Plastician Interview: SXSW 2010

Plastician - formerly Plasticman - is a pioneering dubstep producer and DJ from London. As well as infiltrating the airwaves and dropping bass-heavy tunes on various underground radio stations, he's produces his own noir-garage numbers and has taken charge of the controls behind the mixing desk and produced the likes of Lethal B and Wiley. He was one of the driving forces behind the emergence of dubstep and has injected an element of pop into the genre. He spoke with Spinner ahead of his appearance at SXSW.

Describe your sound.

Energetic, occasionally dark and always driven by bass. As a DJ my sets tend to include a sense of humour or fun as well.

How did you start in music?

My first real music experiences were when I discovered pirate radio whilst flicking through frequencies at home. I used to record radio shows so I could listen to them whilst working in art class at college. Eventually I brought a set of turntables from a friend in my class. I became more interested in the instrumental and darker side of garage when I started doing tapes and radio sets with MCs. After a year or so I began to dabble in production and started collaborating with other DJs in the Croydon area who were pushing the dark, dubby side of garage, people such as Skream, Benga, Hatcha, N Type, Walsh Chef, Cyrus and many others. Eventually the sound we were pushing became labeled 'dubstep' and the rest is history.

What are your musical influences?

I still take a lot of my influences from grime and dubstep but I also enjoy listening to older styles like electro - the 80s electro, not the new stuff people are calling 'electro'. I wouldn't say other styles have a massive influence on my sound, but I think subconsciously everything I listen to has some kind of effect along the way.

How did you come up with your name?
I used to call myself Plasticman because I wrote a vinyl review column. I stuck with that until I was threatened with legal action by another artist who had been using the name Plastikman since the early 90s. I decided to go with Plastician as it wasn't a drastic change but still sounded cool.

What's your biggest vice?

Vodka. I like loads of vodkas but my favourites are currently Snow Queen and Russian Diamond Standard.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Spare socks, toothpaste, vodka.

Who was your first celeb crush?

I've been racking my brain trying to think of one. Can't think of too many in my early teens, but definitely had a thing for Jennifer Ellison when I was in college.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

I love 80s pop music. Also new jack swing, although I think people probably still consider that to be cool! I've got Yazoo and Bananarama on my iPod.

Beatles or Stones?

Hmmmmm...I know more Beatles songs. Not a massive fan of either. Although I know more Beatles songs, I actually hate some of them, so I'm going to go with the Stones, as I find them more bearable.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

I saw a guy trying to have sex standing up at the front of the audience at a festival in France. It was in a smaller stage area so there was a lot of space near the front and people spotted what the couple were trying to do. His trousers were around his ankles and he had a parka jacket on. Eventually everyone at the stage began to notice what they were up to and started forming a circle around them, just watching them. After about a minute the guy noticed everyone could see what he was doing so he pulled his trousers up and ran away to applause from about 100 people.