The Appleblim Of My Eye

Dubstep, 2-step, dancehall or dub/tech fusion - call it what you will, but this new form of music has been hugely influential on the electronic scene of late. The darker side of techno’s been getting stale for a while now - sure there’s the odd slice of abstract stuff and some cool minimal gear that stands out from the pack, but anyone who’s honest will admit that it’s a shade of what was on offer 10 years ago.

Right now, dubstep has a vibrant feel about it: it's a scene with exciting tunes coming out every week, and producers springing up left, right, and centre. There’s techno, d&b and electronica fusions happening: the products of a more mature scene that's less guarded and refreshingly open to experimentation. There’s some interesting labels out there right now like Various, Tectonic, and also Skull Disco - a label pushing heavy releases, establishing Shackleton and Appleblim as two of the leading figures in the more abstract end of the dubstep scene. The Skinny caught up with Bristol-based Appleblim, aka Laurie Osborne, to hear how he got involved and what his thoughts are on the scene. So Mr. blim, where did Skull Disco come from? “Skull Disco was just myself and Shackleton wanting to put out our own tunes. I had finished my first tune Mystical Warrior, Shack liked it, and he had been dabbling with bassy 140 music for a bit so we decided to go for it. Inspired by FWD>> [club night]and DMZ, we had met through a mutual friend at a record shop I worked at, and we raved together at FWD>> and then the first DMZ’s, a magical time!” What’s the deal with the London dubstep scene, a healthy state of affairs? “It’s very healthy indeed in my opinion: the number of raves and sales are growing. Now whether you see that as positive or not is up to you, I do. Even if more people and more raves equals more crap tunes or crap raves, it also means more good tunes and good raves!”

What about in Bristol, how tied in is the dubstep scene with the cities old drum n' bass roots? Are many of the old producers crossing over? “Well, the Distorted Minds boys [Bristol dnb group] are involved in the Hench label, you know? Jakes [Hench label boss] is a big producer in dubstep, but also a big MC in dnb... you’ve got the Caspa remix of TC, and I know Clipz and people hang out with certain heads. Roni Size pops into Hench, and Benga has played at Run, the big dnb weekly in Bristol."

There’s a lot of talk about dub/tech fusion right now, but I’m presuming there’s a fair amount of other unearthed stuff out there? “Yeah, there’s loadsa stuff on the ‘dubstep’ tip… there’s a lot of stuff with groove and syncopation just now, which I think is very healthy, or at least, that’s the stuff I want to hear and dance to. Look out for Greena, Pangaea, Jus Wan, and all the Hessle Audio guys.” You just did the new Allstars dubstep mix, how did that come about, and what’s your take on the series, is it a good representation of what’s going on in dubstep right now? "Soulja asked me to do it, I think they saw there was a different set of producers that I was playing down at FWD>> and thought it would be worth documenting. It’s a slice of what I have been playing down there over the last 6 months. Hopefully it catches a certain time and feeling; it’s a representation of some really talented producers.”

You’ve just launched a new label called Apple Pips - tell us about it. What’s the name all about? “Ah well, it's called Apple Pips for two reasons: one, as in these tunes are little seeds that will hopefully grow large, and also I kept getting ‘pipped to the post’ for certain tunes I wanted to sign! As for the whole apple thing, it’s a long (not that funny) story!” Fair play, what have you got planned for it then, music and artist wise? “I have releases pencilled in from Brendan Moeller aka Beat Pharmacy, Jus Wan, Komonazmuk & Gatekeeper, Greena and T++, all very exciting! I’m also working with Ramadanman (Hessle Audio) on some new music.”

With a select few dubstep artists being keen to push fusions with other genres and groups of artists, it looks like it's going to be a productive year for cross-pollinators like Appleblim. The wave of enthusiasm for dubstep in its numerous forms is bringing artists together, from techno, dubstep and experimental, in a drive to push the boundaries of electronics once more. For the good of the music scene, long may that continue.