Meet Steve Dellasala AKA SDS.
He loves his friends and family, he hates traffic and rudeness. He’s a graphic illustrator. He has an unofficial masters degree in late 90s techstep. He hosts a weekly show on DNB Radio. His breaks come from the school of Seba, Paradox or Digital. His atmospheres are dense, icy and unforgiving. He sounds like been on this tip for 20 years but as a producer he’s actually pretty new to the game.
Debut EP-level new.
With previous cameos on Surround Sound a few years back, and a spot on Lightless’s A New Tribe compilation in January, he returned to Fanu’s imprint last week with his debut EP – Hallucinations – which he’s also done the artwork for. It’s well worth paying attention to…
Debut EPs don’t usually rattle in such a heavy, foundational way. We gave him a squeeze to make sure he’s kosher…
I can smell an alias….
I don’t have any prior aliases! My father was a musician, and the influence of music has been a major part of my life and helped define the person I am. I’ve always had an “ear for music” but I played instruments minimally and basically stopped in high school. DJing was something I had always wanted to do though.
Classically trained… DJ then producer.
That is correct. I taught myself how to beatmatch and after a few months I was DJing on internet radio. When I started DJing, I knew I had a knack for producing, and once I had some help and practice understanding the proper arrangement of a tune, I felt more comfortable producing. DJing has definitely influenced my production. I’m always paying attention to the production of the tracks I’m DJing.
These sounds on the Hallucinations EP suggest you’ve been paying attention since the legacy sounds of Moving Shadow and Subtitles.
I have a big time love for late 90s techstep! Both Moving Shadow & Subtitles were major influences for me. Also Black Science Labs, Audio Courture, early Virus, Saigon. So many labels… I can go on and on. I have more influence from these earlier works than the more current D&B. Current tracks now have a very clean, polished sound. That’s great, but my goal with my music is to try and make tracks that sound like they have elements from songs in the 90s but still sound fresh & innovative. The first thing with me usually is the breaks. Interesting drums are an essential part of a track to me.
What was your entry point with dnb over in the US? Was it love at first hearing or was it much more of a smouldering, gradual relationship?
For me I think it was a bit more gradual. Way back in the day I had a few cassette tapes (I sound old now, hahah) of the Speed Limit 140BPM Plus series that was the early rave/breakbeat style of D&B. But the love affair started when I had Goldie’s Timeless. When I heard Saint Angel, that was it. I was hooked. But it still was gradual as I never really cared for some styles as much as other styles. But then I started hearing the techstep tunes & that was the sound I had been waiting for. I had always been a huge fan of industrial music, and that to me had many similarities to industrial. A friend of mine had told me about a radio station out of Princeton, New Jersey here in the USA that had a show called Bassquake that had a DJ named Michele Sainte and she played lots of techstep. I’m really proud to say that now she’s a very good friend of mine & she was a very big influence for me to start DJing.
What’s the scene like where you’re at? Do you roll with any crew in Springfield?
Springfield is a very small town so there’s nothing going on here, unfortunately. The good thing is that I’m right outside of New York City. I was going to the clubs back when D&B was its most popular. You always hear about people saying things about the “scene”, but the scene is what you make it. Nightlife in general has changed in New York City. Those huge clubs are a thing of the past. But that doesn’t mean that there’s not other great nights in a small venue. I honestly wish I could get out more and support the scene. As long as people still enjoy the music, the scene will go on.
You’re a graphic artist and illustrator too, right?
Yes! Fanu was actually kind enough to let me design the cover art for the EP! You can also view my artwork here. I’m very much into digital painting / Illustration. Everything on that site was done in Photoshop or Illustrator.
What parallels can be made between your crafts?
You’ll be amazed at how similar both fields are. The biggest parallel for both crafts can be summed up in one phrase. One that I constantly remind myself: “It’s a marathon, not a sprint” Patience is the hardest part of both crafts.
What next?
Nothing too specific right now, just working on more tunes as we speak. I have a few new tunes finished that I’ll be sending out soon so we’ll see what happens with them. I’ll continue to juggle my free time between making music, and making artwork…hahaha
SDS – Hallucinations is out now on Lightless.
Follow him: Soundcloud / Facebook / Twitter