Last Electronic Tuesday I  had a chance to sit with Dre, the other half of the New Zealand duo TRUTH, and Cory aka Megalodon and see what they had to say about their back to back sets, the state of the scene and our individual .missions. The conversation that took place was one of the most inspiring experiences I’ve ever had not only as a writer but as a dubstep fan as well. Dre and Cory are two really amazing human beings both on and off stage and they had a lot to say. Our conversation went something like this… 

First off, how go the travels since your last visit to Denver? 
Cory: Things have been good. We both have been respectively busy. Since I was last here I did a South American tour as well a bunch of shows throughout North America and now I’m just on my way home. 
Dre: Things definitely have been good. I just got back from New Zealand a couple days ago and I’m about to hit the road again myself. So yeah, no complaints. All is well. 

So I guess the big question that everyone wants to ask is who’s idea was it for you both to do a back to back set? For a lot of your fans it was unexpected to see that you were both doing this type of set. 
Cory: I don’t think it was either of our ideas
Dre: We were basically forced to do it against our will! 
**Laughs** 
Dre: Honestly it’s been really good man and we didn’t really know what to expect either really. It’s been a bit of an experiment for us as well. We obviously have different sounds in the spectrum of dubstep, very different. They might as well be different genere’s because the different frequencies and such that we each respectively use in DJing and in production, so for us to play together it was all about us ultimately finding a way to transition those two styles while keeping to our own sound and keeping it really interesting. It’s been a bit of a challenge but I think the first couple jams people really enjoyed it. We try to play a broad spectrum of the dubstep sound and take you on a journey with lots of contrast to the styles we individually play. 
Cory: We play something for everybody 
Dre: Yeah and it all sounds really good, like we could have a heavy tune going and then we’ll drop it down to something slower and lower or vice versa and the contrast sounds spot on. 
Cory: The contrast definitely works. Even though it is, like he said, almost two different genres; when you collaborate on music in any genre there’s a middle ground that you both meet at and you find and experiment with ways to make it work. I think the main struggle with our two sounds is finding a way to do it in an evolving state, like a journey, because it’s one thing to play a Megalodon set during a TRUTH set and another to actually put a TRUTH b2b Megalodon set together. Another obstacle is the fact that we’re always on the road and such so the amount of time we have to sit down and put together a set is very minimal. 
Dre: It's actually ZERO!! 
**Laughs**

How many times did you guys play together or practice before your first b2b set? 
Dre: We didn’t at all. Our first run at it together was actually live in St. Louis and it went really well. It was a challenge for sure but ultimately the contrast made it an exciting set. That being said even though our music is very different it is similar in a sense because whether it’s very dark, or a riddim tune or it’s a dub tune it’s all about the bass lines, the momentum and the energy they all carry and even though our styles and the tunes we play are different they are, in a sense, very similar. 
Cory: Also a lot of the tunes he plays are the tunes I grew up with and they hold a very special place in my heart. Even though they don’t really fit into Megalodon sets because of where the Megalodon sound has gone, a lot of the tunes he plays are really what brought me to be who I am and so it’s also a thing where when he plays those tunes I really get into it like I’m the one playing because those tunes bring back so many memories and they remind me of why I’m doing what I’m doing. Tunes like old Skream, Benga and Deep Medi and such really we’re stepping stones for us and they laid the foundation to creating what we’re creating now for ourselves several years later. 

