Skream Interview

Just a few years ago, Skream was the leading man in Dubstep, but since embarking into the Disco realm and playing his last set of the bass-heavy movement in May 2013, there’s a new sound coming from him that’s making waves. With the music scene all a-buzz with what’s next for this Croydon kid, we speak to him about his new direction, what’s inspiring him at the moment and the unknown future of his three-way collaboration, Magnetic Man.

Hi Ollie, how are you?
I’m good, thank you. How are you?

We’re very well, thanks! What have you been up to recently?
Djing, doing shows, waiting for my studio to be finished… Being a father! I was in America and Mexico at the start of the year, which was amazing. It’s been a busier start to the year than usual because I used to normally be in New Zealand and Australia over New Year, so having a full-on American schedule was a bit weirder!

You were one of the leading acts in Dubstep; where did your ear for the sound originally come from?
From my own brother – he played Jungle in the early ‘90s – and just being in London, pirate radio stations, and I worked in a record store for most of my school years so that was a huge influence on me. It was the pioneering record store for underground music, so definitely a lot of it lies there.

You spoke last year about feeling uninspired; were you referring directly to Dubstep?
It was more or less. With the stuff I was doing in clubs, I just fell out of love with it. I was finding a lot more inspiration elsewhere, and doing a lot of big American festivals, I found myself playing records that I wouldn’t have usually played just to please the crowd. In a way, I started doing what I’m doing now. The stuff I originally was making was not what you find if you type Dubstep in online; that was when I loved what I was doing the most. And times changed; it happens in every music category. I found myself wanting to play House and Techno more and more, especially two years ago when Boddika stopped making Drum & Bass, I was in the studio with him a lot of the time so that was stuff was really inspiring me to make music, which is important to not become a soulless person. I don’t want to be dictated by my past.

So, you’ve been incorporating Disco and House into your more recent music, including ‘Rollercoaster’ with Sam Frank; what was the reaction to such a move?
To be fair, people that have been fans of mine for a long time know my love of Disco – when I was on Rinse FM I did two or three years of pure Disco. I don’t think it was that much of a surprise to people – actually it was a surprise! Just the shock, I think. It seemed to go down well. I put the original demo mix on the Pete Tong compilation I did, and it had a great reaction, so when I finally finished it with all the live instruments, it was an invigorating experience.

Were there people telling you not to do it?
No. I’ve always worked with my instinct and everyone who’s worked with me knows there’s no reasoning – not that I’m an unreasonable person! But everything that I’m going to do, since I was 14, generally everyone around me is on the same level as me. I’ve got a great team and good friends, they’ve been around for like, 10 years. I like to think that I know what is a good and not good decision.

Where do you think you’d be at the moment if you couldn’t experiment with other genres?
Good question! I don’t know! Maybe I would have stopped doing what I was doing, but there was no way I could have continued doing the music I was doing.

With the range of music that’s now synonymous with the Skream name, what can fans expect from your Australian tour this February?
For the last year and a half, I’ve been playing House and Techno, so it’s gonna be a very club affair. No over the top lights, what I like to think is good music and hopefully good crowds!

Your collaborative work with Benga and Artwork on Magnetic Man resulted in an album of broad sounds, and from ‘I Need Air’ to ‘Getting Nowhere’, every song is different to the next; were there advantages of having three heads instead of one?
We’ve been friends for like 13/14 years, Artwork was originally our mentor when we were kids so everyone having their strong points. I would say Artwork was the creative leader, he has a great ear, so we’d take his ideas and work on them together. For that particular project, three heads were better than one, but our relationship made it better than one because we all had similar tastes to what is good music and what is bad music.

Following Benga’s announcement to retire from DJing, will there be no more Magnetic Man?
I haven’t seen or spoken to Benga. I woke up to that news the same time everyone else did. So, I can’t confirm anything because we haven’t all sat down – we don’t know what’s going on at the moment. We started a second album over the course of last year so, there is new Magnetic Man music. Whether people will get to hear it, I don’t know.

You have a girlfriend and actually a child yourself; have you thought about giving it all up to focus on family?
Not at all. I’m addicted to what I do. I’m with my son now, but I’m not quitting any time soon. I’m having a studio built in my house, which I really wanna get back into to do full time production again, so I might not be DJing as much, but I love playing music. I don’t wanna be doing it forever and ever, but for the moment, I just feel like I’ve started a whole new career, so for the moment, there’s no stopping.

Who’s inspiring you at the moment in Dance music?
Everyone inspires me! No, I’m joking. At the moment I’m listening to a lot of Robert Hood, a retro Techno producer. For new music – there’s so many names! If I go into my most recent music list… I really like the Parisian sound like French Fries, but then again Disclosure – look what they’ve done. They’re really good friends of mine, but it’s an example of good music being in, it’s great. DJs like Jamie Jones and Boddika, everyone who’s doing what they do regardless of what’s going on around them, that’s the main drive.

Do you think you will return to Dubstep or have you simply grown apart from it?
At the moment, no. A lot of people seem to think I left for financial reasons, which is not the case, it was purely personal. When I stopped playing Dubstep, my DJ dropped 70% – I’d just like to share that with everyone! There isn’t more money in what I’m doing now, I’m just happier. At the moment, I can’t say yes, but I do still listen to it, I just produce it anymore. I just gave away two tracks that I made at the end of 2012 for DJ Youngsta, so if he rang me up and said “Would you make a Dubstep track just for me?” I’d probably do it, but in a DJing sense, I can’t see it. I don’t know if it’s an age thing, but at the moment, the answer’s no.

So, why the name Skream?
It was my tag when I used to graffiti as a youth. I shouldn’t say that so blasé really, there could be charges or something! But I had that name when I was about 11, and I started DJing and I didn’t think of a DJ name at the time, because you just don’t, and then everyone called me it anyway. I tried to chance it when I decided “I wanna be a DJ – forever!” but everyone just called me Skream.

What other names did you try?
One of them was 4ault. I thought the spelling was really cool and it had that Dubstep feeling. But that’s the only one I can remember, it was the only one I felt serious about even though everyone told me it was stupid! But, there’s just no define line between Oliver Jones and Skream, it’s just, I have been Skream over the years and it always stuck. To be fair it does look good in print.

And finally, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve eaten when you’ve been on tour around the world?
Chicken tongue! Yeah… Chicken head.

Yuck! Did it taste like chicken?
From what I remember it just tasted fried… Do you know there’s stuff that’s weird, but actually really nice. Like, there’s a drink I had that looks like champagne, and felt like champagne, but it was actually whiskey. It was like Heston Blumenthal-esque. It was weird because my senses were confused, but I quite liked that…

Thanks Ollie, best of luck with the tour!