By now we should all be more than aware of Dimension’s latest floor-optimised super-slugger Whip Slap.
If not via our own upload, then by Annie Mac’s premiere two weeks ago on Radio 1, by the constant trickle of video hype on Dimension’s own social pages or hype-primed Instagrams by Game Of Thrones’s pint-sized sword slayer Maisie Williams.
“One of the only main characters who hasn’t been brutally slaughtered!” laughs Rob Dimension. “I think she was at a Digital Soundboy rave when she hyped it. Jokes!”
Celeb shout-outs aside, there are no jokes about Whip Slap, its forthcoming double A-side Jet Black or Dimension’s gameplan. We called him up for a story on Whip Slap but left with something much more intriguing…
“The whole idea with Whip Slap was to just write something big and dirty that people dance to,” says Rob. “There’s no story to tell! Simple is always better with these type of tracks; I sit down and see where the flow goes. You follow your fingers… A sound will take a new direction or something different will happen and you let that experience drive the rest of the track. Jet Black, though, is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”
While Jet Black completes the double AA release, we’ll actually have to wait for a few weeks to own it. Until it was debuted by Friction earlier this week on Radio 1 all we had to go on was this…
A grainy, shadowy Nosferatuesque clip created by DeadSkull, it builds with serious suspense. Just how Dimension intended.
“It stimulates the mind and not just the ears. I want to make people think and discuss things. I want people to feel part of the build up,” explains the young UK producer. “We’ve purposely held Jet Black back. For me Jet Black is far more of a song than Whip Slap. It’s a bit more like a soundtrack to a really scary film. Whip Slap is meant to be a big dancefloor bruiser but Jet Black is more headphone-focused. It’s far more interesting to listen to in different contexts. It’s another side of me that I haven’t had the chance to show yet.”
For me, making music isn’t about dropping a big number one, having a great summer then falling off the radar. I want to build this up a lot slower so I develop a fanbase who have faith in my output and faith in my selections when I tour years down the line.
Here thuds the heartbeat of Dimension’s body of work… Constantly revealing new sides and chapters; never resting on any prior hype laurels and consistently looking forward.
“I just want to show people that there’s more to me than they might expect with every release,” he states. “I want to be able to go back over my back catalogue at any point in time and see that there are no weak links. I want to build everything up as well as I possibly can and for the momentum to build and build and build. I’m being very hard on myself; I’m still very new to the game and I want to keep people’s interest going.”
Those who’ve been supporting and following Rob since early tracks such as the almost three year old Detroit may argue he’s not new to the game. But in the context of his vision and gameplan, we’re still at the handshake stage… He’s in this for the longest of long runs.
“For me, making music isn’t about dropping a big number one, having a great summer then falling off the radar. I want to build this up a lot slower so I develop a fanbase who have faith in my output and faith in my selections when I tour years down the line. You look at those big headliners who’ve been around for years and years – they can still headline shows regardless of any currently hyped track. It’s about building up a fanbase who like you and not just one song you’ve done.”
Amen to that. Whip Slap is out now on MTA, exclusive to Beatport. Jet Black follows on March 1. Pre-Order now.
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