March 3, 2025 • 20 mins
Celebrating his first #1 on the U.S. dance charts, Sub Focus joined us for the first time on America's Dance 30 to talk all things "Push The Tempo"! He shared how the song was born w Katy B, why it took so long for the two of them to collab, and how many Vs there were of the song before its release. He also talked about how he feels w Drum N Bass finally cracking into mainstream dance!
We also got to know Sub Focus better w #FinkysFirsts!
Find out about:
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
We also got to know Sub Focus better w #FinkysFirsts!
Find out about:
- if music was the first thing he wanted to get into when he was growing up
- if 'Sub Focus' was his first choice for an artist project name, and where it came from
- his first time performing for a crowd
- the first time hearing one his songs on the radio
- the first dance song that made him fall in love w EDM
- the first thing he likes to do to "push the tempo"
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, I gotta tell you, I honestly can't believe
this is the first time we're meeting and chatting because
we've both been in the scene for so long. But
sub focus, welcome to America's Dance thirty for the first time.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Thank you for having me on the show Man.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Dance counting down the biggest dance songs in the country.
This is America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I know you are insane right now, so I can't
thank you enough for the time. You know, back in
the day, what got me into Drummond Bass was Afroditi's
woman that roles.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I'm not sure if you're familiar with that classic, yes.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
I know, yeah, like Aphrodity, he made some amazing drawing bass.
I mean he's still you know, he's still making music.
But yeah, like some of those early records of his
really caught my ears. Well, there was one called dub
Moods that I was like obsessed with when I was younger.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, man, I mean.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
Those like that's the sort of same kind of era
that I really got into. So it was people like him,
Ronnie Size Adam f like kind of late nineties stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Well, with the genre being pretty much underground for so
long as a mainly drum and bassed artist. With it
finally cracking through mainstream dance, are you just like, what
the f took you guys so long?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (01:36):
I mean I think maybe when I was getting into it,
what you know, some of what attracted me to it
was the fact that it was like this underground subculture.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
You know.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
It was kind of like, it's kind of like this
thing like if you're into it's like a secret club
that you know, you sort of like excited if you
meet somebody else who's into it too, because it's kind
of like unusual, you know. I would say that it's
been growing steadily, you know, since that time, and it's
had some mainstream moments in the UK in the last
(02:09):
you know, since like the early twenty tens. I would say,
you know, there were songs like drum bass songs getting
to the charts. I mean even in the early noughties
there were songs kind of breaking through. So it's it's
also but I think it's definitely America that's taken a
while to kind of get into drum bass, and it's
just like now that it's really starting to break through
(02:29):
and it's really exciting to be a part of that,
you know, and see it reach because I just want
to sort of spread the word of this genre that
I love.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
And yeah, it's a little bit it's not the most.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Commercial sounding genre and it's like crazy fast and all
these things that make it a bit harder for people
to understand, I think, but people are really getting into
the States now.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
I'm loving to see.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
That absolutely, And even within drum and bass, there are
you know, so many many different subgenres or slower, more
heavenly tempo like a Jess Glynn friend of mine was
more you know, down tempo ish drum and bass, So
I totally get it. But congratulations on Push the Tempo
(03:16):
with Katie B going number one.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
Yeah, I no, thanks man, I'm so pstoked about this,
you know, like it's I wouldn't have expected that at all.
