The Widdler has made a home for himself in Denver. The Texas-based artist is known for his unique sound, packing an energy equally suited for after-hours warehouse parties and sunset rooftop sets. Through a weekly Twitch stream, the DJ/producer is also established as a leader of the American underground community. After The Widdler ushered in the nighttime atop Club Vinyl in July, I was excited to pick the transformative artists’ brain about his signature style, affinity for Denver, and the current state of America’s dubstep landscape. His insight stuck with me so far as to influence my own creative process, as well as inform on my personal passion for underground dubstep. The Widdler returns to Denver on October 16th to headline Cervantes’ notorious Other Side alongside G Jones and Sayer. Before you jump to buy your ticket, read on: this installment of Sub.mingling captures a perspective as revealing and refreshing as The Widdler’s tunes themselves.
You have a unique sound that appeals to fans of all ends of the dubstep spectrum. How did you discover your sound and how do you continue to develop it?
The way it morphed was that when I started listening to a lot of UK dubstep around 2006, some of my friends liked it, and some of my friends really didn’t like it. At the time I was getting into hip-hop production. I was really into both hip hop and dubstep because they’re both bass heavy. Once I started making more hip hop and realized its similarities to dubstep I started combining a little bit of hip hop and dubstep, then it turned into a bit of reggae and dubstep, and then metal and dubstep... I kept trying to pull different genres into dubstep so that some of my other friends could appreciate it and recognize what these guys were doing overseas. I was in a few bands before I started doing electronic music and it definitely translated into the way that I make music now: as if The Widdler is a band.
What did you play?
I started off with guitar, I was in marching band in high school, I played trumpet. I also played drums for a few bands, bass for a few bands.
What kind of music did you play?
We had punk bands, metal bands, Metallica cover bands.... and one really really awful four piece junior high school white boy reggae group. But we had fun! It was a lot of fun, but it was not good reggae.
Do you have any advice for newer artists who are still trying to find their own sound?
Persistence. Even if you try to recreate somebody’s sound you’re going to come out with your own sound. You cannot recreate somebody’s sound. You can be a copy cat but you can’t be their sound. It’s about persistence because first you’ll learn from other artists and try to emulate them, but in the end you’ll wind up with your own style if you keep at it. You’ll end up with your own style without even trying because that’s just how it works. There’s so many variables around how music can be made nowadays. I feel like it’s hard to get boxed in if you’re persistent.
What do you think those variables are?
What kind of music you listen to, what’s your goal (is it music for mixing as a DJ, is it music for an album, is it music for a one-off); it depends where you’re coming from and what you want to achieve. If the goal is a 140 dubstep song to mix in with other tracks, then it’s good to have that constraint where you know you’re going to put your snare on the third hit, it will be 140 bpm. From there you can throw the rule book out the window as far as what you want to do with it. I think that’s where the creativity comes in with dubstep, too.
What do you think constitutes creativitity within a genre that holds its traditions and roots in such a high regard (ie dubstep)?
That’s a good question. Dub music is inherently repetitive. There’s certain progressions and there’s certain beats and very certain places for notes to be, if you’re talking strictly on the dub side of the music. On one hand, it can definitely lead to a lot of same-ness, but I feel like that’s part of dub tradition: the repetition, the meditation, knowing what’s going to come before it comes; being able to anticipate and meditate on something that’s familiar as opposed to something constantly grabbing your attention in different directions and trying to keep your attention in the sound itself, rather than the entire movement of the piece.
Do you have any non-musical inspirations on your music?
Definitely movies. Space, ambience, build-up, mood, and good samples. Definitely movies, and definitely mixed media art. I love “regular” art, whether its painting or photography, but I feel like nowadays with some of this mixed media stuff – like, wire wraps are something I consider mixed media, a lot of the ninja stitching that I see really defines the next step in art. That inspires me. When I see an art piece I translate the art piece into a musical piece per se in my head based on what it’s trying to achieve with its look. Not always, but sometimes.
(Whatever the thing itself might be... you can see it.
I see it and I kind of hear it, too. You look at it and sometimes things kind of resonate a certain way, in a certain sound)
You seem to enjoy playing in Denver... we like having you here, you’ve been here a few times pretty recently (AND RETURNING SOON! 10/16). What is it that makes this city so special?
