like that when I was younger, and I am impressed with the
curriculum. Some artists that have
matriculated there in last 4 years are Protohype, MAKJ, Jauz, NGHTMRE, SLNDR, and Init.
Catch 12th Planet this Easter Sunday at Ambar Nightclub!
The Deep End Collective + CasueL on support.
xXx
