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Introducing DJ SASHWAT

Posted by Adam

Hey all, first post of the new year (I think)! My brain is fried at the moment. I’m moving house so I’ve got loads of things on, plus, I’m quitting smoking so it’s all the more stressful. Day 3 of no smoking and I’m about ready to punch someone in the face. Anyway, this dude asked me to feature his mixtape on the site, he agreed to give me an interview too, so here we are…

Name, age, location?

‘My name is Sashwat Singh and I’m 22 years old. I’m from the USA. I previously lived in the Midwest (Milwaukee and Minneapolis), but I moved out to the east coast about a year an a half ago. I lived in NYC for a year, but currently reside in the Washington DC area.’

What made you want to get into DJ’ing?

‘I was first introduced to Shpongle, Infected Mushroom, Armin van Buuren, and Paul van Dyk. From there, I quickly expanded my taste into all forms of electronic music. This was easy for me to do, having been an avid fan of many different non-electronic genres such as Hip Hop, Metal, Jambands, Jazz, and World Music. I started off with production, but soon realized I liked listening to music a lot more than making it. I listened to a lot of DJ’s and was bothered by the loads of non-turntablist DJ’s that made no attempt to mix harmonically (It really bothers me when a DJ has no sense of what key a track is in). So, I decided to take a stab at DJ-ing and soon taught myself how to do so using a number of different mediums.’

How long have you been mixing?

‘I have been consistently making mixtapes at least once a month since March 2007 that ranged from every genre you can imagine (electro, progressive, downtempo, dnb, goa-psychedelic, trance, techno, and so on), but I quickly found my niche spinning Electro/Fidget House and did so for more than 2 years. In late 2009, a friend of mine with a $20k+ soundsystem turned on dubstep.fm (I had never heard of dubstep before) and the frequencies alone were enough to make me realize I had found a new favorite genre. I made the switch-over to dubstep almost instantly and haven’t looked back since.

Early on, before I got my DJ setup and before I knew I definitely wanted to pursue DJ-ing seriously, I made pre-recorded mixtapes on Ableton so, one could argue, I wasn’t even a DJ at that point. I didn’t even use a midi controller. I just sat down and, essentially, produced flawless mixes that were pieced together. It didn’t take me long to perfect that and get bored with it. I realized I needed to just buck up and buy a DJ setup and so I went out and bought a pair of cdj’s and a djm800 mixer, not having a clue how to use them. It wasn’t hard to teach myself, and I was soon able to make better mixes live on my cdj’s and mixer than I ever was able to on Ableton. All of my Dubstep Mixes are recorded live using no software and only my ears and that’s the way I like it. It’s more fun and it’s more fulfilling.’

Who are your favourite producers (and why)?

‘This is always a very difficult question for me to answer, because there are simply too many to list. However, here are a few producers that, in my opinion, offer something extremely diverse to the dubstep scene.

The Widdler: The Widdler is, hands down, my favorite dubstep producer. He is the first Dubstep DJ I ever saw live. His use of dynamic range and overall versatility is something that is extremely rare in present-day dubstep. His music speaks for itself and he’s just an all-around cool dude. He’s got a down to earth personality, is extremely generous, and he hooks me up with his tracks from time to time, which sort of makes me a bit biased

Stinkahbell: This is a guy-girl duo that has absolutely been killing it lately. They are relatively new to the Dubstep Scene, but have already created a gigantic mark and they’ve got a well-original signature sound. I especially love each and every collaboration they do with Psy:am. That, right there, is probably one of the best collaborative forces I have heard to this date.

Antiserum & Roommate: Speaking of collaborative forces, I had the pleasure of opening for Antiserum & Roommate in Washington DC this year. They have been two of my all-time favorite dubstep producers from the start. I actually saw Roommate at my first dubstep show alongside The Widdler and Numbernin6. That was an insane show to say the least. But production-wise, these guys are killing it. I love all of their solo and collaborative releases (OSC, Babylon System). Both Antiserum & Roommate create sounds that really cater to my taste. Their heavier productions are spot on, but I also love their more dubby releases as well. Again, two really cool and down to earth dudes.

Basically, my favorite artists include those who are consistently pushing out nothing but quality releases: Kromestar, NumberNin6, Enigma, Altimeter, Sine Here, iFa, Kaiori Breathe, Laney (of Tigerlips), Nostalgia, Sub Antix, and T Vicious are artists that come to mind. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a mediocre track by any of these artists.’

What have you been working on recently? Do you have anything due for release soon? (Apart from the mixtape).

‘Up until this point, I have been releasing loads of free mixtapes and people have been eating them up. I don’t intend to ever stop recording mixes regularly. However, as far as official releases go, this Free Unmixed Dubstep Compilation marks the first release of my new Label, Dank ‘N’ Dirty Dubz. I will be signing with a distributor very soon and I intend on keeping myself very busy next year to keep the scene moving in the right direction (meaning no basslines that sound like they come out of a tin can). My goal is to release at least 12 High Quality EP’s next year. Early 2011, I plan to release an EP by Tigerlips, a duo that is also featured on this compilation. I also intend on releasing an EP by Grave Robber, a young and very talented producer from the UK. I also plan on releasing a bunch of Free EP’s as well. We should also have a Free EP dropping by Psy:am (an artist also featured on this free compilation) early next year.’

Any shout outs you want to do?

‘First of all, a huge thanks goes out to Phraktol, who not only created the badass artwork for this release, but who will be creating the artwork for all of my future releases. Also, a big thanks to Nostalgia, who mastered all of the tracks on this release. Shouts to the Betamorph, Analogic, Crossroads, and Dubthugz crews. I’d also like to thank Fish Finger, Psy:am, HULK, Stinkahbell, p0gman, hubsmoke, Horse Force, KLOAN, Percept, Tigerlips, Cottonmouth, Hellfire Machina, Sine Here, The Secret Lemon Project, T Vicious, Sparc, Grave Robber, Roommate, Antiserum, Crimps & Cotcha and the whole DTSFEYMCCT crew, and each and every producer that is constantly hooking me up with the sickest dubs (I know I’m leaving some key players out, and I apoligize for that) — I’d be jobless if it weren’t for you all. Biggups to all the blogs that have helped promote this release and to the DubstepRecordings and DubstepTunez YouTube Channels for helping promote the tunes on the compilation. Finally, and most importantly, I’d like to thank each and every one of my fans and followers for their continued support!!! It’s really overwhelming how much love I’ve gotten this past year and it really means so much!!!’

‘Thanks for the interview bro.’

I’ll give you a few tracks from the mixtape. There are loads of artists and loads of different styles on there. I’ll just give you a few of my personal favourites…

Awesome Pulp Fiction sample in this first one by Roommate…