Why N-Type Never Left Dubstep

At this point in his career, Mark Newton has so many records that it's causing his house to collapse. The sheer magnitude of his collection is literally beginning to seep through the cracks. "It's eating my house alive man," he exclaims. "Because of all my dubplates, which weighs a shit load, the ceiling downstairs is getting these fucking cracks! I have too much weight in that front room. I have to spread it out a bit more… eat my dinner off my records and shit like that."

A long-time member of Rinse FM, Newton, aka N-Type, has been a solid member of the UK dubstep scene since its infancy. With his background in jungle and garage, the British DJ and producer caught wind of the heavy South London sounds of dubstep in the early 2000s and dove right in. "I always used to go and shop in Big Apple Records in Croydon," recalls Newton. "That was my main place to shop in. That was the main place we hung out at."

Newton would scour the record selection and mingle with shop employees, burrowing himself deep in the low frequencies of the bass. "We used to meet so many people from the record shop. Now with the digital side, you miss that. I think you have to look even more," he says. "Once you start shopping at a record shop, the owner begins to learn what you like and he'll say, 'hey man, check this out.' I preferred that. When music went digital it was less fun than going to the record shop."

In 2009 Newton launched his own label, Wheel & Deal Records, which featured the burgeoning dubstep genre and similar sounds to that of dubstep's dark, grimy style. In addition, he teamed up with fellow producer Hatcha to inaugurate Sin City Recordings, another one of London's core underground bass music record labels. With two record labels and a DJ career that now had him touring the world, Newton had solidified his position within the dubstep community.

However, in 2013, rumours began circulating that dubstep was dead. Although the finger was pointed at Coydon's dubstep poster boy, Skream, who was accused of declaring its demise, it was clear by the scene's dwindling numbers that a large portion of dubstep's mainstays had moved on.

Yet, while many were busy exploring other styles of electronic music, a handful of dubstep's pillars remained true to the genre—this included Newton. It was only in dubstep that Newton found the many facets to satisfy his cravings for raw, heavy, bone-rattling tunes. "For me, what I liked about dubstep originally, were the many different influences coming through," tells Newton. "You had jungle coming through, you had reggae, you had all the little key elements from the kind of music that I liked all merging into one thing. There were so many good ideas coming into it."

Newton stuck by dubstep, but he wasn't blind to the issues that began to surface within the music as a result of its merger with the more aggressive and overly indulgent sounds from overseas. "The music became stale as fuck," he states. "The thing with Skrillex and those guys, there were elements of some of the 'jump up' stuff that I liked. When new sounds came through I thought, 'Yeah that sounds different. That's original.' I like it when people push things in certain ways. But the stuff that was coming up, like the 'jump up' brostep stuff, went fucking crazy. It wasn't my cup of tea because it didn't feel like the tunes had soul in them. It was more like music for reaction. It felt very impersonal."

Yet like its musical predecessors, South London's roots dubstep never fully plummeted, it simply went back underground. While the hype surrounding brostep permeated North American EDM rave culture, UK dubstep took a backseat and waited for its moment to re-emerge. "Well look what happened with drum and bass and garage from when I started writing tunes around '94," explains Newton. "There was loads of shit. But then I saw a lot change with drum and bass. It went into that stage where it became very hype and they started calling it clown step. That was around 2000. That was really extreme drum and bass, really extreme jump up. And that's exactly what happened with dubstep."

More recently, the original styles of UK dubstep has been making a comeback. Now that the dust has begun to settle from the initial rumble of large scale North American mainstream brostep, the old dubstep flame has been rekindled. "I played dubstep and some grime," says Newton in regards to a recent show in Vancouver. "And the vibe [at the venue] was fucking wicked! That was the feeling that I used to get from the good people and places like DMZ and Forward. I'd just be on my own in the dance. Those were places where it was packed with like-minded people on a vibe. Vibe is the most important thing."

Though dubstep may have taken a turn when it left the sweaty, dark, underground clubs of South London, revivals of the original sounds remind us of what was left behind. During one of his recent residency nights at XOYO, Skream called in the heads Plactician, Coki, Hatcha, Loefah, Youngsta, Benga, and others to play the foundational tunes that paved the way for a genre that would eventually sweep across electronic music worldwide. The night was reportedly a monumental evening. On his Rinse FM show, Youngsta aired the recording of the reunion and mentioned the possibility of more to come.

Newton maintains that it's not only quality music that makes a scene, but also the vibe of the community. The early days of dubstep, with its unmatched vibe, has undoubtedly made its way into the great compendium of electronic music history. "The reason why it had that vibe was because everyone had the same understanding of what was going on. Like, the other night I wasn't just playing old stuff, I was also playing new stuff. And the new tracks were coming through just as good as some of the classics tracks by Coki or Mala, artists like that. I think it's how you introduce it to people. It's just about keeping that vibe."

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