By Anthony Camara
Daily Bruin Contributor
Forget about the mind-boggling number of subgenres, the
hush-hush dance parties in out-of-the-way places, the shady
characters, substances, and lack of larger-than-life frontmen
““ techno hasn’t taken hold in the heartland because
America’s too steeped in its own rock ‘n’ roll
roots.
Sure, there are some notable exceptions like Fatboy Slim and the
multi-million seller Moby, but electronic artists who have blown up
in the states generally have one thing in common: they make techno
that rocks. DJ and producer Dieselboy (Damian Higgins) is no
exception, although his take on electronic music is drastically
different than anything that’s invaded the American
mainstream.
A pioneer of the genre known as drum and bass, Dieselboy started
playing to crowds in 1991. Since then, he’s cut two
critically acclaimed albums on Moonshine Records and started
Platinum, a Thursday night event in Philadelphia that’s
become a landmark on the American dance circuit. He’s
witnessed hardcore music’s evolution into drum and bass
““ and it wouldn’t be inappropriate to say he’s
played a huge role in the latter.
“I remember back in the day when I started playing I saw a
record that said “˜130 BPM: Breaks the Sound
Barrier,'” Dieselboy recalled in a recent phone
interview. “The music just got faster and faster and the bass
lines kept changing … new studio techniques pushed the music
farther and farther away from everything else out there.”
To say that drum and bass is far from anything else out there is
an understatement. While most electronic music continuously loops a
beat, drum and bass thrives on innovative drum programming and
complex bass lines. The catchy samples of traditional techno are
often absent, replaced by characteristically warped sounds.
The end result is something of a paradox ““ the music
retains a sort of simplicity due to its emphasis on percussion, yet
feels futuristic on account of its extreme speed, electronic
aspects and streamline arrangement.
Dieselboy’s latest release, “The 6ixth
Session,” personifies these elements over the course of two
discs ““ one of which is a DJ mix while the other is
Dieselboy’s own EP. The album showcases a wide variety of
drum and bass, but if there’s one unifying element between
the two discs, it’s speed.
“In the drum and bass set, there are ways to go downbeat,
but usually, when you’re playing, you’re trying to get
the crowd going and keep the energy up,” Dieselboy said.
“So, I want to keep the speed up. You don’t want to
lose your crowd.”
If anyone is qualified to gauge the energy of a drum and bass
track, it’s certainly Dieselboy. After settling in the East
Coast, he took a job at 611 Records, the seat of
Philadelphia’s rave underground, as the drum and bass record
buyer and graphic artist. In addition, his childhood reads like a
resume for a DJ/producer.
“I used to be a drummer, and I breakdanced a lot in
school,” he said. “And I’ve always been into cool
drum programming. When the music started branching off into
different genres, I stuck with the one that became drum and bass
because it had a very progressive sound with a universal
appeal.”
This universal appeal is evident on “Invid,” a track
from Dieselboy’s EP disc. The song pairs furious
multi-layered percussion with synth stabs and Operatic vocals
““ in short, the soundtrack to your new $5,000 dollar Dell
desktop crashing and burning.
“I wanted to do a track with an extremely epic breakdown,
an end-of-the-world kind of sound,” he said of the song.
“I thought, if I can do this right, this is the kind of track
that’s going to get played out, and people will remember
it.”
Another thing people aren’t likely to forget about
Dieselboy is Platinum, his Thursday night drum and bass event that
has become a fave stop for Philadelphia club-goers and
world-renowned DJs alike.
“Initially, I didn’t want to do a nightclub; I
didn’t want to be a resident and play myself out in
Philly,” he said. “I wanted to keep it fresh so when I
got the occasional gig, people were excited about it.”
“However, I was offered a night by a club owner who gave
me full creative control ““ the name, to the graphics, to the
DJ booking,” he continued. “It’s a nice club with
a good reputation, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to
present drum and bass the way I wanted it to be
presented.”
Dieselboy approaches his live sets with the same insatiable work
ethic. Often going to great lengths to obtain brand new or
unreleased tracks, the artist requests material from fellow DJs,
buys new albums in bulk from record stores, and even overnights his
own digital audio tapes to dub plate factories so he can spin his
latest work.
If DJing and producing wasn’t enough already, Dieselboy
has also organized “The Planet of the Drums Posse” with
DJ Dara and AK1200. The Posse has already toured once, with great
success, and future collaborations are currently in the works.
In the world of drum and bass, if there’s one thing faster
than the songs themselves, it’s the rate at which the genre
evolves.
“In the beginning, there was a core of strong producers on
the same vibe,” Dieselboy said. “They wanted to speed
up the music, make it much more complex. They just weren’t
interested in making four-on-the-floor dance tracks.”
Thankfully, neither is Dieselboy.