Caspa: The Prodigal Son

Back in late 1991 when British Formula One drivers still rocked mustaches, the undisputed king of the burgeoning underground dance scene was rave and it had begun its assault on the mainstream charts, culminating in a misfit group called The Prodigy scoring a top three hit with the public service message-sampling Charly. Soon afterwards Mixmag ran a front cover feature entitled Did Charly Kill Rave? effectively accusing the group of releasing a novelty record and, in the process, killing off the underground scene. The band responded by burning a giant pile of the magazine's issues in their next video, before going on to become one of the most successful dance groups ever.

Fast forward two decades and this tale seems to hold resonance for where Caspa is at the moment, as well as the status of dubstep as a whole. It's the latest subgenre of dance music to have rolled its tanks up on to the lawns of the mainstream and, just as in 1991, the debate over whether this artist or that one has ‘killed’ the genre has reared its head again. Caspa, less well known as Gary McCann, has been a part of the initial movement of DJs and producers who began pushing dubstep forward, out of the warehouse spaces in which it was born and into the mainstream. He mixed the first Fabric dubstep album with his close associate Rusko, set up a number of labels including Dub Police and Sub Soldiers and released his full-length album back in 2009.

Clearly he has had commercial success, so was the title of his recent track You Sell Out a response to his detractors, or a recognition of his popularity? “When I made that tune dubstep was exploding, everyone was making it and every label was signing it; it was crossing over to become chart music as well as underground music too," McCann explains. "Sometimes you do stuff like the songs I’ve done with Mr Hudson and Keith Flint and people say: 'You’ve sold out, man.' I’ve always found that term quite interesting because I’m just doing what I love, so how is that selling out? That’s kind of why I called it that as it can be taken both ways. It’s never been about the money – when I was making no money and people said it I would say ‘I haven’t got any money so I can’t have sold out!’”

Caspa’s new single War is a pounding rock/dubstep hybrid that is thick with sirens, distorted synths and the unmistakable rasp of Keith Flint. What was the influence of The Prodigy on his work? “I don’t know anyone in dubstep who does not respect them, they are the guys who took it overground in a great underground way. I mean, what is The Prodigy? Essentially it's rock, hardcore, jungle, dubstep... it’s a mixture of just everything all mashed into one with its own sound and style. I had their stuff on vinyl and was a big fan of them, so when I got to work with Keith I wanted to bring something to the table that was not a typical dubstep tune. I did not want people to press play and hear him say, ‘Well, I expected that.’ I wanted to make people think about that tune and that’s always what The Prodigy have done too.”
   
Having released an EP earlier this year and with a mix album out later this month, as well as a full album to come in the winter, how often is he able to spend on the other side of decks? “I won’t lie, that’s the time you need to spend seeing your family, friends and the missus. I always go to Fabric though, as I know that has the best in underground music whether it's drum 'n' bass or dubstep, and at festivals I try to step out into the crowd and see what's happening.”

One unforgettable moment on the dancefloor that he still thinks back to was hearing that first record getting played. The club was Plastic People and the song, his first, was Bass Bins. “It sampled an old rave/hardcore tune that goes 'Watch your bass bins, I’m telling ya.' I was really happy with it and I gave it to Youngstar and he played it as his last tune. When he dropped it everyone just went crazy and it got pulled up and rewound. I remember the feeling, it was just mad, like when you are young and the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. I felt buzzy, like I had taken something. You have a mad energy and just can’t stand still or talk to anyone and all you want to do is to leave the club straight away and get back to the studio. I definitely remember the feeling because that’s what keeps you going, getting that kind of reaction.”