Page 26 - Zone Magazine Issue 006

BAZZA'S
RAGGA STACK
DIRTY DUBSTERS www.dirtydubsters.com
When did you start making music and what were your early influences?
Barry: I've been making ''Mixtapes'' and ruining my Dad's records from around 8 years of age. I used to make noises and get my cousin and his neighbours to rap into an old tape recorder I had. I wanted to make tunes since hearing the Dublin crew Sound Crowd. My dad would pick up samplers at trade shows and I remember him coming home with some Red Records tapes & vinyl and a random cassette tape of Digital Underground.
I can remember making beats on the old PlayStation 1. There was a drag and drop audio game with pre-recorded samples, it was hours of fun. I only got into it properly when I was living in Manchester and did a Dance Music Production course at the School of Sound Recording in 2005.
Jay: It was 2006 that I started getting an interested in producing my own music. Previously I had dabbled a little bit into to messing with tracks and cutting up samples but that was purely from a DJ perspective, to use in my DJ sets. I guess it progressed from there, where I was looking for a particular sound for my DJ sets and couldn't quite find it so thought I’d have a go at making it myself. This turned out a little more difficult than I first imagined. I also did a short music production course at virtue recording studios and this gave me a base and was the beginning of a never ending learn curve. It wasn't until 2009 that I started taking the production side of things seriously when I and Barry started working together.
Barry, you’re from Dublin and Jay from Sydney, how did you end up producing music together?
Jay: We met in Pod in 2006. I handed Barry a Breakbeat mixtape I had made. It had my phone number and details on the cover so he rang and asked if I'd be interested in setting up a new club night dedicated to the Breakbeats sound.
We set up Break-Down together and eventually started to make tunes to play out at the night.
You own and manage a Bass music label founded in Dublin, primarily publishing Reggae artists. How is the scene in Ireland compared with the UK and rest of Europe?
Barry: There's loads of good things happening in Ireland. Weather it's a band, producer, a couple of quality Sound Systems and more and more Reggae / Dubwise nights cropping up. Obviously it’s a small scene and Dublin is a
house/Techno city but for the size of Dublin and Ireland I think we punch above our weight. In saying that, we don't have a very big pool of Vocalists and MC's for Reggae & Dancehall.
Do you think being artists in your own right helps you to run a label or can it be a hindrance?
Barry: I think both. You know what to look out for, you have a good sense of taste and styles that you want to promote / push but then the paperwork, time and effort in pushing other people's music can interfere with what producers should be doing...Producing music.
Jay: I think it gives you a good perspective coming from an artist back ground, we knew how we wanted to treat artists and look after them right, and I think this also gave us good respect back in return knowing that we were artists in our own right, not just label A&R men.
Special Request has so many great collaborators from all over the globe, how do these links all come about?
Barry: It came about pretty naturally, some guys in Ireland we had worked with before or been a fan of. Then we had good connections with UK artists that'd come over to perform at our shows in Dublin. We would invite them to the studio and voice tracks and Dubplates with them. There were also a few people we had on a ''to work with'' list.
As a touring artist, what is life like on the road?
Barry: There's a lot of waiting in stations, departure lounges and hotels, green rooms ect.. but it's amazing to be asked to another city or country to play music for people, playing to a live audience is great! I never take it for granted but it's definitely less glamorous than people might think.
You've played so many Festivals, which has been your most memorable show and why?
Barry: Shambhala Fest, Canada. Just the production and detail involved was mind blowing.
Jay: one of my favourite gigs was at Body and Soul festival a few years ago. We played an early show in the Casa Havana Stage, the sun was shining and the tent was packed and the place just went off.
Favourite city to play in and why?
Best reaction I think we ever got was in Oradea, Romania. People were literally losing it on the dancefloor will always remember that but you don't find heads like the people and characters of Dublin. It's a party town kind of like no other. We had a full on stage invasion at a recent gig at the Wiley Fox, Part of you want them off the stage so your needles can stop jumping and the show can continue as planned but then part of you thinks that is all positive reaction, let it be!
There's been a constant thread of Hip Hop through both of your albums and this summer we seen you tour with emcee's RV & Mango (The Animators) There's a real surge in Urban music coming out of Dublin. Do you think the world is waking up to Ireland being as culturally diverse as its European neighbours?
There's definitely a fair bit of activity in Dublin. How supported and nurtured urban music is here I'm not sure. We get a lot more interest abroad than we do at home however we've noticed that changing slightly over the last while. There’s quite a few good rappers and younger kids don't seem to be as hindered to A: Rap and B: rap in their own accent about their own life, surroundings which is good to see.
We know what the music you make but what/who do you most listen to?
Barry: I've been listening to a lot of House and 4x4 stuff of late and also a lot of lounge and chill out music when I'm at home. I've noticed that I listen to less and less music these days as I have a nonstop supply of podcasts and interviews on my phone.
Jay: I'm on a bit of a house and down tempo funk music buzz at the moment. I generally listen to different stuff from what we make and DJ with.
Special Request is the second feature album from Dirty Dubsters, how was making an album this time round?
Barry: Great, we were over halfway there before we even realised we were making an album. We literally took stock of both hard drives and realised we had 7/8 finished tracks. They were all in slightly different tempos / styles so we decided another album would be the way to go.
Jay: I think the second time round we didn’t try as hard to produce an album, we simply just focused on making tracks and the album was a bi product of that process. Whereas with the first album it seemed to be the other way round. The second album came to gather naturally and everything just seemed to land in the right place at the right time.
26 ZONE-MAGAZINE.IE