You know, It's like I think it wasn't like a
record I was necessarily thinking would work in the States
all that well, because it's like it's more of a
kind of a UK record in a way. But I
think some of those type of drummer based tracks I
think is that that sort of UK flavor has sort
(03:42):
of been resonating with people in the States. You know,
tracks like Badadan, Chasing Status. You know, I feel like
I have really had some cut through.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
So yeah, it's so good to see.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Now.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
I know you had a number one on the UK charts,
but is this your first number one on the US
dance charts.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah, for sure it is. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
If I would have known that, I totally would have
brought a bottle of mow or something to pop open here. Congratulations,
Thank you man, Thank you appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Now.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I can't wait to talk about how this song was born,
especially since when I was researching it, I saw who
helped in the production, which was incredible.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
But we'll talk about that coming up.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
But first, since this is your first time on America's
Dance thirty, let's get to know sub focus a little
better with Finkey's first Okay, So, I always love finding out.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
The origin story of artists.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
When I was researching, I saw that you've been pretty
much in music forever. I mean, you started a band
when you were younger, you got into music production as
a teenager, But when you were growing up, was music
the first thing you wanted to get into or was
there something else you wanted to do when you grew up.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
I mean not to all to start with, Like I
I was about like twelve thirteen, or like maybe eleven,
I was suddenly like I suddenly got really into music,
like over and eight. I'd not really like been that
excited by it up until that moment, and I sort
of found like bands like Nirvana, and I was suddenly
(05:16):
like obsessed. And me and my friends started this band
basically before we could play any instruments at all, So
I like started playing the bass. I took up the
bass because I thought it'd be kind of easy to play,
and I think, like very quickly I wanted to get
more involved in actually writing the music and that's what
(05:37):
and I was kind of like nerdy at the time,
and that's kind of where what led me in the
direction that I went.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
But then I found quickly found.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Kind of a lot of UK dance acts were channeling
rock music at the time, so there was acts like
The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers and there were sort of
fusing dance and rock and that really got me hooked
on dance. And then I've just like been obsessed about
that ever since. Really, But I mean late nineties in
the UK drum and bass was very like it was
(06:08):
like this new, exciting type of music and I got
just hooked on that in the mid mid nineties when
I was really young, and just sort of yeah, went
from there.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Really well, I'm so glad you mentioned Prodigy and Chemical
Brothers because that was such a great era of music. Now,
when you were trying to decide on an artist project name,
was sub Focus your first choice or were there other
names you were considering?
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yeah, it pretty much was. I was like, it doesn't
really like I was. I was sitting with my friend
Sam and we were basically just sticking words together, and
I was like looking around the studio and there's like, typically,
you know, the word sub is written in a lot
of sense.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
It's kind of like, you know, the lowest base. I think.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
I just I didn't really want it to mean anything.
I just wanted it to sort of be something that
sounded like interesting to say, you know, to roll off
the tongue and be like a new word, you know.
I didn't really want it to like have connotations of
anything else.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Really well, you did a good job. I mean, it's
an epic name, So congratulations on that. Now, do you
remember the first time performing for a crowd.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Yeah, I mean I used to.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
My friend ran like a student night in Guildford and
I used to which is like close to London. I
used to live in London, so I used to come
down and play his student night when I was kind
of He was a couple of years older than me,
so he was already at college and I was I
was able to like come down and play. I was
(07:38):
sort of like, I've been djaying for a bit longer
than him, so I was sort of able to come
down and play and fill in.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
At his night.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
And I kind of like, so I had a lot
of time like just learning the ropes of djaying before
I had any music out or anything. But you know,
I used to like test my news songs and stuff
I found when I actually had as sub focused was
much more nerve wrecking though, Like I remember doing a
show in Portugal and just being like incredibly nervous, very eccentric.
(08:11):
Promoter called Marco looking after me, and I was just like, wow,
this is great. I was like I don't know if
I could do this every week, you know, because it
was when the nerves just like really get on top
of you, you know. But I quickly, luckily got used
to the feeling of playing and started to really love it.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I'm so glad you stuck with it.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah, yeah, me too.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
I mean I think it just yeah, it took I
think it probably happened to everyone. You know, it takes
you a while to adjust to that level of performance
in different ways.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
You know, Now, when you first got into playing, when
you first got on the decks, did you go right
into drummond bass because it is such a fast john
really get into.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
A friend of mine had some decks and I was
like playing around with them, but I yeah, I bought
some off this guy who was like a mobile DJ,
like a kind of wedding DJ guy. And they were
like belt drive decks, so they run basically have like
an elastic band inside them that runs them super like
kind of weak.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Like talk.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
You know, there's no kind of power there really, but
it was well. I remember when I got them, I
could kind of immediately.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Grasp how to mix. I think I was.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
I even remember doing some crazy thing where I was
I mean, I'm really showing my age by talking about
all these technologies.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
But like I had this, My mom had these two.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
CD players and I figured out that like some of
the some of the drum bass songs I had on
CD were like exactly the same bpm. So I figured
out by just playing them from two separate CD players
at the same time, you could kind of mix between them.
