Drum’n’bass has been through a weird phase over the past few years. Once the initial hype was gone, it seemed to fade into the background, with only dedicated junglists really making the effort for the mostly mid-week events. In Canberra, this trend appears to be turning around, and mostly due to the constant cajoling, convincing and downright pressuring of one DJ. Better known to his mum as Derek Steele, DJ Paf looks like finally breaking the ice and moving drum’n’bass into Canberra’s clubbing mainstream. His infamous Dubplate nights have captivated the nation’s capital with dark and nasty rinseouts and regular interstate guests. Lately, the Dubplate DJs have been rocking it with regular back room action at one of Canberra’s biggest clubs, Babylon.

ITM caught up with Paf to talk about mixtapes, mad beats and fire storms.

ITM: How’ve you been mate? What have you been up to lately?

P: I’ve been great, just managed to get a new job…. Helps pay the bills, but then again it’s taking all my free time away so I’ve been fairly rundown, with little time to spare.

ITM: You’ve been playing some pretty high profile gigs lately and a lot of those gigs have been on non drum’n’bass lineups. A lot of people would wonder why you’ve been stepping away from the underground fray – what’s up?

P: A lot of people are catching on to drum n bass, the new wave of sound is very techno-ish and easier to get into, more melody and more motion, so being on line-ups with Techno DJs gives me an opportunity to educate the new breed and promote drum’n’bass to a wider audience, without selling out.

ITM: How’d you first get into DJing, what was it that made you take the plunge and why keep skulking around record shops and the dark corners of night clubs when you could be out playing a game of cricket or something?

P: A bunch of mates back in about ‘95 – ‘96 all started getting set-ups together, using belt drive technology to keep the budget down, this was quite accessible to most types of punters, I had been going to Raves and events solidly since 1992 and through events met local DJs such as Escha, Wicked and Kaos.

Having been exposed to Jungle through an Infamous Telepathy ‘94 Bootleg tape mixed live by DJ Randall I was instantly hooked on the sound of drum’n’bass. It was my inspiration for things to come, allowing me to do my chores around the house as a teenager (all whilst playing the same tape over and over in my walkman). Luckily, I fell in with some promoters early and started playing out in 1996.

ITM: You’ve been involved with DJing and promoting drum’n’bass in Canberra for quite a while now. Just what have you been involved in over the years and what have been some of the highlights?

P: Being involved, and one of the DJs in Capital Bass was a big boost early, with major gigs like the Infamous Aphrodite gig at Club Asmara (now Mombasa), we were young and able to introduce and promote successfully around Canberra pushing the Drum’n’Bass sound towards and into the new millennium.

I was also good friends with Scott of Greenteeth productions along with Nick Harrison (aka Kaos), who were responsible for almost all the parties from 1997 – 1999. While, Synapse was involved with Sonar and Kaotic recently bringing Aphrodite alongside MC Fearless to Canberra.

With all of this I was able to continue on from previous D’n’B promoters and maintain a genre I had been down with since day one. Meanwhile maintaining a positive outlook on the effort paying off and the ideas being submitted as a collective rather than individual paths being unsupervised…our crew ‘Synapse Australia’ was born.

Our local night, Dubplate, has been great for supporting local and interstate talent. Celebrating it’s first birthday last year, it’s been providing a backbone of interstate contacts to network with, receiving sets in Melbourne and Sydney recently…with a lot more in the pipeline.

The best highlight would definitely be playing Krachmacher this year in Melbourne, Australia’s darkest drum’n’bass party by far! Big system and multi-roomed venue made for a wicked set, 450 – 500 junglists going off all night!

Major props to all that have played Dubplate and other Synapse events over the last two years – MGO, Escha, Arkation, Para, Buick, Matt’n’Kayla, Defcon1, Ed Gee, ALF, Lucian, Murda 1, Ozi Batla, Nemesis, Johnny Faith, Shellos, Ritual, Dredd & Jaycee, Kaos, Typhonic, Korrupt, D’Opus, MC Mewz, Anton, Hau (& Daniel), Low Ki, Mk1 & Frenzic (UK), Ruxspin & Trooper (Melb).

