Caspa and Rusko: Watch a lot of British comedy films, and use it in tracks

Dubstep.lt lyderis Mark Splinter kalbina Caspa ir Rusko, kurie gruodžio pradžioje išleido Fabriclive 37 miksą. Interviu originalo kalboje. Kalba netaisyta.

How can you describe this dubstep sound to the dnb audience out here in Lithuania?

Caspa: In your face, edgy, dancefloor, it's got everything, it's got all different flavours in it man. It's what me and rusko are about, and it's what we do best, it's got every type of sound that we push in our (record) bags, dubplate vinyl...

Rusko: It's very uptempo...

Caspa: Very uptempo, very relentless, for the most part it's pretty full on.

Yeah we're feelin that, i mean you make a big point of being party DJs, and i guess dubstep got a bit of a reputation for being quite dark out here, but you reckon this mix can do something to change that.

Rusko: I hope so, there's a lot of different sides to dubstep, which i think is what helped it grow, and allows people to latch on to it. The sound on the CD, and my tracks and Caspa's tracks are pretty jumpup sort of style, there's a bassline and energy.

So do you think there's this connection between you being live DJs as well as producers, in this old tradition of keeping the dance vibe going?

Rusko: Errr... i think so, yeah I definitely say so. Now when i come home from a couple of gigs, i'll just be head down in front of a computer, trying to get something more hype and even better for the next rave in a couple of days' time.

Caspa: You've just got to do what you wanna do, if you're into it and you're feeling it then that's the main point. If you start doing stuff you don't enjoy, just for the dancefloor, then there's no point doing it. But we actually enjoy making hype tunes and we enjoy making...

Rusko: That's it, you've got to get yourself in it.

Caspa: We don't just make (jumpup) that, we make all different types of sound but we enjoy making what we make, and that's more important and comes across.

Rusko: You gotta make yourself, get on it, you know?

Well, I've noticed that a lot of the producers out here that are starting to look at dubstep... they're all the really musical ones that have had musical inspiration all their lives, they've learnt other instruments, they've learnt classical music, and they've got a lot to put into the music. I noticed Rusko you got some classical training as well, do you think this is all coming together in dubstep?

Rusko: I think so yeah, there's a lot more musical... I mean a couple of years ago it was a lot simpler, a lot more minimal in the sounds, and as you say, kinda dark. But now there's loads more melody, and energy, and I think that's how me and Caspa work well together. I play bass and sax, and I've always been a producer, I've done music theory training, and Caspa comes from DJing and building the beats... so we put together the melodies and the beats and the DJing, bring two different sides and put it together. Hopefully it's a good combination!

Caspa: Yeah definitely, we work well together DJ wise and production wise, if we didn't work well together we wouldn't do it.

Well I've gotta ask you about Cockney Thug, my dad's almost a cockney... and that track's amazing. You put in a lot of London accent and swearwords and stuff, so I'm interested from a Lithuanian angle because we're making stuff out here as well. How important is it to bring your local vibe into your tunes?

Rusko: Oh VERY much, very much. It's just kind of like the old hiphop thing of keeping it real, showing people what you are about. I do that with the bassline, or I show people what I'm about with my samples, showing my thing. That's what making tunes is really, saying "here's my take on it, what do you think?".

Caspa: Yeah, when people start copying people, that's when it just sounds like a watered down version of something that's already been done. You gotta do what you wanna do. Whatever your influences are, use them, because obviously you're passionate about them. You've got influences for a reason, you like it, so use those influences, put them in a tune. That's exactly what I do, I watch a lot of British comedy films, and I use that in my tracks.

Rusko: I think it's humour as well, that's another thing...

That's what I wanted to ask, because dubstep can't be dark if it's got jokes in it...

Rusko: Yeah exactly, but there's still a lot of people like Pinch, the Skull Disco boys, Mala and DMZ, they're doing the deep sounds, the dubby sounds, their sound is one sound and our sound is still dubstep but it's a different thing. It's got humour, it's a different thing. We just keep doing it.

So do you think that is strengthening the dubstep scene as a whole, or will it go like it normally goes and split up into different people arguing about what is dubstep and what isn't dubstep?

Caspa: The only people who are gonna argue about what's dubstep and what isn't dubstep are people that have nothing else to do, they just sit on a forum and chat absolute rubbish. I think we should just let the scene do what it's going to do, let it evolve like it is now. Not everyone likes really minimal dubstep, not everyone likes heavy dancefloor dubstep, not everyone likes dubstep with dnb or breaks influences, but you know what? You can't please everyone, everyone's different, just enjoy the sounds of dubstep and keep moving naturally. If you start getting really anal about it, like if you are offended by something that's in a dubstep tune, then you are in it for the wrong reasons. Just enjoy it man.

Rusko: I think the main thing is that all the DJs play in the same room, rather than one sort of DJ in one room and one in the other. All the DJs play in the same room to the same audience, whether it's Mala doing a deep dubby set, me and Caspa doing craziness, everyone brings their own thing...

So you think the audience is still open to all the new directions, it hasn't got all bogged down yet?

Caspa: No of course not, and it's not going to get bogged down, you know why? Because the scene is so.... there's no boundaries. There's influences from techno, house, breaks, electro... I mean why has the scene got so big? Why are so many people from techno and house and dnb coming on to dubstep? It's because there's something there for everybody, everyone can relate to it and react to it, and that's brilliant. I think it will stay like that as long as the artists and producers keep it like that.

Well that's wicked to hear, you know living out here it's good to hear some good vibes coming from London and to know it's going to keep coming, because it's just taken off out here, it's just going mental.

Rusko: Yeah we're really excited about it, I mean Fabric are as well, they've always been famous for being exciting and daring when it comes to new music, they saw the excitement in me and Caspa in our sets, the enthusiasm we have for the music, and that's why they chose us.

Caspa: I think that's why it's worked out really well, because the guy that runs Fabric, Keith, he's so passionate about music, and he saw that passion in us. Alot of people there say it's good to see two guys so passionate about music, not just doing it because it's a money thing or a job. We actually love it, getting paid is just a bonus really.

True. Well I hope we're going to get some Lithuanian influences back to you because we're working hard out here, so there'll be something coming back at you.

Rusko: Hope so!

I'm pretty sure this mix has the power to turn the scene around, if people can hear yet another side of dubstep coming, then they know that there's definitely something there that they can get hold of, and it's not just the two tunes they heard already.

Caspa: It's an evolving market you know, they've got a Fabric list with 8000 members who will get the CD as soon as it comes out, so that's 8000 people that it never hit before, let alone distribution worldwide. I think it's going to do big things, not just for me and Rusko, but for the scene, the producers, the labels, the promoters, it's going to take it forward.

OK man, that's been unreal, and encouraging information!! The invite is in the post.

More info: http://www.myspace.com/caspadubstep http://www.myspace.com/ruskonfire http://www.fabriclondon.com/label/release.php?item=fl37/cas