Dirt Cheap talks to Depthcuts

As stated on our brand spanking homepage (here) we have recently partnered with Depthcuts and LDN DC (…C’mon our initials already match), first thing is we’re both going to be at Limetree Festival, which looks wicked so get tickets! or better still enter our competition to win some! (here) For those that don’t know about them we figured maybe the best way for you to find out was if we interviewed them, so here we go…

DC What is Depthcuts?

Gav (promoter) – Depthcuts is an underground dance music collective that started in Halifax in 2002 – we’ve since been involved in events all over the UK. It started as a hip-hop and drum’n’bass night but it’s developed to incorporate what we’ve considered to be the most exciting elements of the UK music scene. Dubstep, for example, didn’t really exist when we first started out and we were one of the first nights in Yorkshire to start playing that – I remember people really didn’t know what to make of it at first.

Andrew (DRX) – We also feel like we’ve helped to pioneer a lot of the UK bass music over the past couple of years and with our projects in London doing so well we intend to do a lot more within that scene.

DC You must have had a lot of people perform over that time – what were some of the highlights?

Sty (Vamos) – Having Break play for us felt like an achievement as he’s arguably been the best producer in the dnb scene over the past decade. The night with Steppa, Prophecy and Tonn Piper was a lot of fun – we had to turn quite a few people away it was so full – as was the night at The Vine with Kasra. I’m not into what they do now but being able to put Pendulum on before they blew up was also great and it made for a really memorable night.

Andrew (DRX) – We had Dj Bailey on in Manchester a couple of years ago – that was a big one for me. It was nice that we made enough of an impression for him to give Depthcuts a mention on his 1xtra show afterwards.

Gav (promoter) – Some of the free parties we’ve done have been crazy.

DC What sort of a crowd do you attract?

Sty (Vamos) – It’s always a friendly and fun atmosphere – certainly up North we’ve never taken ourselves too seriously and there’s always been a fun element to what we do.

Andrew (DRX) – It’s not that unusual to see people at our nights in sesh wears or fancy dress and we’ve thrown mad free parties wherever we can find a half suitable spot.

DC So you’ve been going for some time, how’s 2011 been so far?

Andrew (DRX) – 2011 seems to be a real turning point for us, with me and Sam (Tramshed) living in London and starting our sister event LDN DC there it’s given us a whole different outlook on the whole scene. There are probably as many people who are involved in Depthcuts living in the capital now as there are up North, so that’s allowed us to get things off the ground down here. We’re only on the third night but have already had the likes of XXXY, Pangaea and Mosca down and with even bigger line ups planed for the near future.

 

 

Sty (Vamos) – We’ve also had some of the best upcoming producers in the dnb scene play up North this year, such as Octane, DLR, Mako and Mute. These artists have already had exposure on seminal dnb labels such as Renegade Hardware and Break’s Symmetry imprint and I’m sure people will be hearing a

lot more from them in the next couple of years. For me, exposing people to exciting new talent and getting to host some of my favourite new artists is one of the things that keeps the night interesting.

DC What have you got coming up in the next few months?

Andrew (DRX) – First of all we’ve got a huge LDN DC line up down at Rhythm Factory on the 20th August, with Hyperdub’s Ikonika and Jon Convex from Instra:mental amongst others.

Sty (Vamos) – Then the following weekend (26th-28th Aug) we’re helping to

run part of the Dance Music Therapy area at Limetree Festival in North Yorkshire – being involved with that has been a pretty new and exciting experience for us. It should be a really good party and there’ll be Depthcuts artists playing drum’n’bass, jungle, hip-hop, bass music and reggae over two days of the festival.

Gav (promoter) – A little later in the year we’re looking to return to our roots with a night in Halifax predominantly devoted to hip-hop and graffiti, so look out for that too.

DC What artists are you most looking forward to at Limetree?

Sty (Vamos) – I can’t wait for SpectraSoul who will be playing on our stage. For me they have been one of the most exciting artists within the drum’n’bass scene in the past 4-5 years. Tunes like ‘Organizer’ on Kasra’s Critical label and ‘Four Points’ on Metalheadz never leave my box. d-Bridge is also a complete legend of the drum’n’bass scene – Bad Company’s first album was the first drum’n’bass album I ever bought on vinyl. DJ Fresh who was also part of Bad Company has gone on to top the UK charts and get regular Radio 1 daytime play, but the sound that d-Bridge has developed with the likes of Instra:mental is much more interesting to me. It’s a very unique sound which isn’t easily pigeonholed and he’s managed to establish himself in both the dnb and dubstep/UK bass scenes.

Andrew (DRX) – Agreed. I’ve been wanting to catch SpectraSoul Dj for a while now, their music is next level, and d-Bridge is making some unbelievable music as always. I managed to catch him at the Boiler Room in London recently and he’s moved as far away from stereotypical dnb as you can at that tempo and keeps it so original. I’m looking forward to seeing Submotion Orchestra as well. I’ve been listening to them a lot recently and seen a few videos of their live performances, it’s so refreshing to see and hear a band that rides on the cusp of both Jazz and Dubstep and makes it work.

Gav (promoter) – There’s also Ant TC1, Nanny Banton, Holsta and 3rd Generation Digital playing who are all sick dnb/jungle DJs, but its certainly not all about dnb – there’s loads of exciting stuff going on throughout the festival.

DC Anything from a hip-hop perspective at the festival?

Sty (Vamos) – We’re really pleased to have 2 Kool Tony back from Australia – he’s famous over there now apparently! Haha. There’s also UK Beatbox Champion Ball-Zee and I’ve always been a big fan of Portishead so I’ll be checking out DJ Andy Smith.

DC Finally, any shout outs?

Andrew (DRX) – Yeah props to all the Depthcuts DJs and promoters and everyone who has played at the nights over the past 9 years – far too many to mention; Dance Music Therapy and Limetree Festival; all the Future Formation and Inertia guys from Huddersfield.

Sty (Vamos) – Mako & Mute and the Utopia Music crew; Kulak; Badman Ting in Manchester and most of all to everyone who continues to come to the nights and support what we do.