Dallas Dubstep City

So you've probably heard us talk quite a bit about Dallas Dubstep producer/DJ Jason Mundo over the past year and a half, and since his monthly Dubstep party, Dub Assembly, is celebrating its two year anniversary this saturday at the Green Elephant, we thought we'd let him speak for himself this time. For those who don't know, Mundo and the Dub Assembly crew were at the forefront of the Dubstep movement in the U.S. starting several years ago, and Mundo's production work has garnered critical praise across the board-- his work has been featured as the Boomkat single of the week, and he has received positive reviews in Wire, as well as many other reputable online publications.  Mundo has emerged as one of the major movers and shakers in U.S. Dubstep, and although you might not have heard his name quite yet, we're pretty confident that you'll be hearing a lot more about him in 2008.  We wanted to ask Mundo about his background as a DJ, the creation of the Dub Assembly crew, and his plans for the future. We were also excited to discuss the fact that Dub Assembly's two year anniversary will feature Hatcha, one of the pioneers of the movement. Here is what he had to say:


1. Could you tell us about the history of Dub Assembly--- who started it, when, why, etc. And could you tell us what your first few shows like?

I started the Dub Assembly concept in the spring of 2006 as a musical outlet for the dubbier and heavy bass sounds I was producing. And as a place where we could focus on and celebrate these Heavier sounds that we had been playing at Groovology, our UK Garage event since 2000. But previously we had mixed it in with the UKGarage & 2step of the day. At Dub Assembly we could zero in on it. I brought Lifted MC, Tiny, Keith P, and Royal Highnuss on board right away and its been wicked ever since. The first few shows starting in the summer of 2006 were at the old Sand Bar spot but quickly grew to where we could move it back Home…to the Green Elephant…5627 Dyer Street...home to Groovology since 2000..and home to Dub Assembly ever since.

2. Tell us about your backgrounds in English Dance music and how your interest in UKG, grime, etc, led to dubstep.

I grew up listening to Edge Club and loved the UK Bass sound and then followed its evolution and mutation over the years…UK Ardcore (what’s now called NuRave), Jungle, UK Garage, and now Dubstep. It’s the forward evolution of Bass. I still love all those genres and produce music for all those genres.

3. Could you tell us a little about the history of dubstep and how it was birthed in England?

In the late 90s early 2000-ish Dubstep started out as a deeper, heavier side to 2step garage, mostly non-vocal instrumentals, infused with UK Dubplate Culture. Dubstep evolved from UK Garage. But the UK Garage scene in England rejected the sound so they did their own events, separate from both Garage and Grime (which came long after dubstep). In Dallas and in the States we mixed Garage and Dubstep together back in 2000 but that didn’t happen in England. The scenes there were almost totally separate. Dubstep has continued to evolve, on its own, over the last 8 years or so, from its early roots as deeper garage, to a bare minimal phase in 2003, to the halfstep of 2005-2007, and its current lush sounds in 2008. There is a lot of variety of sound in the music, and that is its Strength. It draws on a lot of influences and therefore attracts a lot of people.

4. How did dubstep make its way over to the states? Any particular US pioneers worth mentioning?

The original UK Garage deejays in the States were spinning it in with their Garage sets as I said. There are about 20 individual names from the late 90s to 2004 but we were all on the “2step list”. A nationwide email list of the UKGarage and Dubstep deejays pushing the sound. The first real compilation (both dubstep and UKG) in N. America is “Transatlantic Bass”, a cd which can be found on cdbaby. com to this day. Check it out. We had 4 events at the WMC in Miami (2001-2004) where we first dropped UK Garage and dubstep on the WMC. This event was called “Transatlantic” and it was made up of deejays from the “2step list”. Names included T.S. Heritage from Miami and Boosted Records, Mundo from Dallas, Oron and Light Touch from Baltimore, DJ Joseph and Eric H from Iris Records in Chicago, Casper in Chicago, Cooper Bethea in NC, Jam 2 and G Notorious in Boston, Deepsix in Toronto, Skye Poier in Vancouver, Rama in Seattle, the Minnesota crew, Abstract in San Francisco, and Tomas from XLR8R in San Francisco and Voltage Records (the first N. American dubstep label with multiple releases). This was Generation One without a doubt. Many more came soon after but this was Generation One in N. America.

5. You sometimes hear people proclaim that dubstep is boring, probably because of the repetitiveness and lack of a dance beat. What is it about dubstep that interests you musically?