It doesn’t stagnate. Denver is always moving forward, both musically and artistically. This is one of the most artistically forward moving cities that I’ve come across in the United States. In some cities the art scene comes and goes, along with the music scene, but in Denver the art scene is always there. Along with the art scene comes a lot of open and receptive people, which carries into the music scenes as well. The legalization of marijuana helps a lot too because people have their freedoms here. It helps people move constantly forward.
(This is a vague question, purposely, because I want you to answer it however it speaks to you) What is it like to be an American dubstep artist in 2015?
It’s... there’s definitely that bad taste in people’s mouths when you say the word “dubstep”, because people automatically assume those bro-loudthings. On the other hand I think the best part about it is how, due to maintaining kind of the whole roots sound, I’ve been able to keep a lot of my old fans from the beginning of the dubstep days and still recruit people who are sick of hearing the loud, non-stop barrage of bass and stuff. On that same note, because it is 2015 I have a whole arsenal of really old dubstep tracks that people don’t know about unless they were there themselves. Those still go off just as crazy.
Unless you’re in Denver...
Yeah, this is one of the few cities where you can play an old track and the fans call it out, like, rewind it! I have this, sign it for me! But [being an American dubstep artist in 2015] has its ups and downs. I think there’s more ups. The only downside is the bad taste in people’s mouths when they hear the word “dubstep”. But that affects a lot of dubstep artists right now. It’s hard to use that word.
Tell us a little bit about Twitch: what you do, why you enjoy that platform?
The only reason I broadcast on Twitch specifically is because that’s where I started off. I had most of my viewers there. But I think that format is on the verge of becoming huge. Being able to produce in your own home while others are learning, asking questions, collaborating, getting ideas... it’s like having the whole world hanging out with you while you make music. On one hand it is a little nerve wracking because you’re on the spot, but I have fun with it. The best part about it besides teaching people – because I don’t think there should be any secrets, I want people to know the tricks so that they can make good music so that I can have more good music to listen to, why be snobby about it? Instead I’m like “hey man this is how you can fix your song and make it awesome” - besides that, the community itself is something that I didn’t expect. It really shapes the way the stream goes as far as sharing music and finding new artists. Every week new artists come and they share their music, and I would say that maybe 50% of the new stuff I play that’s unreleased music is from somebody who gave it to me on the stream. It’s become this awesome community that comes together once a week. A collective. Everyone’s super friendly. I can only see this getting bigger and more intense in the future, maybe even doing a dual stream b2b with another producer and collaborating live. The potential is endless.
How’d you get into it?
I saw people streaming video games, and then one day I saw someone streaming cooking. So I emailed Twitch and asked, “are you allowed to stream things other than video games”. They were like, “for now you’re allowed to stream creativity, cooking, music, and games”. I saw a lot of painters, a couple glass blowers, and all the music stations were radio. There were no producers. So I tried it and people thought it was cool, and it snowballed from there. Eventually Twitch approached me with a partnership idea. They liked what was happening so they gave me a partnership so people can subscribe and support the channel. It’s been the greatest hobby/venture that I stumbled upon just by being on the internet.
Are there any artists you’ve discovered that you think we should know about?
Definitely. I’m just gonna throw out some names: Toasty, Zygos, Rez, Jwire, Frequency Dreams, Organik... Sponse, Sakuraburst, Kenji, and one other dude, I’m blanking on his name... Deadbit, yeah! Those are all dudes that I met online, mostly through the stream, one of them I met through Facebook. People just come on Wednesdays and we share music and it gets a lot of people follows and a lot of people music so everyone likes to turn out for it.
How do you imagine the downfall of humanity?
I don’t want say ignorance is bliss... but if you keep it on your head all day, it’ll bring you down. Just do you, focus on your day to day, and hope for the best. There’s so much out of people’s controls. We can do a lot as a collective, but it’d take a lot to get humanity on the same page. Whether that’s a terrible disaster that’d bring everyone together or some kind of crazy awakening, something’s gotta give and humanity’s gotta pull everything together if anything good’s gonna come out of it. So I guess I try not to imagine the downfall of humanity. I just focus on myself and stay positive.
Music is definitely my distraction, my meditation, and my hobby at the same time.
You can bring one weapon to a zombie apocalypse. What is it?
A sawed-off shotgun with a machete as a bayonette.
You’ve thought about this!
Also, in the bottom of the holster, there’s a waterproof container...
That’s not one weapon! You’ve thought about this too much!
Okay, fine. A sawed off shotgun.