Twenty Five Sixty Two - Dubstep Soul

Dubstep has rapidly matured as a form of its own, already reaching the stage of breaking down into sub-genres, much in the same way house and techno did throughout the last decade. You’ve got your traditional heavy hitters, like Skream, Loefah and Benga, but in the last year or two you’ve seen a small batch of artists move into interesting territory, distancing themselves from the more predictable formulaic gear. That dirty word ‘techno’ has come back into play, providing evidence of where many of these boys have come from, and, dare I say it, maybe where they’re heading back?

 

Dubstep has two faces; the first being the natural progression of the drum 'n' bass scene, that was, most would admit, in dire need of a fresh challenge. The other is a product of techno/dub experimentation, which has seen German producers like T++ & Pole and dubstep guys like Peverelist, TRG and Appleblim toying with the hypnotic and dancehall elements, creating a new form of deep atmospheric club music. It’s something that the electronic scene’s been crying out for; club music with soul.

Enter Dave Huisman, a Dutchman who’s really brought something new to the table. He’s fairly fresh on the scene, but is already known under three separate guises, A Made Up Sound, Dogdaze and 2562.

His 2562 sound has caught the attention of dubstep innovators like Pinch and Kode9, but also Laurent Garnier and Giles Peterson, giving you an insight into the broad appeal. The project has been described as a fusion of Basic Channel style techno, and atmospheric dubstep or garage. This type of branding or referencing of an artist's work is sometimes not always appreciated by producers, but Dave takes it on the chin admitting, “I’m cool with the Basic Channel references, as they have undeniably had a big impact on me, especially the Maurizio and Rhythm & Sound material. The garage label on the other hand I always find amusing cause I’ve never been involved with garage, except for listening to Horsepower Productions. I’ve only been discovering other UK garage recently. It’s quite sexy.”

It was however, these exact influences that ended up helping Dave find the 2562 project a suitable home, with his productions finding their way to Rob Ellis at Bristol’s Tectonic label, a link up that seemed right, due to both his and the label owner's taste in electronics. “I didn’t know Rob personally, but had heard he’s into the deeper dubby techno like R&S and Basic Channel, so I sent him some music late 2006. He suggested putting out Channel Two and hinted at the possibility of an album early on as he felt my sound would fit that format. From there on I just kept writing until the time was right to release the album.”

As an artist, Dave’s unique take on dubstep has seen him become involved in a fairly experimental arm of the scene, with classic producers from Berlin’s dub techno scene teaming up with dubstep producers (Peverelist and Appleblim etc) for colabs and cross releases across labels, a move that has provided a platform for some truly inspiring music to appear on the scene. Interestingly, 2562 crosses over into both sides of the fusion so is this development something that Dave sees as important in electronics just now? “I think the connection is exciting because it has produced some excellent music that fits in neither of the boxes, from the likes of Shackleton, Peverelist and T++. A nice side effect is a rise in interest in dubstep-related music from an audience that would normally rather listen to techno and vice versa. Although it never was a goal in itself, I can only be glad if I played a role in that.”

So if you're into a bit of dubstep, a Basic Channel obsessive, like your experimental techno, or simply wanting to check out something genuinely interesting on the electronic front, you could do a lot worse than look up 2562 (and you'd be a fool if you didn't).