Ghostly international

Stateside “EDM” kids a tad confused, take note: it doesn't get more “dubstep” than Caspa. Known to his mum as Gary McCann, he delivered the first ever dubstep entry of London's legendary 'FabricLive' series back in 2007 and brought the sound – previously only a whimper apart from in the clandestine circles of Croydon and its surrounding area – to the masses with collaborations with Rusko during the mid-'00s.

Now, with dubstep taking the US by storm, it's the sound that every nan and her dog wants a piece of, and there he is still at the forefront, bringing the fresh (but very real) wave to the world's biggest stages. Still buzzing off the release of his recent 'Dubstep Sessions 2012' mix (out now), featuring tracks by talent from his label Dub Police – Emalkay, The Others, Sub Scape – and the UK's most heavy – Nero, Sub Focus – alongside monoliths from across The Atlantic (including Deadmau5), we quizzed him about his what, where and how... 

'Sup Caspa, is your moniker inspired the friendly ghost of the same name?

“Yes and no. It's more inspired from the film Kids and the character in that called Caspa. He’s kinda mad and does his own thing... I liked that!”

Sorry! You must be sick of that question... Tell us about your new mix compilation?

“All good! It's 32 tracks and a DJ mix from myself with tons of exclusives from my label and other artists outside of Dub Police. I wanted to put a mix comp together that represented the true sound of what’s going on right now in dubstep from my view. It was important to have all the different flavours and textures in there.”

 Dubstep has really blown up in The States. Would you say that dynamic has contributed positively to the original scene?

“I was living out there for four months this year and, yeah, it's huge there at the moment and it's just getting bigger and bigger. I think it’s great that this sound from London is all over the place and making huge waves but on the flip side the commercial producers are trying to 'sell records' off the back of it but adding or completely writing dubstep tracks. We all know 99.9% of them are fucking shit too... But that comes with the territory of an exciting sound that has a huge younger audience. For me it’s more important to focus on the good side and what myself and Dub Police are doing to keep things exciting.”

A lot of the early UK pioneers have turned their back on the sound. What's kept you so loyal?

“I think it’s great that other guys are making other music because it keeps the scene healthy. At the end of the day it's all dubstep. Don’t get me wrong, I want to make other styles and I do but dubstep is what I do innit... I will continue to do it as long as I have the passion and desire. And right now I'm as happy as ever doing what I'm doing and making what I'm making.”

 How would you describe the current stage of your musical evolution?

“That’s musicians talk and I’m not a musician. I'm a bedroom producer – I just make what I think sounds good and keeps me excited!”

What can we expect from Camp Caspa next? Any singles, an album or sweet collabs lined up?

“Dub Police my label? We have a debut album coming from The Others which is due out end of this year but also LPs from Trolley Snatcha and Subscape. Also, I have just signed a bunch of new artists so watch out for the names of Dirty Dog, Oiki, Filth Collins and Ethic – they’re the next generation.

"Myself? I have an album which is done but not going to be out until early next year, so I'm gonna keep working on new bits for it. I also have my new single which will be coming out in October. It's way different to War my last single, almost hip hop. It features Mighty High Coup who are an up and coming hip hop crew from Atlanta. After that will be another single in Jan then the album, hopefully!”

Top tune tip?

“Halo 4 'Ascendancy (Caspa remix)'”