The Birth of a Genre

The term 'dubstep' is often said to have originated from Neil Jolliffe in 2002 - who, in turn it, attributes it to XLR8R's editorial team, as the magazine first made the term widely known with their cover story on Jolliffe's Tempa label, and in-house talent Horsepower Productions in the same year. Folklore aside, in the years since that story, Jolliffe's outfit Ammunition Productions became an integral part of dubstep's development. Formed in partnership with Sarah 'Soulja' Lockhart, Ammunition Productions' cross-media presence comprises of the online store dubplate.net, long-running club night FWD, Lockhart's label Soulja, and Jolliffe's Tempa, Shelflife, and Vehicle imprints, and a heavy presence on Rinse.fm. Their bass-heavy empire helped to introduce the names Hatcha, Skream and Kode 9 to the burgeoning dubstep culture.

As the East & West London scenes flourished, the second wave of new talent was amassing south of the Thames, and on the outskirts of the city. The Digital Mystikz crew, based around the duo of Mala and Coki, and including Loefah and MC Sgt. Pokes, was helmed by the DMZ record label and club night in Brixton, injecting an organic flavour into dubstep's clinical bass-bass-clatter rhythm, due to its thriving Afro-Caribbean surrounds in Brixton.

The Art of Crossing Over

By 2006 dubstep's popularity had grown exponentially - geographically, musically and culturally - aided by bonafide crossover hits (Skream's 'Midnight Request Line', Burial's self-titled album), wider audiences (the growing popularity of Rinse.fm, Maryanne Hobbs' 'Dubstep Wars' program on BBC Radio 1), and mainstream press curiosity (all manner of "Dubstep 101" articles and news pieces popping up in all manner of press). Tempa cleverly released their 'Roots of Dubstep' compilation that year - a move which could be seen as remarkably self-conscious for a five year old genre, but also remarkable in for plotting the breadth and reach of dubstep's development of those five years.

In 2009, dubstep is more popular then ever, and is showing no signs of declining or stagnating. For a young genre it has a rich history, and it continues to absorb and reform a myriad of musical influences - techno, electronica, hip hop hardcore, soul, house, world, etc. Similarly, dubstep has almost completely worn away its own entrenched ideas of cultural or geographical identity. Well & truly an international phenomenon, today's 'new generation' of dubstep talent - Appleblim, Scuba, Shackleton, TRG, Martyn and Untold - are as likely to be from London or Croydon, as they are from St. Petersburg, Berlin, Rotterdam or Bucharest.

The Future is Untold

With many artists pushing the boundaries of dubstep, or removing them altogether, we check in with Untold a.k.a, Jack Dunning, for his take on dubstep's past, present & future. Untold, is the co-founder of Hemlock Recordings, and tipped as one of dubstep's next big things, on the back of his drum-heavy sound.

"One of the exciting things about dubstep is its potential to absorb and mutate a vast amount of genres and influences," says Dunning, who sees innovation and outside inspiration as the key to the development of the genre. "I think dubstep or whatever it evolves into will be fine so long as people keep ignoring the rules, and making music that's more than the sum of its parts." This applies for his own productions as well, as he is unwilling to stay static. "I'm trying not to stay in the same place for too long, trying not to get too comfortable with a particular set of sounds and rinse them out."

Making his mark with 12"s for Ramadanman's Hessle Audio label and Scuba's Hotflush in 2008, it was a long time in development for Dunning whose first studio experiments using a basic Akai sampler, Cubase and a Roland synth began at the age of 15. "I was into Jungle at the time and spent years unsuccessfully trying to emulate the beats without much success," until, he says, "dubstep came along and inspired me to learn to produce again."

For Dunning, inspiration also comes from fellow UK producer Peverelist, whose complexity he rates highly. "Peverelist always gets me," he says, "I love the way he mixes quirky, sometimes dainty melodies with militant subs and steppers beats. Most of the time I won't fully understand his tunes until I hear them over a good system." Other fellow countrymen hitting the spot for Dunning are a range of newcomers. "Also doing a lot," he offers, "are Brackles, Shortstuff, and Mount Kimbie."

It's set to be a busy few months ahead for Dunning, and for his label Hemlock Recordings, with some solid releases in the pipeline. "We have the killer debut release from James Blake titled 'Air & Lack Thereof', a collaboration between myself and LV called 'Beacon', and Pangaea's intense remix of 'I Can't Stop This Feeling,' there will most likely be a double pack from me towards the end of the year." Keeping in mind, however, the current musical climate, and the dynamic nature of dubstep, Dunning is quick to point out that he is running a tight ship. "We try not to plan too far ahead and are cautious not to sign up more than we can handle."

Despite looking forward to the changes and challenges that the next chapters of dubtep's story are bound to bring to the scene and to his own contribution to it, Dunning is happy to hold on to one of dubstep's most trusted sources, London's Sunday night throwdown, FWD. "I still feel blessed by being able to rock up to FWD on a Sunday," he declares, "have a couple of beers and be one of the first to hear good new music delivered correctly."



Untold's Dubstep Picks

Plumbing the depths of the zero" dubstep catalogue, Untold picks out four of his favourites:

Martyn - Right?Star! from 'Great Lengths' on 3024 "My favorite tune from his epic 'Great Lengths' album, 'Right? Star!' is one of those rare pieces that sounds reflective or uplifting depending my mood."

Peverelist - Clunk Click Every Trip from 'Clunk Click Every Trip' on Punch Drunk Records "Besides carrying an important safety message, this reminds me of early jungle without any played out samples or drum patterns. Sounds pretty at home and brutal over a system."

Ramadanman - Blimey? from 'Blimey?' on Hessle Audio "Currently holds the medal for most space between beats in dubstep. A dark, atmospheric tribal drum work out."

Sigha - Bruised from 'Bruised' on Hotflush Recordings "For me, Sigha owns the deeper side of the dubstep sound. It's not easy to make tunes that retain focus with such a reduced palette of sounds."