Within my genre, there are many sub genres. For example there’s Dub’s, which are based more on sub bass melodies, whilst Bassline has a strong sub bass as well as an aggressive high end synth following the melodies. However these sub genres aren’t easily definable, its actually more of a spectrum in ways. For example, Shadow Crooks have a very energetic, fast dynamic and high end synths, they classify themselves as Bassline artists, however they actually have a style much more similar to Jump Up or D&B. Whilst Shaun Dean makes more Dub style tracks, but still classifies himself as Bassline. An easy way to visualise the spectrum is to take into consideration the style of synth, speed, and type of drum pattern, etcetera, and make a judgement on how energetic their music is. The closer they are on the spectrum, the more likely they are to have similar fan bases and events, etcetera.
In this section I want to use examples of artists to try and explain where I am on the spectrum and what genres I should classify as.
Cajama is one of, if not the, biggest Bassline DJ and producer in the UK at the moment. His style is fairly energetic in the sense that he uses very aggressive synths, but doesn’t reach high tempos like D&B artists do.
Watch him perform here.
Listen to some of his tracks here.
Shaun Dean has been making tracks for a long time, and sticks to the older style of Bassline when producing his tracks. Meaning he usually has a slower tempo, less energy and is more like modern Dub music than Bassline. However, he also quite often headlines events, meaning that when he performs, he’s more likely to perform tracks like Cajama does.
Watch him performing live here.
Listen to some of his tracks here.
Skepsis is one of the most well known artists in the genre due to his great networking skills, he is what you could call the ‘pop’ artist of UK Bass. He’s worked with artists such as Example and Skrillex,and repeatedly works with artists like Bru-C, Window Kid and P Money, some of the biggest names in Bassline and UK Rap. When listening to his music, it’s clear to tell that he tries very hard to keep his tracks at a certain level of energy, especially recently. Almost as if hes found a sweet spot that allows him to satisfy as many of the fans of UK Bass as possible. If we were to place him on the spectrum, he would probably be right around the centre.
(Left Bru-C, right Skepsis)
Watch him perform here.
Listen to some of his tracks here.
As you can see, between the three of them, they all make individually different sounding tracks, all aiming for a different level of energy, however, when performing, they all play tracks that are very energetic and aggressive, without much of a difference between the three of them. This means that I cant base my position on the ‘spectrum’ on my style of performance, only on the tracks I make.
For me, this makes it quite difficult to figure out where I am because I produce a fairly wide variety of different tracks, like D&B, Bassline and Bass House, three completely different levels of energy. However, I do have a particular focus on Bassline and Bass House, and so I’d say im some where in the middle of the two. Which would put me in between Shaun Dean and Skepsis. However, the tracks I have made that have been more energetic, I would say are the best tracks I’ve made, and so I could actually be better suited somewhere in between Skepsis and Cajama.
For my career as a DJ and producer to be successful, I need to find my place on this spectrum, find my specific style and stick to it. Look at the wonders it’s done for these three artists, they’re all headliners at almost every UK Bass event in the country, and internationally. They all have a signature sound that can be identified anywhere. The same goes for almost every other big DJ and producer in the country, like Chris Lorenzo, NLMT, Darkzy, Dubstinkt, and many, many more.