But yeah, so I was I think I took the
DJ in quite naturally, like it kind of made a
(09:58):
lot of sense to me immediately. And I think I
it was always like pretty obsessed with like rhythm and
stuff when I was a kid, and it really like
scratched that itch sort of thing.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Well, you're talking about dating yourself with that stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I mean I remember hearing songs on the radio and
recording on cassette and then pausing the cassette to mix
it with another song as that song came in, and
unpausing the cassette. We don't need to talk about that.
(10:37):
You've had some incredible smashes, including your latest number one,
Push the Tempo. Do you remember the first time hearing
one of your songs on the radio?
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Oh? Man, I don't remember exactly the first time, but
I think like an early support of mine was probably
saying Lowe, who was on Radio one at the time
and now on Beats.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
But he used to.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
It was probably him or maybe Annie Mack in the
UK rather than those people I'm ready one who were
like early supporters. But yeah, I mean I can't remember
the very very first time, but it was. Yeah, it's
always really exciting to hear a song on the radio.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
You know, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Now you mentioned Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers, do you
remember the first song that made you fall in love
with dance music?
Speaker 4 (11:25):
I mean I remember the first like jungle drum bassed
song I heard was like, in my class at school,
someone put on Incredible by MB featuring General Levy, which
is like it's like a kind of ragga jungle classic
basically from the mid nineties. And that was the first
(11:46):
time I've ever heard drum and bass or jungle, and
it just sounded like completely weird to me, like this
completely new, and I was immediately like incredibly excited by it,
you know, and I think I've been hooked ever since.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Well, finally, in honor of Push the Tempo going number one,
you know, drummond bass is such a fast tempo.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
What's the first thing you do to push the temple?
Speaker 1 (12:09):
What's your first thing to get an adrenaline rush?
Speaker 4 (12:14):
Well, I mean, I always find that like performing just
kind of completely like invigorates you. You know, like when you're
on the road sometimes you're like insanely tired. You mean,
like you know, flying to America and you have a
show the same night or something, but like performing just
completely blows all the couple webs away and you're just
like right there.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah, and it's such an incredible feeling standing on stage
in front of tens of thousands of people that are
just vibing with you. Let's talk about this smash. How
was Push the Temple born?
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Yeah, So I'd wanted to work with Katie B for
a long time. She's, you know, a real legend, especially
in the UK. I think she sung on like a
lot of a couple of early dubstep classics. So Katie
on her missions her a really big song with with
(13:09):
Scream and Benger and that's just like an all time
classic in the UK. So yeah, we when we got
the opportunity to work together, I was really excited and
we kind of like got inspired by that song a
little bit in and the sort of sounds that she
was using. It's kind of got these sort of electroy
(13:30):
stab sounds that you hear like coming back a lot now,
and we decided to sort of lean into that sound
a little bit and and sort of she's like, I
love herself because she's kind of like a lot of
the stuff she sings about is basically like about being
in like in clubs or like like in the sort
(13:51):
of nightlife.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
You know.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
It's not like her lyrics aren't really relationship you. They're
more about just like going out and losing yourself in
the music, which I think I think is love that.
Like if you can do that, well, that's super cool.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I think.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah, I saw that you guys had you know, cross
paths many times before. Why did it take so long
for you guys to finally collab?
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Yeah, so we've got the same pt personal trainers, so
we like had met each other loads and loads of times,
and we're both good friends with Screaming Benger as well.
So yeah, I don't know what it took us so long,
But it's like it's one of those things you know
sometimes there's like, yeah, people that you sort of mean
(14:33):
to work with for years and you just it's never
happens until until one day. But but yeah, we we
love working together and we've been like performing the song
a few times in the UK in different places.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
She's a real sweetheart. It's been really nice working there.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, you guys both did an incredible job on it. Now,
how did Punctual get into it? Is there anything that
those guys can't do?
