Yo!! This is Dustin with Young Bloods! I’m here with local Dubstep legend, PHATCAT! And this is our kick off interview to help you all get to know your locals just a bit better...
In case you didn’t know, Phatcat is one of the two guys behind Future Roots Records and takes some of the responsibility for bringing the likes of ; Excision, Datsik, Flux Pavilion, Kozee, Borgore, 12th Planet, Downlink, Ginz and much much more!! So how about we gets this rollin’
Youngbloods: So we gotta start at the beginning... why Dubstep? Why not House or Electro or something different? What in Dubstep appeals to you so much to keep the passion going?
Phatcat: Well, basically I was doing DnB for a long time and probably more than 10 years, I loved it to death but you know 10 years in, I felt like everything had kinda been done more or less. Dubstep was just emerging like 3-4 years ago and it was sort of fresh and new and to be honest at first I wasn’t really that into it but it really grew on me quickly and you know it’s one of those things that has, I feel all the energy that I loved about DnB when I first was drawn into DnB. But still the sort of universality of other genres like house and electro and like kinda old breakbeat hardcore and like rave music, so you know it’s the spirit of rave.
Youngbloods: So then going back to DnB, that’s where your influences are at and your inspiration or just for your production and djing? Was there an inspiration in creating your own label as well?
Phatcat: Umm well with DnB I mean I would say the direct correlation between DnB and creating my own label isn’t necessarily super distinct. DnB definitely, you know, showed me sort of like the counter culture side even of underground music like which was already a counter culture in itself but even within that, DnB was still sort of always the “Punk Rock” or at times the “Folk” (ha ha) of electronic music but it was never the mainstream really and it was never really what was cool, so I mean it was always because I was just really drawn into it, at the end of the day, DnB was the first like really bass music that was totally bass oriented, you know you can see that in its evolution if you go back to like late 80’s or early 90’s where it was just starting to develop as a style, to now, you listen to some current Drum N Bass or Drumstep even, you know what I mean, it’s not a whole lot different but its sooo different than anything I remember hearing when I was a teenager but it was that energy you know of DnB that I still feel like is in Dubstep and has sort of resurrected DnB too you know. But like my own label that was more of a decision to try and be more involved, get more involved and actually like put something of my own out there
Youngbloods: What about in your own production and djing? Inspirations, where does that come from?
Phatcat: Well with like DnB and like well I guess just like my production, forget DnB, I don;t know why I keep saying that but umm for like my own production I meant my influence is kinda from everything like I definitely am a huge fan and a sucker for old school Happy Hardcore and just like balls to the walls, hands in the air rave music. You know, like, with you know (haha) super obviously vocals like, “I’m trippin on ecstasy” and all that kind of bullshit like I love that stuff so that’s sort of like a big inspiration but I also love like sort of you know, horror and sci-fi films and you know like I’m definitely into comics and like, a lot of sci-fi oriented stuff like comics, literature, films, whatever, I’m a big sci-fi kind of person so I mean that involves all that sort of government is going to takeover in 1984, fucking, fuck the man so that definitely shines through, I hope in all my music cuz I’m definitely not making it for really you know the masses, hopefully you know, more than a few people enjoy it but I’m definitely not making it to get on radio with it, hopefully as Dubstep just becomes more popular that would be more reliable thing but it’s definitely for me and it’s an expression of like where I’m coming from.
Youngbloods: Yeah it’s the truth, I believe that too, with your production, you do have your own sounds that is distinct. That really isn’t like anybody else or...
Phatcat: Thanks man (haha)
Youngbloods: Yeah, it’s a good thing too because you get a lot of producers out there now that you hear that bassline and you can compare it to 4 other producers out there, you know, it just has that same sound to it, the same feel and your music really doesn’t have that
Phatcat: well I would say that too, like, it’s a heavy extensive of just like my teen age years of djing too its one of those things like sounding like someone else was always the like you know, in a slight way it could be a compliment to you but more than ever it was that you just sounded like someone else and weren’t your own thing and the artists that I kinda fell in love with the most over the years are the ones that were the most carved out and original like in their sound, people like you know at least in Dubstep you know people like Burial, surprisingly you know even if I go out and play a set full of bangers you know I’m still like, I’m still in love with shit like Burial and James Blake and you know Martyn and mostly weird shit that actually I don’t ever play but that’s the stuff I really love and it really presses the boundaries.
Youngbloods : Do you wish, I know in Edmonton, with guys like Burial and that whole UK.Garage type, Minimal Dubstep if you wanna call it, do you wish there was a bigger scene here for it... It doesn’t seem like there really is a big scene here for it.
Phatcat: If that stuff grew in popularity here I’d be so happy just cuz you know like, I think, I definitely enjoy playing like fired up stuff but umm it definitely would be nice to express the other side of myself which unfortunately in a dance music environment its hard, to express anything other than “OH MY GOD LETS PARTY” sooo well that is my vibe a lot of the time (hahaha) its definitely like...
