PhillySoundSystem [Feature Interview]

PhillySoundSystem : Soundcloud | Twitter
UK producer and DJ Nic Phillips aka Phillysoundsystem is a huge up and coming producer from the rising bass scene whose dubstep tracks have been featured prominently on Beatport. At 27 years old, he’s had his share of experience (about 15 years worth) in the world of music production and DJing. With two EPs released under LU10 Records, his tracks have a wide variety of sounds and influences that set his tracks apart from many contemporary dubstep producers. We were fortunate enough for him to take the time to give us an insight into his productions, what’s coming up in the near future for him, and more. -fabricated

fabricated: Before I begin, thank you for doing this interview with us. First thing’s first, how did the name Phillysoundsystem come about?
PhillySoundSystem: PhillySoundSystem came about for 2 main reasons, My surname is Phillips and I wanted a name that would represent my own sound. Back in the day music was heard on “SoundSystems” so get there particular sound across, which this combination of names I was hoping to get the same vibe across to people who buy/listen to my music

fabricated: I read Beatportal’s “The Frontlines – Dubstep November Edition” from a couple months ago and I noticed that you started producing over 10 years ago. How did you get your start into production and how did you find your way into the bass scene?
PhillySoundSystem: Yea its near 15 years now, I was in school about 11-12 and my music teacher allowed me to stay after school in the studio and try and figure out how 2 make my compositions onto a computer. I started of on Atari Notator, then progressed from makin white labels (vinyl) and my 1st genre I started making was Jungle and Speed garage. Dubstep is like a new form of Drum and bass in the fact that all types are covered and are accepted. I like to make music away from the norm and Dubstep has allowed me to do this.

PhillySoundSystem - Come to your brother (thou shall not fall) by PhillySoundSystem

Infrasonics – Volume 6

My schedule for school sucks, but for some reason, I'm still stoked for this semester. What does school have to do with this Infrasonics post? I have 4-5 hour breaks from Monday to Thursday and so I just have way too much time and one of the things I choose to do on that long break is...eat...and also, write this post. Anyways, let's continue on with some tracks for this week.

Caspa – Neck Snappah [Purchase: Beatport – Exclusive]

Here's a big track from Caspa, just released two days ago, it's the first release from Sub Soldiers for the year and for a few months now considering their last release was Caspa's Love Never Dies – Back For The First Time EP which included "Geordie Racer" featuring Sub Scape. Anyways, this track has a huge sub bass along with that heavy wobble that is akin to tracks by Skream (check out "Wibbler" and "WTF" by Skream to see what I'm talking about) along with punchy drums that hit as hard as the bassline.

dBridge / Instra:mental – From The Start / Detuned Heart [Purchase: Bleep | Juno | Beatport]

I really enjoy a lot of the stuff that dBridge and Instra:mental release just because their tracks sound minimalistic while at the same time having a huge atmosphere to work with that fills your ears with just the right amount of bass, reverberated drums with a lot of swing on it, and ambient pads to fill out the space. If you're big on more of the ambient/atmospheric sounding drum and bass, be sure to check this release out and also their Fabriclive release.

Various Artists – Pure Dubstep (unmixed tracks + continuous DJ mix by DJ Darkside) [Purchase: Juno | Beatport]

Just thought I'd put this release on here because I just picked it up a few days ago on Juno Download and I'm totally diggin' 20 tracks that come with this compilation. Plus, the DJ mix by DJ Darkside that comes with this is a pretty enjoyable 49 minute listen. It features more of the darker, what many people call "real dubstep" and it was definitely worth the 10 dollars I spent to download this in FLAC.

Phillysoundsystem – Can You Feel

PhillySoundSystem - Can you feel by PhillySoundSystem

I know I covered Phillysoundsystem in the last post, but I thought I would put this up because he just uploaded this track 2 days ago. I saw this track while browsing through my Soundcloud tracks feed for people that I'm following, and since I really enjoy this guy's productions and releases, I just thought I'd share another. This track has a vocal hook throughout with some guitar riffs and I know that I would drop this track in one of my sets. The build ups just get you up there and when the drops come, that's where the hands go up and the heads start bobbing (or headbanging, if that's how you roll). Check out Phillysoundsystem's Soundcloud for more sick dubstep and grime tracks.

Enjoy!

-fabricated

Infrasonics - Volume 5

So I decided to make another Infrasonics post for this week just because I’ve been listening to a lot of stuff and I’m in the mood to write another post since I’m kind of tired of studying for this winter class I’m taking right now.

Don Diablo feat. Dragonette – Animale (Datsik Remix) [Purchase: Beatport | Juno – forthcoming on January 31]

Don Diablo ft. Dragonette - Animale (Datsik Dubstep Remix) by dondiablo

I always love the touch that Datsik puts on his tracks, be it an original or a remix. But I especially love what he did with this track because the vocal melody and synths are just as infectious as the gritty basslines he always puts in all of his tracks. This tune is a definite banger and I highly recommend it.