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Yeah, those guys are great, man.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
I mean we've been we've been doing a few things
together in the studio, and.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
This is one of them.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
I think because like I work on my own a lot,
or like I have done in the past, I've sort
of trying to more collapse these dates. You know, it
really inspires you when you you know, when you sort
of like have good chemistry with some of the studio
like obviously work with John Summit last year, and just
(15:27):
I'm just trying to collaborate to kind of it kind
of helps you sort of like grows and artists and
learn new things, and just also like it can add
a little bit more fun to the process, you know,
when you're like just vibing with other people in the room.
So I'm trying to do that more now. Like for
the first ten years or so of me making music,
(15:48):
I was kind of like pretty much only on my own,
and now I'm like I try and try to collaborate
quite a bit. Obviously, me and Dimension have done a
lot of songs together as well in the last few years.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
And is it tough to start working with other people
when you're so used to just being by yourself.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
I think it's hard to like concede creative control.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
But normally.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
I'm lucky to be in the position that I kind
of I can drive that a bit. You know, if
it's your record, you know, you can kind of have
final say. But yeah, it's definitely a bit of like
more give and take. But I think it's nice because
you you know, like I find with a lot of records,
I'll kind of like get really inspired and I'll get
it to a certain level, and then I'll sort of
(16:32):
like just trying to figure out what someng like needs
to like really finish it to like it's ultimate potential.
It's hard sometimes, and like if you're working with other people,
it can really help you blow past those like creative
blocks because you know there's more people suggesting things, you
can kind of discuss it with somebody.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
It's not just like it's not so internal, you know.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Gatcha now something I love to find out about songs.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Is how many different versions there are from when you
start working all the tweaking that goes on to when
you finally mastered and put it out.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Do you remember what the final v was of Push?
The tempo?
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Ah?
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Man, I don't. Actually, I find that like a sweet
spot for me is like version ten. So a lot
of my tracks kind of get to the version ten.
But it wasn't too crazy with that song. I think
we kind of figured out what we wanted it to
be quite quickly. The first version like didn't have a prop,
(17:30):
so that was like it was kind of like it
just sort of stayed on one note on the drop.
But I kind of knew that I didn't want that
to be the case. Sort of thing we had, like
the kind of build up chords and stuff and all
Kase great vocals and stuff, and then I sort of
really like redid all the bass and the drop and
(17:51):
things like that and added a bassline and that's when
it really came together. But that one was kind of
came together quite quickly. I always like tracks that come
together quickly, but I never know whether it's just because
it's like it's you have a kind of like cleaner
relationship with the song personally, you know, because it's like
if you've been slaving over something for ages, you kind
(18:12):
of lose you don't even know if you've even really
like it ultimately after a while, whereas if something's quick,
you're like, ah, that was that was quite a pleasure,
pleasurable experience.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
I think I like this, I completely agree, but it's
so annoying that usually the songs that you don't put
a lot into or that you don't expect to do
something are usually the ones that do the most.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
No, I mean, for like, just to clarify, I don't
mean like, you know, not working on it too much,
but it's like it's sometimes if something comes together neatly,
you're like, oh, that was meant to be kind of thing.
But yeah, you never really know what songs are going
to resonate. It's hard to tell. Like sometimes something's really
cut through and sometimes they don't, And you have to
be a bit brave, I guess as a musician and
(18:58):
just sort of like trust your instincts of what you
think is good and you know, and try and like
do different things that people.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
You have to kind of lead the you know.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
I think Rick Rubin was saying this, like, you know,
the artist has to decide what you think is good.
You can't kind of do it the other way around
and sort of try And it's a mistake to kind
of look at metrics too much and be like, oh,
I think the crowd would like to hear this. You know,
it's more about you, the sort of artist has to
drive the process.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Well, congratulations on Push the Tempo going number one. It
is such an amazing song. What's next in twenty twenty
five for sub Focus?
