INTERVIEW+MIX FOR SHORTSTACK: SPOTLIGHT ON ANTICS

Our first artist spotlight for 2011 features Belgian based producer / dj ‘Antics.’ I was tipped off to his sound through his collaborations with good common friends of ours ‘Subreachers.’ Recently I had a chance to sit down with Elvin to discuss music, and other miscellanea. He was also kind enough to submit an exciting mix exploring the deeper sounds of dubstep that we always try to push heavily on this site.

Shortstack: Tell a little about yourself for those who are not familiar with you yet
Antics: My name is Elvin. I Dj and produce under ‘Antics.’ I grew up with old school and underground hip-hop. After I got bored of it because all the mainstream stuff took over I started listening to drum & bass, jungle and garage, also my dad gave me a lot of early dub & reggae music. In 2007 I discovered the power of dubstep by going to a dubstep dance in Brussels. Since 2010 I started my own night ‘Midnite Run’ to push the deeper, original dubstep sounds.

S: The dubstep scene seems pretty healthy in Belgium; Mala has lived there for a while now I think, BunZero definitely has helped put it on the map as well…do most people seem to be on the deeper stuff? What sounds seems most well received at your night, and other dubstep nights regionally?
A: To be honest most of the people prefer the filthy and noisy stuff. which is really sad. Altough there are a few nights who also push the deeper sounds here like After 12, the second room at Untitled! and a new night called Dublo as well. We didn’t book any artist that played such stuff at our night so we only had deeper dubstep on the menu but the people really liked it. The vibes were amazing and it motivated us to continue with it.

S: That seems to be the standard everywhere, the deeper stuff is not as big but it definitely seems like its moving forward at a good pace, and there is definitely a huge number of quality productions coming out of that corner of Europe right now as a result. Talk a bit about the mix, I assume you were looking to push the same kinds of sounds with your track selection?
A: Yes, definitely I’ve put a bit of everything in it. A few dubplates by myself, Subreachers, Lurka, TMSV, Killa & Instinct, Versa, Catacombs, Matt-U…but also a couple of classics and new tunes which I really feel like SP:MC, and Cymatic.

S: Anything else you want to add?
A: Big up Yannick and Steve for making the Midnite Run project reality, shouts to Subreachers, Goli & Ashburner, Killa & Instinct, Lurka, Bun Zero, Collision, Catacombs, Benton, Gaz, Mom & Dad, sorry to anyone else I forgot - You know who you are

MIX + TRACKLIST CAN BE FOUND HERE