Rusko Calls Dubstep the New Punk Rock

From the jazz era onward, every decade has been defined by musical change and counterculture, with underground scenes transitioning to challenge the status quo and offer new formulas of sound.

Whether this last decade will be recognized for having its own meaningful legacy is questioned by some. According to dubstep star Rusko (real name Christopher Mercer), though, it's dubstep that defines the current musical landscape -- at least in terms of a movement that embodies the recent surge of dance music.

"The thing about dubstep that's sort of different is that all other movements have their style, [but with] dubstep, you literally have all types of people," Mercer tells Spinner. "I think about that; there's no sort of 'crew' that follows. Here, it's literally everybody that's helped dubstep blow up."

Though dance claimed its rightful place in the European music scene long ago, it's taken more time to earn a large-scale following on the other side of the Atlantic. And while underground raves and DJ sets have been part of the North American musical identity for some time, it's only been recently that dubstep has started to come to the surface.

"Dubstep is a big amalgamation of the last 15 years of dance music all mixed together in the bass lounge," Mercer explains. "It's always changing. Touring every single night, it's easier to get out of touch with it, so I have to work extra hard to stay in touch. It's easier when I'm in London because UK radio plays a lot of dubstep during the day; it's a lot more radio-friendly -- radio is not commercial in London."

Like the punk-rock movement of the 1970s, Mercer sees dubstep as a reflection of its listeners, branding it "geek step" and "nerd music" as a result of its overt video game influences, but also because of its power, energy and overwhelming response.

"It's a dance music and a dance show, but there's people moshing and jumping up on the speakers and crowd-surfing -- which you don't normally get at house shows," he says. "People wild-ing out. If you were a deaf person and came to a Rusko show, you would think I was playing punk-rock songs; the way people react and the way people are dancing, anyone would think I was playing an hour of punk-rock."



"One day, I really want to fuse [punk rock and dubstep]," Mercer continues. "When you're a producer, what you're working with is very delicate. When you're rocking out as a DJ, your hands have to do really intricate stuff while your body is rocking out. I miss just being able to have a good time, to [rip on] a guitar."

Having grown up playing punk music, Mercers promises that "once there's space, there is going to be a Rusko punk band," but in the meantime, he plans to continue his DJ and production regimen, having taken to his Twitter recently to recruit dance music hopefuls.

"I just set up an email account and posted it on my Twitter account this week," he reveals. "And within hours, I had like 3,000 emails from different producers -- nobody else has that. There were loads of producers I've found, which is something I love to do."