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Well, the big thing I've been concentrating on doing next
is I've got a huge show in London Ali Paley
with my show Circular Sound, and I've just been like
working on the setup today for it, and it's looking
pretty crazy.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Oh my god, I don't even know what I'm looking
at right now.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
There's a spaceship in here today.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Is there a time that you get in on stage
in front of a setup and you're like, oh my god,
what am I in front of right now?
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Yeah? Like the label makers are your friend.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Sub Focus, Thank you so much for your time with
us on America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
Thank you so much for having me America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Counting down the biggest dance songs in the country, America's
Dance thirty
You know, I gotta tell you, I honestly can't believe
this is the first time we're meeting and chatting because
we've both been in the scene for so long. But
sub focus, welcome to America's Dance thirty for the first time.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Thank you for having me on the show Man.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Dance counting down the biggest dance songs in the country.
This is America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I know you are insane right now, so I can't
thank you enough for the time. You know, back in
the day, what got me into Drummond Bass was Afroditi's
woman that roles.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I'm not sure if you're familiar with that classic, yes.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
I know, yeah, like Aphrodity, he made some amazing drawing bass.
I mean he's still you know, he's still making music.
But yeah, like some of those early records of his
really caught my ears. Well, there was one called dub
Moods that I was like obsessed with when I was younger.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, man, I mean.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
Those like that's the sort of same kind of era
that I really got into. So it was people like him,
Ronnie Size Adam f like kind of late nineties stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Well, with the genre being pretty much underground for so
long as a mainly drum and bassed artist. With it
finally cracking through mainstream dance, are you just like, what
the f took you guys so long?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (01:36):
I mean I think maybe when I was getting into it,
what you know, some of what attracted me to it
was the fact that it was like this underground subculture.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
You know.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
It was kind of like, it's kind of like this
thing like if you're into it's like a secret club
that you know, you sort of like excited if you
meet somebody else who's into it too, because it's kind
of like unusual, you know. I would say that it's
been growing steadily, you know, since that time, and it's
had some mainstream moments in the UK in the last
(02:09):
you know, since like the early twenty tens. I would say,
you know, there were songs like drum bass songs getting
to the charts. I mean even in the early noughties
there were songs kind of breaking through. So it's it's
also but I think it's definitely America that's taken a
while to kind of get into drum bass, and it's
just like now that it's really starting to break through
(02:29):
and it's really exciting to be a part of that,
you know, and see it reach because I just want
to sort of spread the word of this genre that
I love.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
And yeah, it's a little bit it's not the most.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Commercial sounding genre and it's like crazy fast and all
these things that make it a bit harder for people
to understand, I think, but people are really getting into
the States now.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
I'm loving to see.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
That absolutely, And even within drum and bass, there are
you know, so many many different subgenres or slower, more
heavenly tempo like a Jess Glynn friend of mine was
more you know, down tempo ish drum and bass, So
I totally get it. But congratulations on Push the Tempo
(03:16):
with Katie B going number one.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
Yeah, I no, thanks man, I'm so pstoked about this,
you know, like it's I wouldn't have expected that at all.
