With techno luminaries like Villalobos, Luciano and Surgeon collaborating with some of dubstep’s finest producers, as well as playing tracks from the fast emerging scene in their sets, it’s little surprise that names like Headhunter, Skream, Shackelton, 2562, Pinch and many others are releasing a distinctly techno infused take on dubstep. The convergence between these genres seems a logical progression. This new strain harks back to the early techno experiments of Basic Channel and the resulting minimal and dub-techno aesthetic. For many, dubstep would not be the same without the influence of techno.

One of the main protagonists in this distinctive sound is Headhunter, who hails from Bristol. It is widely considered the spiritual home of dubstep, and a city that has its own unique take on the sound which is now going global. With artists such as Pinch, Peverlist, RSD and fellow label mates 2562, Appleblim and Martyn, Headhunter is considered a visionary. He has long occupied his own particular niche of the dubstep scene, sitting comfortably between the ultra heavy bass styles of Skream, Benga and his Tempa label mates, and the deeper Berlin influenced Bristol side of the dubstep coin.

With two EPs released on Tempa and a string of remixes of producers such as Martin Buttrich, Brendon Moller and Antix – the winter of 2008 saw Headhunter release his long anticipated debut album. Nomad was widely considered as one of the defining albums in the genre for 2008. Now Headhunter is making his way to Australia for the first time, playing shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. We can’t wait.

Your sound is commonly described as mixture of techno and dubstep, is this a reflection of your DJ sets as well?

My music has been closely related to techno and it’s never unusual for me to drop the odd techno track in my sets. I think the two sounds go hand in hand so it’s very common for me to represent both genres in my beats and DJ sets. In saying that, my beats are influenced by a lot of genres, from psy-trance to breakbeat and early drum and bass. I would hope all of that comes across in my music and when I play. It’s very exciting to touch new territory with my music, I can’t wait to play in Australia.

How has you early interest in drum and bass shaped your current work, do you think it is a relevant as it was in the 90s?

I am still influenced by drum and bass, amongst many other sounds. When I was younger I was more interested in the early hardcore breakbeat sounds of the early 90s, and then into techstep DnB when it evolved into that. Stuff like Ed Rush and Optical, and Photek, he used spaced out sounds and a lot of atmosphere, I used to think that stuff was from another planet. DnB died for me though, it started repeating itself in a bad way. I got into psy-trance for a while, or ‘doof’ as you guys call it! Actually I still like it, a lot of its pretty samey and goes nowhere, but the real twisted and deep stuff from the UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and France is great. Production-wise I think it’s one of the most underrated and looked down upon genres. It had great energy, good atmosphere and the parties are pretty impressive, I’ve never seen décor like that of a psy-trance party.

Dubstep has certainly made its mark in terms of wobbly basslines and in some cases reggae and dub influences, but for Bristol and much of Berlin the techno element has taken the sound in a new direction. How did this come about for you?

It’s funny you know, I’m more influenced by psy-trance than techno. I do really like the whole Berlin dub techno sound too, I’m just a whore for good music I think, and when I hear something I like I try and find out as much about it as possible. Generally, anything synthey and futuristic inspires me, like Detroit or Blade Runner. But, I try not to literally take on the genres as influences. For instance, you do here some wobble in some tunes, others not so much. I take bits of everything I like and make them my own.

Your album Nomad was considered one of the best of the year. It must be flattering given some of the albums that came out in the scene during 2008. Also, to release on an album as prestigious a label as Tempa must haven been exciting?

It was great to get the album out after the hard work it took creating it, but now that everything has settled I feel ready to do newer stuff. Recently I’ve made a few tunes that are a lot more dancefloor orientated. But yeah, to release on Tempa is great, I really can’t imagine another label looking after me like how Tempa has. Tempa is a massive label and they have a huge catalogue of amazing artists, so to be a part of that family is a great privilege. I’m certain if I was signed to another label I wouldn’t have had as many opportunities.

Any plans for your follow up album?

No immediate plans for a second album. Nomad was hard work and I am still recovering from it, but I do have some forthcoming material on Tempa and some other key labels in the scene that will be kept under wraps for now. A few remixes of tunes on my album are coming from some very high profile producers. A lot of my time has been spent sorting out my live audio-visual set. Its still early days for this but a quick look on my blog will show you what we – me and my visual artist, Alex – did in Belgium recently. It’s something new and exciting and has a lot of potential for growth.

What can we expect from your sets in Australia? Do you know much about the scene here?

What I do know is that more and more UK artists are playing there, so something must be going right, apart from that I guess I will find out soon enough. Musically I do know of Spherix, a great producer. I’ve been playing his stuff for a good while now. He’s got a real deep sound that’s been a mainstay in my sets. Looking forward to checking your country out!

Be sure to catch Headhunter when he tours Australia this month:

Thu Mar 19th – Ambar, Perth
Fri Mar 20th – Laundry Bar, Melbourne
Sat Mar 21st – Civic Underground, Sydney