By Joseph 'JP' Patterson
DJ Q’s presence in the British bass/underground music scene has been felt and appreciated for over a decade. Whether it’s his garage, grime, bassline/4×4 or house productions, his radio shows, or memorable DJ sets, the Huddersfield-born music maestro’s passion for all things bass has been evident from the very beginning and, today, he is looked upon as a major player in the dance music industry. "Music has always been around me," says DJ Q. "My dad was in a soul group, and I used to always see him do his thing. I started playing the saxophone and then discovered that I liked the digital side of music more, as well as MCing, producing, etc., so I just took it up." He’s carved a pretty decent career out of it, too.
You came up through the bassline/4×4 scene, which is still doing its thing in the North of England but is nowhere near as popular as it once was in other parts of the UK. What do you think went wrong?
I think that Niche closing in Sheffield was a big thing. It was the weekly bassline event where everyone was playing and getting booked. When that closed and people stopped getting bookings, I think they just lost confidence in themselves, and the scene. Eventually, people just moved to other scenes. Like, you see a lot of bassline heads making house now. Burgaboy’s even making R&B! It’s good to see that everyone’s still got passion for music.
Are MCs to blame for ruining it? A lot of people seem to think so.
At some point, MCs get involved with everything. The house scene is probably going to have MCs on it! Grime started as garage and then turned into grime as MCs got involved. Everything evolves.
In my humble opinion, I don’t think the house scene will allow MCs to do that.
That’s what bassline DJs said back in the day: ‘No MC tracks.’ Look at what happened! [Laughs]
True. True. So, you’re currently working with a few of the scene’s other well-known figures to put together a huge bassline/4×4 revival-type rave, but do you think it’ll do the trick?
To be honest, I don’t see a big bassline revival happening. It’ll come back, but maybe as something else. In general, music works in cycles. Bassline started off slow, got a bit faster, and now I think people are still making bassline-sounding beats but it’s slower again.
UK garage is back at the forefront of British dance music, and you’ve played a big part in getting it get there – along with Todd Edwards, Disclosure, Mike Delinquent, and the return of Artful. Is it here to stay this time, though?
I think garage will live on in other genres. If you listen to Disclosure’s stuff, they’re making stuff which sounds like garage. Naughty Boy’s new tune with Sam Smith,
La La La, it’s a 2-step garage track. I don’t know if it’ll be like the
Re-Rewind days, but I would love to see it come back like that. A lot of the house beats are sounding like 4×4 garage beats these days. People sometimes call my 4×4 garage tunes house, too.
How is your new weekly show on Ministry Of Sound Radio going?
It’s good, man. It’s getting a wicked response. I’ve got the freedom to play what I want, so I’m enjoying it a lot. I’ve always been in contact with a guy called Dan at MoS, for compilations. One day, I sent him a Todd Edwards mix and he said he wanted to use it as a special guest mix on the station. That went out and, soon after, they approached me about doing a show.
It shocked a lot of people when your BBC Radio 1Xtra show wasn’t renewed, seeing as you put seven solid years of hard graft in. From the outside looking in, it seemed like the show was extremely popular with listeners up and down the UK. Are you happy with online, or do you plan on getting another national radio show in the near future?
I think it shocked a lot of people, to be honest. I was under the impression that the show was doing really well. The response from people at the station and from listeners was wicked so it was a shock but, at the end of the day, things sometimes have to come to an end. It may sound stupid, but it seems like a lot more stuff has happened since I left 1Xtra: I’ve done the FACT Magazine mix, I’ve played at Boiler Room, and I’m playing in London a lot more, which is surprising.
Radio aside, you’re also signed to Local Action, which is run by FACT Magazine’s Tom Lea. How did that deal come to fruition?
I did the
Brandy & Coke track last year and, originally, it was meant to be a free download but he got in touch, said he loved the track, wanted to put it out on vinyl and we’ve had a working relationship ever since. I sent him
Trust Again, which is a 2-step garage record, and he said, 'Let’s do this!' He asked how I felt about doing an album, and it made sense. He loves the same scene that I’m part of, so it made sense to go with someone like him and his label. With the album, just expect the unexpected. It’s a DJ Q album, but it’s not totally what you’d expect to hear from DJ Q. There are lots of influences from all styles of music, not just bassline or garage. All being well, we’re looking at a September/October release. The second single,
Through The Night, has just come out as a soft release, with the full release dropping in a few months.
Music aside, you’ve recently become an ambassador for CALM, the charity which aims to prevent young males from committing suicide. What was it about the charity that made you want to attach your name to it?
I was on Twitter and I read a news article that the number of male suicides had gone up. It kind of shocked me, because I didn’t think men had problems like that. I tweeted about it, the guys from CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) saw my tweet and got in touch. They told me more about the charity, gave me a couple of magazines to read up about it, and I instantly knew that I wanted to help out. If I can raise more awareness, then it’s a good thing.
You’ve achieved a lot in your career, and you’re still only in your 20s, but is there anything else that you’d like to get into down the line?
To be honest, I really don’t know. If I’m still doing the same thing I’m doing now in another ten years, then I’ll be happy. I want to carry on putting out music that people like and appreciate. We’ve got the Local Action album coming out, and I’ve also got an EP coming out with an American label called Party Like Us – which is run by AC Slater. The stuff they’re doing over there is similar to what we’re doing, so it makes sense to work together across the pond.
This also appeared over at MTV IGGY: H E R E
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