You know, It's like I think it wasn't like a
record I was necessarily thinking would work in the States
all that well, because it's like it's more of a
kind of a UK record in a way. But I
think some of those type of drummer based tracks I
think is that that sort of UK flavor has sort
(03:42):
of been resonating with people in the States. You know,
tracks like Badadan, Chasing Status. You know, I feel like
I have really had some cut through.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
So yeah, it's so good to see.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Now.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
I know you had a number one on the UK charts,
but is this your first number one on the US
dance charts.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah, for sure it is. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
If I would have known that, I totally would have
brought a bottle of mow or something to pop open here. Congratulations,
Thank you man, Thank you appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Now.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I can't wait to talk about how this song was born,
especially since when I was researching it, I saw who
helped in the production, which was incredible.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
But we'll talk about that coming up.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
But first, since this is your first time on America's
Dance thirty, let's get to know sub focus a little
better with Finkey's first Okay, So, I always love finding out.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
The origin story of artists.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
When I was researching, I saw that you've been pretty
much in music forever. I mean, you started a band
when you were younger, you got into music production as
a teenager, But when you were growing up, was music
the first thing you wanted to get into or was
there something else you wanted to do when you grew up.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
I mean not to all to start with, Like I
I was about like twelve thirteen, or like maybe eleven,
I was suddenly like I suddenly got really into music,
like over and eight. I'd not really like been that
excited by it up until that moment, and I sort
of found like bands like Nirvana, and I was suddenly
(05:16):
like obsessed. And me and my friends started this band
basically before we could play any instruments at all, So
I like started playing the bass. I took up the
bass because I thought it'd be kind of easy to play,
and I think, like very quickly I wanted to get
more involved in actually writing the music and that's what
(05:37):
and I was kind of like nerdy at the time,
and that's kind of where what led me in the
direction that I went.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
But then I found quickly found.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Kind of a lot of UK dance acts were channeling
rock music at the time, so there was acts like
The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers and there were sort of
fusing dance and rock and that really got me hooked
on dance. And then I've just like been obsessed about
that ever since. Really, But I mean late nineties in
the UK drum and bass was very like it was
(06:08):
like this new, exciting type of music and I got
just hooked on that in the mid mid nineties when
I was really young, and just sort of yeah, went
from there.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Really well, I'm so glad you mentioned Prodigy and Chemical
Brothers because that was such a great era of music. Now,
when you were trying to decide on an artist project name,
was sub Focus your first choice or were there other
names you were considering?
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yeah, it pretty much was. I was like, it doesn't
really like I was. I was sitting with my friend
Sam and we were basically just sticking words together, and
I was like looking around the studio and there's like, typically,
you know, the word sub is written in a lot
of sense.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
It's kind of like, you know, the lowest base. I think.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
I just I didn't really want it to mean anything.
I just wanted it to sort of be something that
sounded like interesting to say, you know, to roll off
the tongue and be like a new word, you know.
I didn't really want it to like have connotations of
anything else.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Really well, you did a good job. I mean, it's
an epic name, So congratulations on that. Now, do you
remember the first time performing for a crowd.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Yeah, I mean I used to.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
My friend ran like a student night in Guildford and
I used to which is like close to London. I
used to live in London, so I used to come
down and play his student night when I was kind
of He was a couple of years older than me,
so he was already at college and I was I
was able to like come down and play. I was
(07:38):
sort of like, I've been djaying for a bit longer
than him, so I was sort of able to come
down and play and fill in.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
At his night.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
And I kind of like, so I had a lot
of time like just learning the ropes of djaying before
I had any music out or anything. But you know,
I used to like test my news songs and stuff
I found when I actually had as sub focused was
much more nerve wrecking though, Like I remember doing a
show in Portugal and just being like incredibly nervous, very eccentric.
(08:11):
Promoter called Marco looking after me, and I was just like, wow,
this is great. I was like I don't know if
I could do this every week, you know, because it
was when the nerves just like really get on top
of you, you know. But I quickly, luckily got used
to the feeling of playing and started to really love it.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I'm so glad you stuck with it.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah, yeah, me too.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
I mean I think it just yeah, it took I
think it probably happened to everyone. You know, it takes
you a while to adjust to that level of performance
in different ways.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
You know, Now, when you first got into playing, when
you first got on the decks, did you go right
into drummond bass because it is such a fast john
really get into.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
A friend of mine had some decks and I was
like playing around with them, but I yeah, I bought
some off this guy who was like a mobile DJ,
like a kind of wedding DJ guy. And they were
like belt drive decks, so they run basically have like
an elastic band inside them that runs them super like
kind of weak.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Like talk.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
You know, there's no kind of power there really, but
it was well. I remember when I got them, I
could kind of immediately.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Grasp how to mix. I think I was.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
I even remember doing some crazy thing where I was
I mean, I'm really showing my age by talking about
all these technologies.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
But like I had this, My mom had these two.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
CD players and I figured out that like some of
the some of the drum bass songs I had on
CD were like exactly the same bpm. So I figured
out by just playing them from two separate CD players
at the same time, you could kind of mix between them.
