DOMINATOR: somehow it should be written large: you wouldn’t mess with him. He’s been busy on tour so we finally found time to get stuck in about his work with the LDD fraternity, about Bass, Beats… and all sorts of those giant killa b’s in fact.
Hi Dominator, tell us about ‘Not Ready’ from the recent Subway Soundz comp: that’s a killer, when did it come about?
‘Not Ready Ft Fatman D’ came out on Subway Soundz at the end of April 2015. I actually made it quite a while back in 2014.
It had a really good response when playing it out in the raves and radio so I went back in on track and did a 2015 mix of it. I had many artists supporting it and lots of amazing feedback on soundcloud and personal messages. Big up Fatman D on the vocal #BIOBEATS
Where do you record sir, where’s the HQ? Do you have a big set up there?
I have my own recording studio at home all soundproofed and custom made to all my needs.
I do everything in there from engineering to mastering, sampling, recording vocals and of course producing new music.
You mentioned Fatman D: how do you guys collab, do you live near each other?
Yes, myself and Fatman have known each other a long time and have made many projects together made from my studio at home and from wav files sent though by emails.
We live about two and a half hours apart from each other… I live near Norwich and Fatman near London which he uses his studio to record the vocals but travelling to make music. No dramas, it’s all good.
You’ve been in D&B for a while now so what changes have you seen? Good and bad.
I started making D&B music in 2006 then releasing my first D&B vinyl track with Flat-T in 2008 then things just got better and better. I’ve seen the scene go from strength to strength the jump up side of things have just blown up UK and internationally.
The only bad point I can think of is the amount of shady download sites giving away free music and people clipping up tracks and playing them in sets.
Never used to be able to do this as everything was on vinyl the digital world has deffo changed things but on the other hand it’s a lot easier to get your music out there .
And from your view as a DJ, how’s the audiences changed? What do they react to and don’t react to. I mean even the smoking ban had an effect.
Yes, the smoking ban deffo affected some of the raves but everyone soon got used to it: if you love the music you soon forget about have a fag lol.
My view on crowd reactions is that ravers deffo have been reacting more to the jump up side of things with the warm bouncy dancefloor smashers making a bigger impact with the dancefoor, and the MCs normally asking for the spin back rewind straight away.
I’ve been trying to make as many tunes that work mostly on the dancefloor as possible as it’s always a nice feeling when you get a massive reaction.
How do you DJ? Is it off stick, CD/vinyl or what? Always interests me… also because of how clubs are set up too. Was a time you couldn’t play records even if you wanted to as decks were garbage.
Yes, I made the switch last year over to USBs with record box definitely one of the best decisions, as I used to use cds and things end up taking longer to find tracks. And there could be scratches on cds and so on.
I always used to love playing vinyl but things have definitely change for the better as the DJ can concentrate on making the set more energetic and lively and not worry about the needle jumping.
Who are the people in the scene you go back with? People who you admire as great DJs, also producers you like. I know you hooked up with Logan for the ‘Giant Killa Bees‘ tune, wicked tune, also Maji, Turno amongst many others.
Yes, recently been working with Logan D: we’ve teamed up and working on some great projects: lots more to come from myself and the Low Down Deep bossman.
Lots of big projects planned from myself: ‘Giant Killa Bees’ has had one of the biggest reactions on the dancefloor, so looking forward to the next chapter.
There’s a lot of Producer/DJs who I admire such as Hazard, Majistrate, Taxman , Sub Zero, Audio, Bad Company, Mampi Swift and many many more.
I’ve done many back2backs with lots of great artists.
And always nice to get a full set on your own to let loose on three decks.
Where’s some great spots that you like playing then?
I’ve been very blessed on the places I’ve played… the Univerz Fest in Belgium Invaderz stage was madness! I really enjoyed my set… over 3k ravers raving hard.
Also just got back from touring Australia, end of May 2015… gotta be one of the best places I’ve travelled to. So many nice people were so friendly and looking forward to going back.
Tons of stuff on your soundcloud, could listen all day, so what is next on the release front as you’re so busy.
Soundcloud is a great way to my music the best feedback is from Dominator & Azza mix cd called Counter Attack, hitting over 75k plays in two months…
I’ve got so much on the go at the minute, things are really busy. I’ve done a lot of remixes lately such as…
Majistrate ‘Bug Crusher’ – Dominator Remix – Sweettooth
Complex ‘What R You’ Dominator Remix – Subsalute
Levela ‘Engage’ Dominator Remix – Multi Function
Dub Berserka ‘Moon Trap’ Dominator Remix – Hoover bass
Tnt/Trend ‘2degrees’ Dominator & Logan D Remix – Kartoon
I also have lots of tracks on the go with Logan D forthcoming on Lowdowndeep and also working on a new ep for BIOBEATS. Looking forward in the showing everyone the next batch of music.
OK, any shouts?
Massive shouts to everyone supporting me in my music: it means so much to me. I’m just trying to do my bit in the seriously sick drum and bass scene, and a massive big up to every producer who sends me new music. A massive shout to my Low Down Deep and Biobeats family and also my family at home and all my close friends for all the support.
Really want to push myself to the next level in my DJing and production looking forward to the next chapter BIG UPPPPPPP!
DOMINATOR: LOWDOWNDEEP/BIOBEATS/TNA