Dubstep is FAR from boring. It is quite varied drawing on Reggae, Techno, Dub, Garage, Drum n Bass, its beats are swung, sometimes half step, sometimes not, sometimes at 140bpm sometimes at 70 bpm, but it has those DEEP SUB BASS PULSES of UK Bass that draw everyone in, especially the girls. This is no midrange bass or bass-less electro. This is Subbass cabinet wrecking soul food that knocks bottles off the wall at the Green Elephant.

6. Do you think southern bass has had an influence on how you and your regional peers make music? Is this reflected in the music? Do you think southern US producers are doing something different with the music than their counterparts in England and the rest of the US?

Its hard to say. The Dirty South is clearly all around us so maybe it has influenced us, particularly when we produce the half-step sound. It is interesting though that each region in the US is doing different sounds even from that of England. The distance from each other breeds innovation.

7. Could you tell us about your record label and the successful releases you've had as a producer so far?

The Dub Assembly label has had 7 10” vinyl releases in a year and a half as well as several digital download releases that are found on itunes, beatport. com, digital-tunes. net, and many more. But we actually have a TON of releases coming out from the end of the Summer to the end of the year starting around the time of my Dub Assembly Unit One European Tour 2008.

8.  Do you find it strange that you get so much more press in England than in your home town?

SF has always had XLR8R, LA has had URB, NYC has had several outlets in the past (and now XLR8R too), and London has had tons of outlets but ya know until We Shot Jr and Gorilla vs Bear were created Dallas didn’t have ANY vehicle for publicity for its artists other than Edge Club and that which is created by the artists themselves. So thanks to you guys for this interview !  Its all good man. I gotta give a lot of thanks and props to the DFW crowd for always coming out to my events in the past and present. Even when I have too many events in a month they keep attending and I gotta give thanks!

9. Assess the health of the Dallas electro/dance scene. Do you think Dallas is particularly fertile ground for the kind of music you are interested in?

Yes, Dallas has always supported the UK Bass sound for years. No matter what name is attached to it, Dallas supports proper Bass weight.

10. Do you think dubstep is doomed for niche status in the US, or do you think it could reach a more mass audience unlike grime was able to do?

Dubstep has had a slow STEADY climb since 2000 with a rapid acceleration since 2006. Unlike Grime and unlike Garage it has all the infrastructure in place for success: Quality Distribution of both physical and digital download product, a rabid unified fan base on one single forum: dubstepforum. com, easy access thru DOZENS of nationwide events and DOZENS of online radio shows, a sound that has stayed varied and continues to evolve without cornering itself for over 8 years, and a general overall happy and open demeanor of the people involved in it. Dubstep actually welcomes people. It includes not excludes people.

11. Can you tell us about Hatcha and why he is significant to dubstep? How did you land him here?

Hatcha is currently on tour in the US. He was one of the early Dubstep pioneers first as a deejay and soon after as a producer. He is based in London England and has a weekly dubstep radio show on Kiss FM. I first met him in 2002 when I pressed 300 white labels 12”s of “I Stand Rasta” at a UK facility and spent my whole vacation carrying boxes of records in my arms on the subway to all the record stores I could in 10 days. Hatcha worked at Big Apple Records, South London’s Legendary store that was primarily Dubstep, and I first met him there. Big Apple Records sold nearly 100 copies of “I Stand Rasta” on its own. It was spun by many including Jay da Flex, Kode 9, Cyrus, LWiz in Sweden, and 90 or so others that shopped or mail ordered from Big Apple hahaha, all the Stateside deejays mailordered from there! That store was legendary.

12. What are your immediate plans for the future of Dub Assembly?

The plans are ever sprawling. We have a dozen or more digital download releases on the label planned for this year. And I am going on a European Tour in September with events in Ayia Napa Cyprus, the Netherlands, Manchester England, Exeter England, Vienna Austria, Augsburg Germany, Galway Ireland, and then meeting up with team Unit One for a bass festival on an island in Magaluf Spain. We also have several T-shirts planned starting with the Anniversary t-shirt for sale at the show Saturday. And later T-shirts designed by the great Royal Highnuss. And then there’s another NYC event I am playing at on Nov 14, and a St. Louis event sometime around then too, and of course there are more monthly Dub Assembly events in Dallas and Denton…Tings are getting Serious and I want to thank everyone for the support because I truly appreciate it. Thanks !