A Conversation w/ DJ Hatcha

DJ Hatcha's impact on dubstep is undeniable. Having been at the forefront of the first dubstep movement, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Benga, Skream and Coki (to name a few), Hatcha established a legacy for himself as one of it's initial pioneers and is renown today as one of the scene's most influencial DJs. Without Hatcha's efforts to share the movement with the masses, the successful UK scene would likely look a little different (and likely be known as something different - with Hatcha having played a part in naming the genre).

We caught up with the legendary DJ to chat all things dubstep, the artists' he'll be keeping an eye on and his upcoming Manchester Hatcha & Friends event featuring Caspa and more!

We can’t wait for Hatcha & friends next week. Have you played in Manchester before?

I’ve been playing in Manchester for a hell of a long time, it’s is always one of my favourite places to play. This is our first Hatcha & friends event in the city but I’ve worked with the Wasted Kollective before and they’re a really good bunch. Every time I play for them it’s a brilliant night so it made sense to team up with the boys to do a Hatcha & friends!

What was the thought process behind the curation of the line-up?

I haven’t had Caspa on a line-up in a very long time and he hadn’t been in Manchester for some time either. I also reached out to Oris Jay who is one of the forefathers of dubstep, one of the early pioneers. So I thought we’ve got the new stuff there, we’ve got the old stuff there, it’s a history of dubstep kind of thing. With the wasted collective residents as well, it all fits together nicely!

So what was your motive for launching Hatcha & friends itself?

I think it was just down to having such good variety and connection and having a good group of friends that are involved in the music industry with garage, dubstep, drum and bass; it’s having a wide variety of friends and being able to bring us all together and throw a party for the people! Hatcha & friends isn’t always a dubstep night, we do Hatcha & friends where it’s a mix genre night and we’ll have garage, dubstep and drum and bass all mixed up on the same night. The was the whole point of Hatcha & friends, its Hatcha and his friends throughout the industry.

Which DJs and/or producers on the rise today do you consider to be pioneers of the best contemporary sounds of the genre in that same way that yourself, scream, benga etc were when you were on the rise yourselves?

There’s so many producers out there at the moment that are absolutely really really really coming strong. I would definitely say Lost - there’s a producer and DJ called Lost from down south, I’d definitely keep an eye on him. There’s another producer called Shottem, as well as Max Mudie and a guy called Cimm. These producers they’re coming through so strong with such a good input into dubstep with their producing and own original style. The production is so clean, and they’ve got so many good ideas! Every time they’re firing over new music it’s just like wow… they’ve done it again.

With yourself having been involved in dubstep for the best part of 20 years now - I’m sure you’ve witnessed first-hand the milestones that the genre has evolved through. What do you think 2019 brings for UK dubstep?

I think 2019 is a good time now. Dubstep went through a really quiet period and I don’t know whether it was YouTube and the internet when people were typing dubstep into YouTube and getting the American sound which is more aggressive than the UK sound; which I think is a more authentic sound that has more of a swing to it and a rhythm and a vibe. But it’s come back around now and everybody seems to be so interested in it. it’s good to see that there are still so many producers and djs out there that are hungry to be involved in the genre. It’s not just in the UK – it’s all across the globe to a certain extent.

As someone involved with the USA dubstep scene – what would you say is the biggest difference between their scene and ours?

Let’s put it this way – there are certain states in America that are bigger than the whole of the United Kingdom. I think over there it’s so massive that anything that blows up over there really blows up. Once people get involved with a genre, everyone has their own take on it and their own input to make. Over there, you’ve got your minimal and your deep nights and your tribal dubstep nights; but at the same time you’ve got your big massive EDM dubstep shows. Now there’s so many sub-genres within dubstep and in America the big tear-out sound is huge.

What would you say is your favourite sub-genre of dubstep?

I’m kind of in a good place because I don’t categorise myself as being a DJ that just plays the history of dubstep or just tear out dubstep. Being a DJ’s DJ and having a good connection with everyone in the scene, I can incorporate all the genres within my set which is what I like to do. Whether it be a big tear out tune or a tribal track or a history tune from years ago – my key thing is to incorporate all of those into my set and make it work. I like to go through the range and put a story to my sets.

What’s coming up for you in 2019?

I’ve been working with a good friend of mine Danny Donnelly from Pure Media and we’ve been putting together a documentary on bass culture for the last year. That’s kept us very busy and it should be ready around March/April! I’ve got an album coming up this year as well as loads of releases on my label Hatch - we’ve just put out a release this week from Rezzo. As well as that I’ll be doing all the festivals including Outlook for my eleventh year! It’s gonna be non-stop.

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Wasted Kollective have teamed up with their good friend & Dubstep pioneer Hatcha to present to you his Hatcha & Friends brand, featuring the one and only dopest ghost in town... CASPA, for the first time in Manchester in THREE YEARS!

FULL LINE UP --------- CASPA (Sub Soldiers) HATCHA (Big Apple/Hatched) KLOUDMEN (Encrypted Audio/Hatched) ORIS JAY - DUBPLATE HISTORY SET (Texture) WALSH (Biscuit Factory Records) WASTED KOLLECTIVE RESIDENTS

HOSTED BY MC CRAZY D

Doors 10pm-3am The Bread Shed, Manchester 18+ ID REQUIRED