May 23, 2008

Dubwise: "If there's a bass line, we'll play it!"

By Cheryl Leong

Solid performers on the decks, this local DJ duo (comprising of DJ Kable and DJ Castro) is heating up the underground club scene with their 'anything goes' philosophy, encompassing some of the most varied remixes in their genre-bending sets. Dubwise came together sometime in 2006, and they've never looked back since. Highly versatile and always on the lookout for fresh sounds (with their trademark heavy bass, of course), Dubwise can certainly get any party started.

MTV Asia hooked up with the duo after their stint at the WWF recently, and sat them down for a little chat on greener pastures, personality clashes and mistaken identities.

MTV Asia : How's the experience in WFF been like for you so far?
K (DJ Kable): So far, it's been great. We get to meet and play with artistes that we love. Stereotpy, for one, Simbad, K&D.
C (DJ Castro): This whole festival is basically just what we love man. We like playing festivals.

MTV Asia : What other festivals have you played at?
K: Good Vibrations was one. Individually, we play at many festivals. We started out as individual acts, but for the last two and a half years, have decided to do this together.

MTV Asia : Any plans for an album?
K: Maybe singles. We're more dance-orientated, and album-wise, I don't think we've gathered enough in our repertoire.
C: We'd love to! But right now we're just concentrating on promoting the sounds to Singapore. Throwing parties and all.

MTV Asia : So you get a lot of requests to play at parties?
K: We do get a lot of gigs. People do approach us for that at times. Or they contact us through myspace. But private parties, it depends. We wouldn't mind bachelorette parties though. [Laughs]

MTV Asia : How did you guys come into DJ-ing?
C: Everything just happened. We didn't exactly know we wanted to be DJs, or that we were exposed to so much dance music either.
K: I started by collecting so much music. I enjoyed it and after a while, it just made sense. I have such a big music collection, so why don't I just play what I love to people, and if they appreciate it, so much the better!

MTV Asia : If you weren't a DJ, what would you be?
K: We're not full time DJs. I have a day job.
C: I for one, would rather not do anything else. But music… [Laughs]
K: In Singapore, it's just not viable to be a musician full time yet. But of course we hope for that one day! And not just for people to be doing it as a hobby.

MTV Asia : But we are up-and-coming, are we not?
K: We have been for the past ten years. We're not a long way off, but musicians in Singapore in general, have to get their priorities right. You can't just release an album, get a band together, jam a little, and then 3 three years down the road, decide that that's it. There's not much sustaining power. I think if venues or promoters understand that being a musician is a job as well, and the monetary feeds back to the artist, then it's more viable.

C: It's funny because we have mates who are really good at this, but they fade into obscurity because there's no support or whatever. We also have friends who left to seek out what they want, and these guys are doing great. Playing every other week at festivals in London and all. Initially we didn't want to think that that's the only outlet, you know? Leave this place and go push somewhere else. But apparently it seems to be working. And I don't know where we can find the balance to work from home and still be doing what we love.

MTV Asia : Uprooting?
K : Well, we are pretty international nowadays. We can work from where we want. But the bottom line is always that if the grass is greener on the other side, then as musicians, we would go over to the other side, right…

MTV Asia : Dispel one myth about being a DJ.
K: We don't get the ladies. [Laughs]
C: Yeah, that's complete rubbish.

MTV Asia : Do you guys get along fine?
C: We're just like an inconvenient marriage man!
K: Personality-wise, he's messy like hell, and I'm a neat freak. That's about it.

MTV Asia : Musical-wise?
K: That's not a problem. I won't meet him for the longest time, and when we compare notes on what we've been listening to all this time, it still ends up the same!
C: I think basically we have the ears for it, we like the same stuff, and the musical chemistry is there.

MTV Asia : Share with us a little known fact about Dubwise.
C: I'm not a yogi. [Laughs] Whoever has read Juice, IT WAS A JOKE.
K: We don't only play reggae and dub. We play whatever we like!