Here at Bass Command, we don’t just want to bring you info on the big name artists. We also bring you info on any up-coming talent within the scene. This week we talk to California based drumstep producer Destro.

Bass Command : Tell us about yourself, how did you get into production?

Destro : I got interested with the idea of making sounds around those middle school days when I would listen to my favorite Prodigy, Underworld, or Chemical Brothers CD, then walk into guitar center, and let myself totally be absorbed in all the synthesizers and keyboards. I was really curious about how each worked, and started fooling and tweaking around with synths for an hour, sometimes longer inside the store. Later, my fascinations would evolve into wanting to write my own music, and took a few courses in college to help tune my craft. I can also attribute my knowledge from the endless advice I have received from my fellow music community inside the studio. My father and uncles have always been in musical groups, and my aunt is a broadway musical conductor, so I’ve always felt music has a traditional place in my heart.

 

BC : Do you DJ as well as produce? If so when & where can we catch you?

D : I actually fell in love with DJing before I started to really make tunes. Producing helped keep djing interesting for me over the years. There is no better feeling than an elated crowd reaction as your freshest tune drops. My next gig is at Organized Grime down in San Diego, and I help organize bass music shows. I mainly play out in the Orange County and LA/Hollywood areas every week. Rumors of an east coast tour also have been arising of late, more info on that as I get more dates confirmed.

 

BC : Where do you see drumstep a few years from now? Do you think it will explode in much the same way as dubstep?

D : I see drumstep being accepted more and more every week, I go out and hear more DJ’s playing drumstep sections of sets at events. It is amazing how far the genre has gone in 2011, yet it is still hard to convince a die-hard drum and bass fan that it is its own genre at all (The whole” they have been doing it for years,” debate. Truth is, producers haven’t been editing drum syncopations this way for years at all. It undeniably has its own swag to it.) I think there will definitely be more artists will be giving it a try in the producer’s studio in 2012. As far as it exploding the way dubstep has, I can only answer this question once I start hearing drumstep being pushed onto commercials, or through a mass media corporation such as Universal, Sony, Disney, etc. I am not a soothsayer. Therefore, the possibilities are endless at this time.

 

BC : Do you produce any other styles?

D : I have been also producing drum and bass and jump up for years, and have also gotten a couple dubstep tunes picked up by labels as well. I recently worked out a Paula Abdul 8-bit Chip tune remix. I would really like to start getting into some big beats, even trance in the near future. I am really getting interested in working in the realm of Foley art, and scoring for film and television as well.

 

BC : Has any of your stuff been released yet? Where can we find it?

D : I have been released by a few labels this year, ranging from US (Heavy Artillery Recordings) to UK (Magma, Lava Recordings) music labels. You can type in my artist name on Beatport and it should pull up my catalog. Also, feel free to download any free music I have on my soundcloud www.soundcloud.com/destrodnb/, I just gave out a free NES drumstep remix, to promote my page, so grab it while you still can.

 

BC : So what’s in the pipeline for Destro? Is there anything else we should know about?

D : My ‘Moon Men’ EP on DJ-Ekim’s Token Bass Recordings is dropping next week at all .mp3 sites on November 28th. It features 2 original tunes of mine, as well as a big remix from Thorn on a Rose, an awesome production team from San Diego, you guys should definitely peep their sound scapes if you haven’t gotten a chance yet. Peligro from the Token Bass camp also has a killer remix of’ Moon Men’ that we have been giving away to promote the release. Other people have been coining it is as ‘space’ step when they describe it on blogs and facebook posts. There are also many fresh and forward thinking jump up and drumstep anthems I have been working on with my good friend, and fellow Orange County producer Blitz. They will be unleashed soon, and they are really some of our best works to date.