Picture Credit Justice Andrews
Caspa has been around for over 20 years now, and is truly a legend in the dubstep game. He’s been consistently evolving his sound while staying true to his roots of bass culture. With the release of his latest project, Project X, Caspa is ready for a new chapter, as he has discovered the power of collaboration.
Project X features PEEKABOO, Distinct Motive, Ternion Sound, EAZYBAKED, and MYTHM: five slightly newer but very innovative artists. All five bring a distinct sound to the EP, while still keeping it underground and grimey. These collaborations give us an insight into what’s to come in the dubstep scene. Spoiler: it’s very, very exciting.
We caught up with Caspa to talk about the vision behind Project X, what it means to collaborate in today’s scene, and how he continues to push boundaries more than two decades into his career.
You’ve recently released your Project X EP, on which you work with five different artists. How was it to work with them?
I learned loads from them. I’m older than all of them, so to work with them… It was amazing to see how they work. I have my ways of doing things and working with them, I stepped into a new and different world. A lot of times, I said, “I never knew you could really do that,” or, “That’s how you do it? Oh wow, that’s simple,” there were a lot of those moments. And same for them, they also figured out new things. Everyone always thinks there’s some secret sauce or some special plugin that you’re going to use that’s the one that no one has. The truth is, it’s your ideas that you bring to life, and manage to twist into something. To someone else it sounds fantastic, but to you it’s something you always do. It was great to see how they work and vice versa for them to see how I work. It was the first time that I really dived into doing collabs, because I’ve not done many over my career. I got to a point where I was working with these guys a lot in the States and at shows and got close with them. That built a real rapport and it felt like it was time to let go of the steering wheel a little bit and see what we could do together. It was a great experience and it spurred me on to write more music with people and do more collabs.
You said that you didn’t do a lot of collabs in your career. What made you change your mind about them?
A massive percentage of it is confidence. It might sound strange for someone who’s been doing it so long, but I was worried that what I did wasn’t going to be good enough, or that it’s going to be too simple for the other artist. So, I avoided working with others. I had my own way of creating stuff and writing music, because then it’s no one else’s. Showing people how you do things and them then running off and using it, that was always scary to me. It never happened, because no one I’ve ever done a collab with has ever done that, but it’s in the mind. It’s nice to be protective over what you’ve built and what you’ve done and who you are and how you write music. But now I’m thinking, what’s it all for? You can’t take it with you. Why not share it and make amazing music together? And that’s what it did for me when I was writing with these guys. We were writing such good music and I was having so much fun. I’ve been doing this for 23 years so I’ve seen a lot and been a part of a lot. The timing for this EP was perfect. Dubstep is in a great place, and I’m hearing some great music. I was thinking, wouldn’t it be fun if two sounds were to come together? I’m a fan of the sound of all the people that I worked with on the EP. I play their music in my sets, so it didn’t make sense not exploring a collaboration, and I had such a great experience. I found a whole new world.
How did you decide on the artists you wanted to feature on Project X?
Yeah good question. I’ve played with them, I’ve played their music as well, and I’ve actually met them in person. We get along as human beings outside of music. They’re all good people and we had a good vibe. I find it very hard to work with people I don’t have a connection with, especially now that I’m older. I’m very careful where I place my energy. I want it to be reciprocated and respected in the same way that I respect someone else’s energy, and what they bring to the table. To give you an example, the first time PEEKABOO and I met, it was like we’d known each other forever. He’s way younger than me but we connected last year in May when he was in London. When we met up, we wrote three tunes together, like it was nothing. The connection was there because we get along as human beings. You get the best out of people when they feel comfortable around you.
How was it to work with the other artists?
All of the artists took their inspiration from what I and other artists were doing back in the day. They grew up listening to my music. The first time we met, Distinct Motive told me that I was the first ever person he saw play a show, in Birmingham in 2009, when he used to live in the UK for a couple of years. For him to now do a collab with me and release it, was way more meaningful than I could ever even plan for. It was a real moment, a real full circle. Those collaborations make it easier, because they are already into your vibe and your style. They’re willing to make something underground and dark and grimy, which made it so much easier in the process.
You’ve been teasing this EP for a while now. How is it to finally have it out?
Really good. You know what it’s like nowadays: you drop something, and then you just get busy caught up in all the other things you’re doing, and it’s not forgotten, but it gets on the back burner. The idea of releasing this EP was, because it was so good and it had almost been a couple years in the making… I was thinking, when we do it, I want to drip feed it. Let’s put the EAZYBAKED track out first. That one went down really well, and we had a break. Cool, let’s drop the Ternion Sound collaboration. Now, let’s drop the MYTHM track. Then, there’s a break, everyone’s thinking, “Oh there’s no more…,” but bang! On the same day, you’re dropping both collabs with Distinct Motive and PEEKABOO. I wanted to make it exciting and make people look forward to what’s coming next, and spread it out a little bit. This is too good to just drop in one piece. When we drip feed it like this, it was giving people a chance to digest each track. Then when the whole thing came, there were only two new tracks on that EP. But then some people had missed the original release, and it reached more listeners in the end. It was amazing doing it like that. I really enjoyed the process, and I think the artists did as well, because each got their own individual time to sort of breathe and have a single.
