Clubs Fatal attraction Henry Northmore talks to Magnetic Man as they prepare to take dubstep to the masses
Magnetic Man (Benga, Skream and Artwork)
I t thrived in the dark, and in underground dancehalls acolytes beat out their devotion with their feet. Now dubstep is going somewhere no one ever expected: the charts. Magnetic Man (aka Artwork, Benga and Skream) took ‘I Need Air’ into the top ten and their eponymous debut is set to become the clubbers’ album of choice for 2010.
‘At the start it was all about a club with 200 people in it, max,’ explains Artwork (aka Arthur Smith). ‘When we first started the Big Apple label we were selling 500 to 1000 copies and we thought that was good. It just moves on in little steps.’ Artwork should know – he was at the epicentre of
the fledgling scene making proto- dubstep tracks before the genre even had a name (just check out ‘Red’), while running the Big Apple store in Croyden, which counted Benga, Skream, DMZ, Hatcha, Kode9 and Plastician among its customers, many of which went on to release tracks on the affiliated record label. ‘People just went there to hang out, I had a recording studio above it,’ adds Artwork. ‘Everyone who’s big in the dubstep world came in, it was like a family. It was a great place for music to grow because everyone was in there every day, just bringing their tunes down, hooking up with other people. It was a very fast way of learning to make music.’ All three are respected producers and remixers in their own right but together they invented the Magnetic Man moniker as a front so they could release their music and gauge reactions anonymously. (‘That lasted about a week,’ laughs Artwork.) Their album is instantly accessible – they take dubstep in
new directions, taking the bass-heavy format and twisting it into fresh forms, creating new anthems featuring guest vocalists such as Katy B, Ms Dynamite and even John Legend. ‘We could have made an album of straight-up club bangers, which is probably what most people expected. But that music moves very fast – we wanted to make an album you could put on, listen to it to death then come back next year and listen to it again.’ Much like punk or drum & bass before it, purists have been quick to accuse Magnetic Man of compromise for signing to a major label – something Artwork is quick to refute. ‘We were lucky we got an A&R team who said, “Look, you’ve been touring for three years and making that music, just carry on doing it, do what you want to do, but make an album.” So we were left to do what we wanted, we wanted to make songs, the songs still go off in really underground clubs, it’s not like we changed anything.’
Their live show is spectacular, the trio performing from inside ‘The Cage’, a metal and LED construction, the lights pulsating and reacting to the music. Ramping up the bass, extending breakdowns and looping drum patterns while Katy B will provide the live vocals. ‘You can just hold the crowd with a breakdown until you know they are going to go mental and then let it go, then add another loop on top,’ laughs Artwork with obvious delight at the dancefloor destruction they can unleash. Mixed Bizness present Magnetic Man (live) at the Sub Club, Glasgow, Sat 30 Oct.
‘EVERYONE WHO’S BIG IN
DUBSTEP CAME IN, IT WAS A
FAMILY’
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✽✽ HITLIST
THE BEST DANCEFLOOR ACTION
✽✽ The List: 25 Years It’s our birthday so it’s gonna be excellent! Optimo, Wasabi Disco and Errors are just some of the myriad highlights on offer (see feature, page 12). The Arches, Glasgow, Fri 22 Oct. ✽✽ Heavy Gossip Featuring disco house and electro from Italian/Belgian duo Aeroplane. Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Sat 23 Oct. ✽✽ The Wee Chill DJ Sneak, MANDY, Daniel Wang and Cosmo Vitelli are the big names at Glasgow’s bi-annual festival of clubbing class in the park. Queen’s Park Glasshouse, Glasgow, Sat 23 Oct. ✽✽ Fortified Frights and festivities collide as Glasgow’s pioneering dubstep night celebrate Halloween and their fourth birthday with Oneman, Ben UFO (pictured) and Elijah & Skilliam. School of Art, Glasgow, Fri 29 Oct. ✽✽ How’s Your Party? Third birthday with a mouth-watering line-up of Carte Blanche (DJ Mehdi & Riton) and A la Fu. Sub Club, Glasgow, Fri 29 Oct. ✽✽ Confusion is Sex Unhinged burlesque as CiS embrace the Hallowe’en spirit with their deranged ‘Insane Asylum’. Bongo Club, Edinburgh, Fri 29 Oct. ✽✽ She-Bang Rave Unit More Hallowe’en madness as SBRU unleash a potent brew of Tokyo Bitches and Miss Penny Porn Star. Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh, Fri 29 Oct. ✽✽ Magnetic Man The dubstep triumvirate continue to destroy all before them. Sub Club, Glasgow, Sat 30 Oct. ✽✽ Vegas! Celebrating 13 years of hi-jinks featuring big bands, swing and your fabulous hosts. Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh, Sat 30 Oct. ✽✽ Hung Up! The return of Optimo’s traditional Espookio! night, the most inventive Hallowe’en party in town. Sub Club, Glasgow, Sun 31 Oct. 21 Oct–4 Nov 2010 THE LIST 35