But yeah, so I was I think I took the
DJ in quite naturally, like it kind of made a
(09:58):
lot of sense to me immediately. And I think I
it was always like pretty obsessed with like rhythm and
stuff when I was a kid, and it really like
scratched that itch sort of thing.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Well, you're talking about dating yourself with that stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I mean I remember hearing songs on the radio and
recording on cassette and then pausing the cassette to mix
it with another song as that song came in, and
unpausing the cassette. We don't need to talk about that.
(10:37):
You've had some incredible smashes, including your latest number one,
Push the Tempo. Do you remember the first time hearing
one of your songs on the radio?
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Oh? Man, I don't remember exactly the first time, but
I think like an early support of mine was probably
saying Lowe, who was on Radio one at the time
and now on Beats.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
But he used to.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
It was probably him or maybe Annie Mack in the
UK rather than those people I'm ready one who were
like early supporters. But yeah, I mean I can't remember
the very very first time, but it was. Yeah, it's
always really exciting to hear a song on the radio.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
You know, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Now you mentioned Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers, do you
remember the first song that made you fall in love
with dance music?
Speaker 4 (11:25):
I mean I remember the first like jungle drum bassed
song I heard was like, in my class at school,
someone put on Incredible by MB featuring General Levy, which
is like it's like a kind of ragga jungle classic
basically from the mid nineties. And that was the first
(11:46):
time I've ever heard drum and bass or jungle, and
it just sounded like completely weird to me, like this
completely new, and I was immediately like incredibly excited by it,
you know, and I think I've been hooked ever since.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Well, finally, in honor of Push the Tempo going number one,
you know, drummond bass is such a fast tempo.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
What's the first thing you do to push the temple?
Speaker 1 (12:09):
What's your first thing to get an adrenaline rush?
Speaker 4 (12:14):
Well, I mean, I always find that like performing just
kind of completely like invigorates you. You know, like when you're
on the road sometimes you're like insanely tired. You mean,
like you know, flying to America and you have a
show the same night or something, but like performing just
completely blows all the couple webs away and you're just
like right there.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah, and it's such an incredible feeling standing on stage
in front of tens of thousands of people that are
just vibing with you. Let's talk about this smash. How
was Push the Temple born?
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Yeah, So I'd wanted to work with Katie B for
a long time. She's, you know, a real legend, especially
in the UK. I think she sung on like a
lot of a couple of early dubstep classics. So Katie
on her missions her a really big song with with
(13:09):
Scream and Benger and that's just like an all time
classic in the UK. So yeah, we when we got
the opportunity to work together, I was really excited and
we kind of like got inspired by that song a
little bit in and the sort of sounds that she
was using. It's kind of got these sort of electroy
(13:30):
stab sounds that you hear like coming back a lot now,
and we decided to sort of lean into that sound
a little bit and and sort of she's like, I
love herself because she's kind of like a lot of
the stuff she sings about is basically like about being
in like in clubs or like like in the sort
(13:51):
of nightlife.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
You know.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
It's not like her lyrics aren't really relationship you. They're
more about just like going out and losing yourself in
the music, which I think I think is love that.
Like if you can do that, well, that's super cool.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I think.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah, I saw that you guys had you know, cross
paths many times before. Why did it take so long
for you guys to finally collab?
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Yeah, so we've got the same pt personal trainers, so
we like had met each other loads and loads of times,
and we're both good friends with Screaming Benger as well.
So yeah, I don't know what it took us so long,
But it's like it's one of those things you know
sometimes there's like, yeah, people that you sort of mean
(14:33):
to work with for years and you just it's never
happens until until one day. But but yeah, we we
love working together and we've been like performing the song
a few times in the UK in different places.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
She's a real sweetheart. It's been really nice working there.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, you guys both did an incredible job on it. Now,
how did Punctual get into it? Is there anything that
those guys can't do?
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Yeah, those guys are great, man.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
I mean we've been we've been doing a few things
together in the studio, and.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
This is one of them.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
I think because like I work on my own a lot,
or like I have done in the past, I've sort
of trying to more collapse these dates. You know, it
really inspires you when you you know, when you sort
of like have good chemistry with some of the studio
like obviously work with John Summit last year, and just
(15:27):
I'm just trying to collaborate to kind of it kind
of helps you sort of like grows and artists and
learn new things, and just also like it can add
a little bit more fun to the process, you know,
when you're like just vibing with other people in the room.
