The Stool Pigeon

Oliver Jones, wildly creative kingpin in the development of dubstep, has always shied away from the middle-of-the-road. The man known as his old graffiti tag, Skream, started working in a record store aged 14 where, alongside fellow luminary DJ Hatcha, he immersed himself in dark beats rather than doing schoolwork. He started producing at the same age.

“One of the main reasons I got into music was that I never wanted to get stuck in a 9-to-5 when I left school,” he explains. “I didn’t want to end up in that vicious circle, looking back and thinking, ‘What have I done?’”

What Skream has already done is help dubstep escape from its protective, cult-worshipped scene in his hometown of Croydon and become one of the most relevant and fascinating global, but UK-born, genres.

Skream recalls when dubstep breathed only underground air, secretly locking itself deep in clubnight FWD>>’s subwoofers, back in 2001: “I went to the first ever FWD>> and I only missed one FWD>> at the Velvet Rooms, the original place it was held. It was still kind of that garage crowd - sunglasses, bottle of champagne - but I never really got into all that. I was there strictly to hear Hatcha play and get influenced.”

It wasn’t long before he became one of the most influential DJs at the dubstep Mecca himself. Then, in 2006, after countless scene-shaking productions, his anthem ‘Midnight Request Line’ blew up as dubstep’s ear-opening crossover tune. As their private world suddenly became popular, the close-knit crowd became divided, and Skream became one of few to embrace the new audience. “I’d waited for so long by that point,” he says. “I’d already been producing for four or five years and I had faith in it the whole time. I remember going to FWD>> when there’d be 10 people there and thinking, ‘It can’t be like this forever.’ Luckily, I was right.”

A pioneer like Skream must have felt a mixture of pride and dishonour as he watched dubstep fall into the hands of the hype machine. After all, FWD>> nights were soon running wild with suited-and-booted London Lite readers. “These days, it’s kind of gone back to its original form,” he says, with a sigh of relief. “Now on a Sunday, you don’t get the dickheads in shirts who don’t know what they’re there for - you get the purists that are actually going to hear people play.”

He stops and considers the fact that he’s spent many weekends in the last year thundering through dubstep scenes springing up worldwide. “You know, I’m not really in London enough to tell you where the scene’s at right now,” he continues. “I’m usually only here during the week.”

Skream, a prodigious producer who had over 1,500 tracks completed by the age of 17, also confesses that he’s been experiencing writer’s block recently, mostly because he’s always so drained. “I get back from a big weekend of touring and by the time my mind’s back in the right zone, I’ve got to go off again,” he explains.

Perhaps, paradoxically, he’s entered the vicious cycle he dreaded so much as a teenager. But when asked if he fears burning out, the 22-year-old laughs: “I ain’t going nowhere. I’ll be here till I’m fucking 50 - at least!”

He goes on to discuss his superb new mix for the Watch The Ride series; his collaborations with Metalheadz drum’n’bass legend Silver in Miami and Nike Run; the electro house remix of a David E. Sugar track he did for Hot Chip’s Greco Roman label (Skream’s first signed non-dubstep exploration); being approached by Bassment Jaxx (“stuff like that still spins me out!”); and triggering moshpits at Diplo’s infamous Mad Decent Mausoleum in Philly.

“I think I’m going to try to do some work with Diplo next month,” the self-confessed disco freak adds. “I might try doing that fidgety house; that Switch-y, and Sinden and Herve-esque sound. Why not, you know?”

That’s not to say Skream is about to drop out of dubstep. “No way,” he affirms. “Dubstep did go through a rut sound-wise, myself included, but it seems like it’s getting back to that versatile stage again. The garage sound’s sort of tweaking back in and techno’s got a heavy influence again as well. I think it’s in a really good place at the minute.”

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