The genre began in the streets of London, crossed the Atlantic to the U.S. coasts, and now more than 10 years since its beginning, dubstep has finally reached Provo.
Dubstep is a relatively new type of music, which focuses on bass and drums. It began in the late ’90s, in the underground London music scene, and by 2007 it had made its way into England’s mainstream music. Dubstep is popular in the U.S., and has hit Provo with the same addictive beats that made it popular in New York and Los Angeles.
AllMusic.com wrote an article about dubstep, defining what the new genre of music was when it began.
“Dubstep was a single-oriented form and its tense, almost oppressively dark sound was built on tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples and occasional vocals,” their definition states.
BYU students have differing views on the new music genre. Jack Murphy, a junior from St. Louis, double majoring in Russian and philosophy, is a local DJ. Unlike many typical dubstep listeners, Murphy knows the history and greatly prefers the original London style. When asked his opinion on the style, he responded with a history of dubstep, as well as his opinion that what most people in the U.S. know as dubstep needs to be stamped out of society.
“It’s become so far removed from where it came from,” Murphy said. “It used to be very percussive, had a lot of shuffle, it was very dark, and very moody. It was never something to mosh to.”
The original dubstep was played in small underground London clubs for small audiences, usually less than 200 people. Those who mixed it at the beginning never meant for it to be something that could be heard on an iPod. It was supposed to be a live experience, rather than just songs.
American dubstep has changed dramatically from the scene that emerged in London. In Murphy’s mind, American dubstep is a completely different genre of music which happens to have the same name. In addition, Murphy spoke about his opinions on the many American dubstep artists who have become popular.
“Artists today such as Skrillex and all these other guys are huge in the U.S., but they could never play a show in London, because it’s embarassing,” Murphy said.
The dubstep most frequently found in the U.S. and Utah County is the dubstep remix. DJs and dubstep musicians take well-known songs, from Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” to the Harry Potter theme, and add dubstep-style bass and more drums to the song.
Although the dubstep remix is popular, it is not the only type found in the U.S. Well known DJs such as Excision, Bassnectar, SKisM and Bare Noize mix their own original tracks.
Although Murphy is not a fan, there are many BYU students who have embraced this new style.
Shaun Ramage, 20, a pre-communications major from Bellevue, Wash., is one such student. Like Murphy, he is a local DJ.
“I play dubstep every time I do a set,” Ramage said. “The crowd reacts really well, but like all things the key is moderation.”
Jason Drain, 23, is an exercise science major from Mesa, Ariz. He said his brother first introduced him to the style, and he has enjoyed it ever since. Unlike Murphy, Drain said he enjoys music from Scream, Chrispy, Bassnectar and Skrillex.
“It’s like nothing I’d ever heard before,” Drain said. “The songs are really fun, they’re energetic, and at the same time you don’t have really annoying lyrics so you can have them playing in the background.”
