Photo Credit: Lane Jackman
Hamdi is everywhere this year. He released his massively anticipated track ‘Counting’ in May, and recently followed it up with ‘Criminal’, a collaboration with Zed’s Dead. And that’s only a taster of what’s to come this year. The Oxford based producer is spending his summer playing at festivals all over the world, with Glastonbury, Shambala, and Deadrocks on the line-up, all the while prepping for his debut headline UK tour in November.
“I feel like this is the perfect time to do a UK tour,” Hamdi says. “I’m hoping every show is sold out and packed, so we can create some mad energy in there.” Ever since releasing ‘Skanka’ back in 2021, this producer has been building his profile, and with a few other massive releases on his belt, this is the time to strike. We had a chat with Hamdi and talked about his upcoming UK tour, his music plans, and some other exciting stuff.
How are you feeling doing the whole UK tour in November?
I’m really looking forward to it, it’s like, I’ve been waiting for this moment for a while. I always felt that I wasn’t quite ready to do a whole UK tour so I waited it out. I’ve always wanted to do it and I feel like now is the perfect time. I can’t wait, I’m a bit nervous, but I purposely picked my favourite cities to play. I just want every show to be sold out, rammed, and a good vibe. I usually do one hour sets, but for this tour I’m going to be doing two sets which I can’t wait for. Usually when I do an hour set, it’s pure energy. With two hour sets I’m gonna mix it up a bit. Not necessarily more chilled , but different.
What can people expect from this tour?
I’m going to go all out. I’m doing two hour sets so I’ll be all over the place, and there’s definitely going to be some MC’s on some of the dates, which I think always adds to the energy of the shows. The goal is to create a show that has good vibes throughout, it’s going to be a fun time whether it’s more heavy dubstep or more chilled breaksy stuff, I’m hoping to create a fun atmosphere and then see where it goes. It’s definitely going to be different from my other stuff, but there will definitely be some heavy stuff in there for sure as well.
You’re playing Bristol, Manchester, Oxford and Newcastle among others. Why did you choose these cities?
Bristol is one of my favourite cities to play, especially with dubstep, I feel like they love it the most, there’s an appetite for it. And you can do a set in Bristol any day of the week and people will show up. It’s a big student hub so they always want good music to go and see. Oxford then is my hometown, I haven’t played there for a couple of years now, so I’m really excited for that one. It’s going to be fun to, hopefully laughs see some old friends. And up north in the UK, there’s just an energy there, there’s a real underground feel there. 1Forty in Leeds always do great parties, just like Hit & Run in Manchester. Then there’s Newcastle, I haven’t played there before, it’s one of the only major cities in the UK that I’ve never played in, so that will be a first. I want to test it out on this tour and see what the appetite is there. Same goes for Edinburgh, as I’ve never played in Scotland. Every city has its own positives. Those eight cities I’m playing have everything I need to create a sick tour.
You have already had quite the summer! You played Glastonbury, Deadrocks, and are also playing Shambala later this month.
I love the festivals, but I feel like clubs are where my sound works best. As excited as I am for the Summer and all the festivals, I can’t wait for September and October and just get into these intimate vibes.
Why clubs?
I love being right there with the crowd. At festivals you’re a bit further from the crowd and I love the sort of dark noisy rooms, where the sound encompasses everything. That’s where the heaviest stuff works best. But then again at festivals you could just create moments that you could never create otherwise. Also, if you’re doing a club show in a city, it’s everyone from that city visiting, whereas in festivals it’s people from all around creating a mad moment together. Some of my favourite sets have been at festivals but I feel like a 300 cap venue with a low ceiling, dim lights and a mad soundsystem are where I feel most comfortable.
Do you feel like you make music for that kind of setting?
When I’m making dubstep for sure, I definitely have the club in mind. I ask myself “How will the club react?” But then if you make a euphoric tune you have to think more about how a big festival crowd would react. It depends on the tune.
At the start of our conversation you said that you were waiting for the right time to do a tour, as you didn’t feel ready before. What do you think has changed?
‘Skanka’ changed everything for me. Obviously more so in the States because I already had a bit of a fanbase in the UK. I feel like no one really knew who I was in the States before that tune. It built my profile everywhere, and off the back of that I tried to keep that momentum going. It’s only now that I felt like it’s the perfect time to do a headline tour in the UK. I’ve done a few headline shows around the UK, but never a full tour. I wanted to make sure that everywhere would be packed, creating mad shows. I don’t know if this would’ve been possible before ‘Skanka’.
You released ‘Counting’ recently as well, which was a tune a lot of people were waiting for.
I feel like maybe the hype for ‘Counting’ was even bigger than the hype for ‘Skanka’. For ‘Skanka’ I feel like there was some hype before the release, especially in the UK, but the US started rating the track well after the release, maybe three or four months after. I never had this type of hype before the release, it was definitely overwhelming for sure.