ITM: If I forced you to step up to the decks and play the most straight up set that defines your sound at the moment, how would you describe it?

P: My sets are on the Harder tip, but I always include Dark hard hitting riffs as the backbone to any set, I play as current as possible using the net to gain access to thousands of killer rubs, showcasing to people exactly what my perception on the genre is…...hard! One of my darker sets is available online HERE.

ITM: Can you give me a breakdown of your favourite 5 tracks at the moment and why?

P:
Audio Bullies – We don’t care (rmx) – white
Very successful crossover track that gets the dark remix it deserves, running amen with big riff lines make this a dance floor killer! Currently being caned on test pressing everywhere…

Silent witness & Break – Higher rates – No u turn
Fresh beats with nice low-end programming, the flip has more of that solid ’ No u turn ’ feel, bruising pitched amens with sub lined bass and Industrial pads…wicked white promo!...

Pendulum – Back to you – ?
Following a future release on low profile, this trio from Perth have hit the big time with this tune being caned by the whole UK crew, with other tracks signed to Doc Scotts 31 records and Dylans new Freaks label. Look out for ‘Vault’ also being rinsed by International dons, listen for the breakdown! Western Australia runs ‘tings proper stylee…

Total Science – Squash remix – Advanced
Both the Bad company relick and the Total science VIP are on the banging tip, typical ‘ardcore bizzness from two of the scenes most upfront producers, great pads and a great take on a classic tune by Q project & co…

Concord Dawn – Slayer – Renegade Hardware
A lot of us old are old metal fans and this track runs hard guitar licks similar to the namesake ruling over solid runnin beats, another excellent tune by my current fave producers and a forthcoming release on one of the main stables, Renegade Hardware…an awesome rub!

ITM: The world seems to be going a bit crazy at the moment, wars, refugees, fires, famines, hysteria – is it the end of days? Just kidding, but where do you see your music fitting into this sort of crazy situation?

P: Some tracks have very high energy levels where others can be deep and moody…I guess the end result is in the title of the release itself, but you can definitely feel the attitude and influence of certain issues or topics which a track is written towards.

Watching a lot of news, I get feedback from world events, which helps me channel a style and character when I’m producing at home. I was in Melbourne for a gig on January 17th, and the following day received dozens of phone calls informing me of the fires that were then raging through my home suburb and affecting many of my friends and families. I felt completely helpless… Following that experience, I spent three weeks solid writing a dark Amen tune on the subject ‘Firestorm’.

ITM: You’ve recently been messing with a bit of production, and if I remember correctly you launched the first CD at the last Dubplate. What’s sent you down this road and how do you see it working with your experience DJing?

P: I’ve been messing around trying to imitate drum’n’bass for ages, but it’s only been in the last two years with Arkation that I’ve managed to learn a trick or two. I’ve still got a lot to learn but my training as a DJ has helped immensely with achieving overall structure and sound…. Whereas Arkation has the training for great production.

Some of them I will be playing on CDR in future sets, believing the production level will be enough to capture dancefloor response. Original tracks from our 2003 promo are available HERE.

Check out the ITM Whatson for details of Paf’s upcoming gigs in your area.

If you’re in Canberra make sure you get down to the following:

APR 25: Retox @ Babylon – where Paf will be rocking the backroom with the Sydney connection (Vader, Polar, Anomaly and Tanzi MC).

MAY 31: eXXentricity @ Babylon – a fundraiser for Canberra’s community radio station 2XX, eXXentricity will feature a lineup of the best DJs and live acts in town (including Chris Fraser, Typhonic, Ben Henderson, Bec Paton, Paf, Stalker and far more to be announced).

Stay tuned for upcoming gigs in Sydney, and the next Dubplate, which is set to blow up in a premo 2 room venue packed with interstate MCs and DJs, plus the wicked locals… and on a Saturday night (how cool – a d’n’b night that’s not on a Thursday night for once!).

The Synapse website is set to go under the knife soon, but for the moment has some fresh new tracks from Paf and Arkation, plus DJ mixes, photos and news from the Dubplate crew. Check it out HERE.