Phillysoundsystem – Sex, Drugs & Hospital EP [Purchase: Beatport]

PhillySoundSystem Ft Jess - Take You Away (Dubstep Mix) by PhillySoundSystem

Just thought I’d throw this release on here because I’m really diggin’ it. This just came out earlier this month on the 3rd on Beatport. I would jump on getting this release, but honestly, I’m just waiting for it to not be a Beatport exclusive so I can pick this up on Juno Download. And going off on a little tangent, I just want to say that I really dislike the fact that Beatport charges $1.00 more for each track if you want it in .wav, which is ridiculous and why I suggest buying tracks off Juno Download or Bleep whenever possible, where you can buy a whole release at a more reasonable price. Also, Beatport doesn’t even include album art with their releases whereas Juno Download gives you the option to.

But anyways, enough ranting from me. Let me start with the title track, “Sex, Drugs & Hospital”. This track has a strong four-on-the-floor beat throughout, which you don’t see often in many dubstep tracks, but this one holds its ground very well. It’s very reminiscent of Noisia’s “Alpha Centauri” with a female vocal sample in the background; the bassline has a lot of grit and filth but also with that quick decaying envelope sound in the synth that complements the hard hitting bass drum.

“Take You Away” (posted above) is a track that was actually in Phillysoundsystem’s last EP, the Memory Lane EP on LU10 Records, but is also included in this release, and I don’t see why not - this track has one catchy melody held up by vocals from Jess along with one fat bassline throughout the track. I love the very low wobble that’s going on underneath everything; it doesn’t overpower the drums nor the vocals and synths. This track would sound awesome in any dubstep set, be it a mellower one or one with harder hitting bangers.

Next, we have “Camel Riddim”, a track I can definitely see being played alongside darker dubstep tracks. This track has a sick wobbling bassline underneath that attacks on the upbeat of every couple of measures. It also has a very simple and effective bass drum and snare pattern backed up with some congas to drive the beat forward. If you’re a fan of Skream, Distance, or Pinch, you’ll like this one.

“Let The Music Play” starts out with some acoustic drums with a pad building up to a vocal part which rises up where it then drops with a dark and fat bassline which progresses with some grungy sounding wobbles every few measures. I’m really diggin’ the drums, especially the snare and the bass – they complement the bassline and the vocals in a way that makes it sound heavy without going too over the top.

Finally, we have “Trench Foot”, the last track on this release. I really enjoy this track because the intro builds up into a drop that keeps you up in the air even when the sub bass comes in. I would highly recommend this track in any filthy dubstep set because I feel the bassline will keep the crowd up on their feet and will have everyone’s hands up in the air. This is probably my favorite track off this release so definitely check it out.

Overall, this release is very versatile in any dubstep DJ’s set and is definitely an awesome listen. I highly recommend checking out other releases on LU10 Records because they put out a broad spectrum of heavy bangers in the dubstep and house departments.

Fenech-Soler – Demons (Sigma Remix) [Pre-order on iTunes]



I’m pretty stoked on this release because this drum & bass producer Sigma’s first proper dubstep release. If you haven’t heard the original version by Fenech-Soler, I highly suggest it because the chorus is just catchy as hell. And if you don’t know Sigma, I highly suggest checking out their tracks “Front To Back” and “Paint It Black” (I just realized these two tracks, right after another, rhyme, kind of.), two very prominent tracks that have been in rotation in many DJs’ sets and mixtapes, namely Sub Focus’ Future Bass mix and more recently, Nero’s Essential Mix, which Nativity got me hooked on since it came out. Overall, this track has a strong drop and a strong bassline while still maintaining the very catchy chorus and vocal parts throughout. I definitely think this remix does justice to the original track.

Bonus: Duck Sauce – Barbara Streisand (Sigma Remix)
This remix is just too sick to ignore, so I’ll post it up right here:

Duck Sauce - Barbara Streisand (Sigma Remix) by sigmahq

Example – Last Ones Standing (Doctor P Remix) [Purchase: Beatport]

Example - Last Ones Standing - Doctor P Remix by Ministry of Sound

This track might be a bit older than the last few ones I’ve been posting, but I just thought I’d share this because I ran across an mp3 of it on my hard drive (I really wish this wasn’t territory restricted in the U.S. on all the sites I buy music from because I’d really like to buy a lossless version of this!) while organizing my music and it brought me back to a few months ago when this track was on repeat in my car. I seriously could not get this track out of my head because it’s so damn catchy and fun to sing along to. This remix has a darker twist to the original track (which is equally as awesome). I definitely recommend this track along with the TC remix, which is a drum & bass remix with a heavy sub bass that’ll rattle your brain at high volumes, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, his most recent album Won’t Go Quietly.

Evol Intent – Paradize City [Purchase: Beatport]

If you've followed our blog recently, last month, one of our own, Nightfox, interviewed Treasure Fingers aka The Enemy, one third of Evol Intent, a trio of American producers mostly known for making some of the heaviest drum & bass I've come across so far. Well, they've come out with a new dubstep release including this track and a remix by J. Rabbit of their track "Reality Check". I first heard heard this track a few months ago when Excision played it on his Shambhala 2010 mix and I thought this track was one of the many tracks on that mix that caught my attention. The basslines are filthy, the bridge is chockfull of 808 kicks, and the vocals in this track are just as hard as the other instruments. Highly recommended to fill that void Britney Spears' latest pseudo-dubstep track made in your heart.

-fabricated