And you were on your US tour when the track got released, right?
Yes, ‘Counting’ came out at the end of my tour, during my last two shows in the US. It actually came out as I was playing my set, which was cool. I was playing the tune as it was coming out, which was a nice synchrony.
Having played out in the US a lot now these past months, what would you say is the biggest difference from the UK?
I feel like the UK is more vibing throughout the set, whereas in the US they’re waiting for certain drops and when it comes, they go insane. Some of the reactions there I’d never seen before. I feel like in the UK it’s more about the music than the artist, I’ve been at events where me and a group of friends don’t know who’s on and we’re just there for the music, but in the States they want to see a certain act and they come for that. That’s what I’ve noticed, but the US goes hard for sure.
I haven’t changed my shows though. I thought I’d have to change it up more, but that wasn’t the case. During my first shows in the US I noticed that there’s a real appetite for UK music, and I feel like the timing for me coming over was perfect. They’re craving a new sound and I feel like the UK has that more gritty sort of sound. I’ve seen it with a lot of artists going over and doing really well, whereas five or six years ago we might’ve not been that well received. Sometimes the US crowds get a bad rep in the scene, but from my experience they’ve got a really strong and healthy underground scene. At the moment the US is probably rating dubstep more than the UK. The sound systems there are among the best I’ve ever played on. They’ve got a good thing going.
You released an EP on Vision in January, which is a whole other sound than your dubstep tracks. What is it that you like about experimenting and trying out different genres?
In my whole time of producing I’ve never stuck to one genre. I find myself getting a bit bored if I just produce one genre continuously. I like to switch it up a lot, and throughout the years I’ve done a lot of different things, like UKG, Bassline, 160 sort of stuff… If you’re into one sort of underground genre of bass music, and it’s from the same artist, I think you’re probably gonna like the other tracks they make. I find that a lot of people that got to know me through my dubstep tracks are also keen for my 160 and the UKG stuff. So I don’t want to pigeonhole myself as just one genre. I think over the next 18 months into the next two years I’m just going to release as many genres as I can, try to experiment with it, and see what comes out of it all. That’s not to say I’ll not put out the heaviest stuff anymore, because I’ll definitely keep doing that. But yeah, you’re not just going to get dubstep from me, I’m excited to bring new stuff out and be able to experiment.
As you said, you have a lot of fans that listen to both your dubstep and UKG. For that you need a distinguished sound, so that people recognise your tracks even if it’s a different genre. How were you able to capture yours?
I don’t want people to think “this sounds so different from his other stuff” if they listen to my UKG stuff compared to my dubstep for example. I try to keep that same energy and rhythm in all my stuff, which I hope carries through. I feel like when I’ve been playing out I don’t stick to one genre either and I notice that, even though some people come to my show because they like ‘Skanka’ or ‘Counting’, they still like the other stuff I play. Crowds today, especially if you compare it to five or six years ago, are very open to other music. If it fits the vibe they can go from dubstep to garage to drum & bass. If they like it, they like it. It’s a good time to put out as many different genres as possible.
So you want to experiment with a lot of different genres, which is exciting to hear! Where do you see yourself going with this?
With dubstep I’m going to try to put out the full spectrum. I’ve got some really heavy, more American influenced stuff which I’m really gassed about, but at the same time I’ve got some really deep very UK stuff. With the other genres I’m really into breaks at the moment, I’m also producing a lot of stuff at 160 BPM. I’m making a lot of stuff at the moment, so it’s just about making a selection of all the material and deciding which ones fit my vibe enough to release. The most important thing to me is that people don’t think I’m just one genre, because if you come to one of my sets it’s going to be all sorts of stuff.
You’ve played some huge shows recently, including Glastonbury and Deadrocks. What else is still on your bucket list?
The club I would love to play at is Fabric, that was the first club I ever went to literally when I turned 18. I had an offer to play there in July actually, but I’m in the States so I couldn’t take the booking unfortunately. Hopefully I’ll get to play there another time. It was also the first club I heard ‘Skanka’ played out to a big crowd, so I have a lot of cool memories associated with that club already. I think a Boiler Room would be really cool as well, I’ve been watching a lot of sets on their channel. And maybe Coachella? I think that would be sick. So that’s three more things on my bucket list.
Any final thoughts?
The last thing I want to add to this conversation is that it means a lot to have the support from UKF. The first electronic tunes I heard came from this label. It was always a bucket list of mine to be on UKF Dubstep. I remember the first time I got on, I couldn’t believe it. So what I want to say with this is, thank you for being a great place for music for the past 15 years.
Follow Hamdi: Soundcloud/Spotify/Instagram