This slow drip feeding of your music, it’s going against the grain of constantly having to be at the forefront as an artist.
It is, and I think that’s to do with a few things. One, I’ve been doing it for so long that I’m not in fear of not being present. I’m not in front of the crowd. I’ve been here for so long. At this point, if I can’t do it the way that I want, what’s the point? If I’m going to do it still, I’ve got to enjoy the process. That’s my personality. If someone says no, I’m yes. If they say yes, I’m, well, maybe no. I like to push the boundaries a little bit, and I’ve always been like that. Now I just do it in different ways. With releasing music, I think, if we’re going to go through the motions with everything and just tick the boxes, that’s too boring for me at this point. If we can make it exciting and make people feel a little bit excited about it, that’s cool.
In the 23 years you’ve been doing this, how have you evolved as an artist?
I’m a lot more patient. Before, I was too gung-ho and too fiery, forcing things. Now, if the flow doesn’t feel right and the energy is not right, I leave it. For example, when working on Project X, the artist that we wanted to release the single of in January couldn’t do it anymore because of other obligations. Rather than getting stuck, I was like, fine leave it. It’s not meant to be, let’s rotate. Who’s the other artist that’s available? The biggest thing that I’ve learned is just to go with the flow, don’t swim against it. Then, things will happen more naturally and it feels better that way. It does take longer, and I think nowadays, people don’t have the patience for that. They want everything, and they want it fast. I come from the old school where we had to build, and now everything’s 100 miles an hour. Things can happen very quickly now. You can go from not doing something to suddenly one thing popping off and suddenly you’re everywhere. I’m very open to embrace it all, but there will be a cut off point where I’m, no, that’s not for me. Maybe I miss the booking or maybe I don’t get that release then, but it has to sit right with me.
How do you feel about dubstep having a resurgence?
There was a very limited number of artists that were happy to make it. I watched dubstep grow from a room of 100 people to artists playing it on the main stage of massive festivals. I watched the whole journey. When people say, “Dubstep is back,” I’m like, “No, it’s never gone anywhere.” It just came out of the big bright lights, and it went back to where it originally was meant to be, thriving on the underground. Then, new artists pop up like Hamdi, PEEKABOO, LYNY… All these cool artists are popping up, but dubstep has never not been there. What’s happened is, because it’s okay to make dubstep again, people don’t have that “Oh god, dubstep”-feeling. There’s loads of new artists making it and that’s making it feel more exciting, more accessible, and more open. There’s a cross-pollination happening. You’ve got people from different scenes playing it, like Sammy Virji, he’s playing a bit of dubstep in his set.
You’ve got to make people feel excited about it, and even if you’re doing that in your own little underground way selling 100 tickets and having a couple streams… It’s small, but eventually it builds and it builds. It’s great that dubstep is back, but for me, the mission is exactly the same. Do music that I love, do it the way that I want, and keep it the way that I want to do it, as much as possible. All while having fun and being open to the new changes. Nothing has changed. I’m just more open to embracing more of the new, because on all of my shows I could easily just take the budget and play the show. Instead of just doing that, I always think of who to invite as support. Who’s up and coming, what person will draw some people to the venue? I remember I got asked to replace Diesel (Shaquille O’Neal) at Apocalypse Festival (Long Beach, CA) in 2024. He plays super heavy rhythm, EDM stuff. He had a festival in LA, but he had to cancel, so they asked me to step in and do it. I remember thinking, how odd is that, I don’t even play his style of music. But just to have that phone conversation and being able to step in for him, was amazing. I was able to introduce a lot of people to a style of dubstep they had never heard before.
That’s amazing! Do you have any projects or shows coming up that you’re excited about?
I’ve got a couple shows in Europe with Rusko coming up, and we’re doing a big show at Milton Keynes Bowl, at Tribes Unite, and Boomtown. In September I’m doing a big tour in America called ‘DUBSTEP SINCE DUBSTEP.’ I chose that title to say, I’ve always been here, I’m always doing this, plus here’s a load of cool artists with me. When I’m doing that tour, my plan is to release at least one or two tunes every month, from September until the end of the year. I’ve got so much music around me. Dubstep is back. I’ve got my broom out and I’m ready to sweep up. There’s loads of shows, loads of music and just more collabs coming. I want people to feel excited about what I’m doing and what’s going on within dubstep. That’s my goal. My vision is to keep it exciting.
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