So I'm trying to do that more now. Like for
the first ten years or so of me making music,
(15:48):
I was kind of like pretty much only on my own,
and now I'm like I try and try to collaborate
quite a bit. Obviously, me and Dimension have done a
lot of songs together as well in the last few years.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
And is it tough to start working with other people
when you're so used to just being by yourself.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
I think it's hard to like concede creative control.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
But normally.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
I'm lucky to be in the position that I kind
of I can drive that a bit. You know, if
it's your record, you know, you can kind of have
final say. But yeah, it's definitely a bit of like
more give and take. But I think it's nice because
you you know, like I find with a lot of records,
I'll kind of like get really inspired and I'll get
it to a certain level, and then I'll sort of
(16:32):
like just trying to figure out what someng like needs
to like really finish it to like it's ultimate potential.
It's hard sometimes, and like if you're working with other people,
it can really help you blow past those like creative
blocks because you know there's more people suggesting things, you
can kind of discuss it with somebody.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
It's not just like it's not so internal, you know.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Gatcha now something I love to find out about songs.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Is how many different versions there are from when you
start working all the tweaking that goes on to when
you finally mastered and put it out.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Do you remember what the final v was of Push?
The tempo?
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Ah?
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Man, I don't. Actually, I find that like a sweet
spot for me is like version ten. So a lot
of my tracks kind of get to the version ten.
But it wasn't too crazy with that song. I think
we kind of figured out what we wanted it to
be quite quickly. The first version like didn't have a prop,
(17:30):
so that was like it was kind of like it
just sort of stayed on one note on the drop.
But I kind of knew that I didn't want that
to be the case. Sort of thing we had, like
the kind of build up chords and stuff and all
Kase great vocals and stuff, and then I sort of
really like redid all the bass and the drop and
(17:51):
things like that and added a bassline and that's when
it really came together. But that one was kind of
came together quite quickly. I always like tracks that come
together quickly, but I never know whether it's just because
it's like it's you have a kind of like cleaner
relationship with the song personally, you know, because it's like
if you've been slaving over something for ages, you kind
(18:12):
of lose you don't even know if you've even really
like it ultimately after a while, whereas if something's quick,
you're like, ah, that was that was quite a pleasure,
pleasurable experience.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
I think I like this, I completely agree, but it's
so annoying that usually the songs that you don't put
a lot into or that you don't expect to do
something are usually the ones that do the most.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
No, I mean, for like, just to clarify, I don't
mean like, you know, not working on it too much,
but it's like it's sometimes if something comes together neatly,
you're like, oh, that was meant to be kind of thing.
But yeah, you never really know what songs are going
to resonate. It's hard to tell. Like sometimes something's really
cut through and sometimes they don't, And you have to
be a bit brave, I guess as a musician and
(18:58):
just sort of like trust your instincts of what you
think is good and you know, and try and like
do different things that people.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
You have to kind of lead the you know.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
I think Rick Rubin was saying this, like, you know,
the artist has to decide what you think is good.
You can't kind of do it the other way around
and sort of try And it's a mistake to kind
of look at metrics too much and be like, oh,
I think the crowd would like to hear this. You know,
it's more about you, the sort of artist has to
drive the process.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Well, congratulations on Push the Tempo going number one. It
is such an amazing song. What's next in twenty twenty
five for sub Focus?
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Well, the big thing I've been concentrating on doing next
is I've got a huge show in London Ali Paley
with my show Circular Sound, and I've just been like
working on the setup today for it, and it's looking
pretty crazy.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Oh my god, I don't even know what I'm looking
at right now.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
There's a spaceship in here today.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Is there a time that you get in on stage
in front of a setup and you're like, oh my god,
what am I in front of right now?
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Yeah? Like the label makers are your friend.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Sub Focus, Thank you so much for your time with
us on America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
Thank you so much for having me America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Counting down the biggest dance songs in the country, America's
Dance thirty
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