It's no massive secret that dubstep is emerging as the fastest growing indigenous UK dancefloor experience. Over the past six years, a handful of London producers tinkering with a primitive incarnation of the genre with a non-existent fanbase, has developed into something of a minor national treasure. Landmark albums like Burial's eponymous debut have topped mainstream albums-of-the-year lists, club night's like Brixton's DMZ have become one of the capital's mainstays, and gradually the sound has swapped from side attraction to kicking drum'n'bass out the main arena of raves up and down the country.
Last weekend's Sonar festival saw the adopted first lady of dubstep, Radio 1's Mary Anne Hobbs, leading the continuation of its international takeover. For the second year running, she curated a stage devoted to dubstep, with the seismic sub-bass attracting thousands of revellers. Chartering the genre's latest evolution, and this year pushing a deeper, more challenging lineup than before, Warp's Flying Lotus, Digital Mystik's Mala, and Skull Disco's Shackleton joined Mary in consolidating dubstep as the UK's most successful, original urban music export.
To round-up our Sonar coverage, we caught up with Mary on the last day of the festival for a chat about why the time was right at this year's Sonar for the sparse, brooding offspring of garage and dub ...
Abba to Zappa: Apparently you were pretty nervous about the dubstep stage this year?
Mary Anne Hobbs: Well, when you're involved with a project like Sonar, with such shared passion for the music as me and the organisers have, it's an intense nine-month process. The culmination of such efforts I don't think is dissimilar to the birthing process. We discussed at length what their agenda was for the stage, the textures of sound they wanted, starting with a list of maybe 30 artists, slowly whittling away to the final three. Unsurprisingly, they wanted the next big thing.
AtoZ: And is that what they got?
MAH: I hope so! For me, Shackleton is one of the most visionary producers in the world right now. I don't think there's anyone making sounds that are even in the same ballpark as him, it was incredible to see him doing what he does to 5,000 people under the beautiful, glittering Barcelona sky. Growing up in the bosom of the Coltrane family [His great-aunt is the late Alice Coltrane], Flying Lotus has had a unique approach to things. Weaned on dirty hip-hop before moving into the darker textures of dubstep, he manages to jam sets in a quick-fire manner that's completely fearless. Mala was a no-brainer headliner. It's a huge responsibility to take on a Sonar stage as a headline artist, so who better than one of the true iconic faces of the original UK scene. The organisers wanted a deeper textural focus this year, and he is the architect of some of the most biblical sounds I've ever witnessed.
AtoZ: Why do you think such a dark sound has taken off in the way it has?
MAH: It's an interesting sound, because it connects with people on many different levels. Primarily the sub-bass is such a powerful, physical presence; it literally shakes your every cell of your body. Roni Size once told me that the reason women loved bass was because it rattled their ovaries, and I think that could be true. Conversely though, there's also a very spiritual, meditative aspect to the sound. But at the same time there's DJs like Skream who can really turn things into a rave. While the common denominator is sub-bass, there's just so many influences that make up dubstep. From avant-garde metal, to minimal techno, there's a vast spectrum of sound that's loosely drawn together. And with such a welcoming, inclusive attitude at every dubstep event, it really does not surprise me that it has resonated with so many people.