Finland isn't the first place you would automatically associate with the dubstep scene, but after releases from Tes La Rok and Clouds, combined with an ever expanding scene in Helsinki, Finnish dubstep is not only on the rise, but has developed its own unique sound in the process.
Desto has been making waves in the scene recently, championed by the likes of Joker and Vex'd, not to mention lots of airtime on Rinse.fm. Desto's music is heavily driven by C64 based melodies, and crushing electronic bass lines. With new releases coming out on both Ramp and Noppa, now was the perfect time to chat with Desto about his releases, and the scene in Finland as a whole.
How did the dubstep scene in Finland kick off?
A handful of people were into it in '06. It kicked off with a few squat parties in Helsinki and moved to a couple of slowly growing club nights like Slam It! run by Tes La Rok and Dead-O of Clouds and Alas run by Teeth & RRKK.
Some of the guys were attending Forward and DMZ parties at this early stage and brought back some of the vibe which was then reinterpreted in Helsinki nights. Early on we had N-Type, Chef and Pinch over and these were some of their very first gigs outside the UK.
A big part of the crowd early on was producers and DJs who were into dubstep and the DJ / producer scene kicked off nicely out here. Notably the Finnish dubstep forum, Step Ahead, brought people together to share information and vibe off the sound which I feel has had a positive influence on our scene. Right now dubstep is getting more mainstream, new event organizers moving into the field from other genres. Production-wise Finland has a very nice level and loads of young producers coming up.
How has Finland developed its own style of dubstep?
I'd say the Finnish dubstep sound is the way it is because we've always made sure that the nights include all styles instead of just throwing in the most popular banger after banger. Back in '06 dubstep was the genre that invited producers to build around a loose framework of 140bpm and sub bass and bring in their own musical influences which appealed to us. Nothing in dubstep was "big" or "dirty". It was about the sound really. We just like to keep it diverse as we come from different musical backgrounds and histories.
Who were the earliest influences on your style of music?
I started listening to Kraftwerk's Computer World on my big brother's Walkman when I was three. That album is like nursery rhymes for me and I have a very strong bond with those songs. We also had the Commodore 64 that I nowadays use for my music, so C64 games were a big influence. I used to tape the tracks to cassette as a kid. As for dubstep, I come from a background of hip-hop, mid-to-late 90s jungle/DnB and IDM so hearing Loefah, Benga and the Mystikz tunes in '06 really had a strong impact.
Looking forward to the new releases?
I'm excited that the releases are finally coming out. The oldest tune on the Noppa release, Cold VIP, was signed two years ago so I guess the saying all good things take a little time applies here! It's cool to release on Tes' label as he's a very old friend and I've been feeling Ramp's output for some time.
I like the fact that both releases have extra effort put into the graphic design of the records too and the fact that they're vinyl releases is very important to me. I'd never go for a digital-only release.
Excluding Clouds and Tes La Rok, any other Finnish dubsteppers we should look out for?
There's a lot of good up-and-coming heads that will hopefully be heard of in years to come but right now Late and TMU are making music that really moves me.
Desto - Broken Memory - Ramp Recordings (RAMP027) by stholdings
Disappearing Reappearing Ink / Broken Memory is out on Ramp on November 30th while The Desto EP featuring Gremlinz / Wizard Of Wor / Dark Matter / Cold VIP will be released on Noppa in December.
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