Youngbloods: Give that shout out and then drop some Burial... (haha)
Phatcat: Yeah, you know, like I would love to end a set with a total headsy UK Dubstep tune and that sort of makes you really listen close and maybe think a bit more than the average human, but that’s also I feel at the same time that’s super sort of conceded and I hear to many people talk like that and I think that at the end of the day dance music is still dance music. Burial for example it isn’t necessarily dance music anymore, it is listening music. That being said, that influences on like actually dance, dance, side of things, people like Flux Pavilion for example like is one of my favourites and I know a lot of people slag him for having simple tunes but his tunes are simple but effective, you know what I mean and old stuff that I love like the headsy stuff I like, like old DnB like Photek, is simple in its own way too, very simple and it used to be called minimal DnB but in its simplicity is why it works so well.
Youngbloods: Well going from that to you again personally, as a true pioneer to Dub and Dubstep not only in Edmonton but even Western Canada, what or who are you most excited for, maybe locals growing up in the scene or production wise or the big names out there from around the world maybe coming to Edmonton or booking them, anything like that, what are you most excited for?
Phatcat: Well, other people I’m super excited for right now are a couple homies of mine, Warrior Music is blowing up, he runs Future Roots with me and you know his shit is sick and he is like a brother, fucking Daphutur is also like kinda rolls with us on Future Roots and basically those guys, their tunes are super un-noticed but they are very talented and have a lot to come, I hope, that we will see in this next year, Elliot Mars obviously is again another name that’s super solid, super original sound too, and of course in Edmonton we got Knight Ryderz which are also blowing up. Then in western Canada or the rest of Canada, as for artists I’m really, really, fond of, Killabits is really getting me excited with a lot of tunes they are putting out right now but for the rest of Canada I mean, there is definitely, I’m sure a lot out there that I need to find out about that I haven’t found out about yet that I’m excited to find out about, My boys I just mentioned, a lot of them are making defiantly dance floor killer shit... I’d like to hear more people in Canada making sort of left field stuff too, that would be nice (haha).
Youngbloods: You excited for anything with yourself, your own career or Future Roots?
Phatcat: Well basically this year we are re-launching Future Roots so it was doing its thing for a while, we started it up in 2009, but kind of things had to take a back seat for other business ventures and stuff and so it kind of has been on hiatus for about the last 6 months to a year since we really put stuff out but we are going to do a big re-launch this year with some new tunes from Warrior and myself, Daphutur, and Elliot Mars and some remixes from some big peeps, should be pretty sick
Youngbloods: We can’t wait!! I know with your own tunes your starting to release a couple new tracks here and there and you’re dropping a lot in your sets, can we expect an EP or anything like that or a full length
Phatcat: A full length right now I feel like, I’m one of those people that really feels like a full length needs to be a full length and so it can’t just be a collection of tracks. I would say right now an EP is something I definitely want to push towards with some of the new stuff I’m making. I’ve got some new kind of fun stuff coming out in the form of I guess this Alanis Morissette remix and doing some remixes from the “Rent” Broadway soundtrack so (haha) for the obscure sample lovers, those will definitely be huge, an EP of my original stuff could be on the horizon (hahaha)
Youngbloods: For sure for sure!! Its exciting stuff... basically that’s it... do you have any shout outs or people you want to thank that have helped you or gave some inspiration or been there for you, anybody that’s been there for the last I don’t even know how many years for you (haha)
Phatcat: To be honest the list would seriously be way to huge if I actually was to rattle off everybody’s name but all the people you know in Edmonton, Western Canada, that have helped me out, some of my biggest shout outs have to go out to my boy Slim P in Calgary from Supreme Hustle and all his crew there, they kind of I would say been like a good model for any Dubstep crew in the world really, they really rep it and I would say next to Future Roots, I definitely have mad love for those guys, in Toronto, the Bassmentality crew, in Montreal the Bass Drive crew also super sick, and of course my home boys on Future Roots, gotta show them love, and you know my folks and my girl, those two especially , my folks and my girl, my folks have been there enough since day one, since my dad would bang on my door, hatin Drum N Bass so hard... within the last year he has been to a show and loved it off, surprisingly didn’t have any idea he would enjoy it so much, I’m really stoked that they finally got to see this, the hard work going into something and paying off.
Youngbloods: Last but not least, you know our boy Jay Spiff might be busy at the moment but he made sure to be here in spirit, he’s got the last question, he wants to know exactly what’s in your pockets right now (hahahah)
Phatcat: Hmmm, (haha)... 25 Bucks and my cell phone, that’s it (hahahah)
Youngbloods: Nice (hahah) alright, I’m Dustin with Young Bloods Dubstep and you can catch Phatcat at, well, he is going to rattle of his shows and get some future roots shows in there... Believe the hype!! He’s MAD!!
Phatcat: Alright so we got Astral Harvest and Boonstock, both Warrior Music and myself are playing that and then Wednesday following that would be... July 6th I believe, is HiFi Club in Calgary, me and Warrior Music, then back here for me and Daphutur with Ajapai at Buffalo on the 9th, then we are looking at Nero, Zeds Dead, and Bare on the 21st and then into August I’m taking a little vacation but the end of August we will be doing our mega annual Future Roots back to school blow out at Empire for the “Back to School Dubstep Massive” so that should be ill, beyond that lots more but can’t really say too much at this point. And Step’d Up every Saturday!
We over at Young Bloods would like to thank and give a MASSIVE shout out to Phatcat and the whole Future Roots crew!!