So what is in the future for both of you? Are planning on making music together or possibly doing more b2b sets? 
Dre: We’ll we’ve actually already been in the studio making music together. We’ve come up with a couple tunes and we’re aiming to put out an EP or a small release of some kind in the future. We can’t give away too many details yet because it’s still in the early stages but that being said we really want to try and harness that contrasting sound so when people listen to the tunes they’ll say “Hey there’s the TRUTH influence!” and “Oh that’s definitely the Megalodon influence right there!” and like create a whole new sound out of those two styles of music. 
Cory: Also we kind of met in the middle with certain styles that we both appreciate a lot. You can definitely listen to the tune and you’ll hear the TRUTH and you’ll hear the Megalodon but you’ll also hear the influences we have that we both share. So it’s kind of like our individual sounds, our collaborative sounds and an homage to the sounds that made us who we are. 
Dre: We grew up on the same shit and we have a lot in common with the music we listen to outside of the dubstep realm so were on the same page.  There’s a lot of other guys out there making other kinds of dubstep that honestly I don’t think I could go back to back with but we’re on the same page and were mates as well so it makes the job a lot easier and it just works man. 
Cory: We also have the same manager and agent so we’re pretty much held by the same string **laughs** but that’s kind of how it all happened and with us both being so busy it’s easier to coordinate studio time when the manager is yelling at both of us **laughs** 
Dre: Even before all this though we had the same agent, I remixed that “Like This” tune you did with Conscious Pilot all those years ago… 
Cory: Yeah and I remixed that tune you did with Datsik 
Dre: Yeah, so we’ve been working together long before our manager told us to do so and it’s good to have someone give us that shove and say “Alright boys, get in the studio!” because it’s something that should’ve happened years ago anyway 
Cory: That’s the other thing too. We’re friends and we have had people throughout the years say “You guys should make a tune together!” but when we’re together all we really do is hangout like friends do because in this industry there are very few people you can fully connect and identify with so when you do meet someone that you connect and identify with the last thing you want to do is make a tune, it’s more like… “I wanna pick your brain!” **Laughs** 

How did the DJ clinic go tonight? 
Dre: It went good man. It was a good mix of kids that DJ and wanted to learn more and kids that have never DJ’d in their lives and just more so wanted to know how we do what we do. It was really cool man. 
Cory: Yeah and honestly I think it’s really great to see Sub.mission do more and more things like this to bring younger kids into the scene because it’s one thing to come to a show and watch the DJ but it’s another thing to come and be a part of it and I think it’s a really great thing for Sub.mission to provide this opportunity and give back to the scene. 

Have you either of you ever done anything like this before? 
Cory: No not really 
Dre: Ive done a couple production clinics before but never a DJ clinic 
Cory:  Which is kind of why we both wanted to do it. DJing is a very broad subject but it’s also very narrow as well. Djing is something where you can show someone the tricks and what to do and all that but the only way to become a good DJ is by just doing it over and over and over again and really developing your style to becoming what we all call the “Selectah” ya know? You learn where you stand, what you like to play and how you like to play it and everyone differs. So I don’t think fans of the DJ are looking for what every other DJ is doing but more so DJ’s that are coming up with new styles and techniques and I think doing these kind of DJ and production clinics for young kids and people who are inspired and have never done it before but don’t have a way to take that first step to do it because of equipment issues or not feeling confident enough to get out there and explore it are creating opportunities for the DJ to evolve in a positive way. You know people now a days treat DJ’s like rock stars but when it comes down to it at the end of the day we’re all just kids doing what we love and making and playing music for kids that love it as much as we do. It s symbiotic relationship so its good that Sub.mission is doing things like this to bring both the fans and the DJ closer. 

With that being said, you guys have been in the scene for a while now and have traveled all over the world and played in many cities. With how dubstep’s popularity has risen and fallen among popular culture in the last few years what would you say is the ratio between fans that are there for the music and fans that are just there to party? 
Cory: It really depends on the City, State and Country you’re in… 
Dre: Yeah the night, the promoter and a ton of other factors. You know obviously with Sub.mission here in Denver, Nicole has created a scene and was the first one to bring every dubstep artist across the spectrum of the sound to you all and you’re all not only very spoiled with what you have seen here in Denver since Sub.mission’s beginnings but you’re all also very educated in the diversity of the dubstep sound because of her. So playing here is different than playing, say our last show in St. Louis, which was a Halloween night and it was a lot of young kids where it was probably their first party or one of their first parties, which is a good thing because it brings new people to the sound as well, but yeah like he said it’s always different, every city is different. 
Cory: I have been seeing an overall enthusiasm for the music. There was a time back in 2008-2010 where kids where getting into it because it was the thing to get into but now that its narrowed itself into its own thing with its own following of fans, the new generation of kids that are getting into it now are, I feel like, opening a Pandora’s box of possibilities for the future of dubstep well beyond what we’re doing now. The main reason I got into dubstep was because of the atmosphere. I remember seeing an interview with Skream and he was talking about how the dubstep scene back in the day was a lot more relaxed and people weren’t getting way fucked up on drugs. It was more about people having a drink, feeling the vibe and nodding their heads to music in a bar. I come from the drum and bass scene and that scene can be pretty hostile sometimes and when I first started playing in the early dubstep scene in San Francisco it had the same vibe where it wasn’t about the party aspect, it was about listening to these dubplates and really being a part of the overall vibe of the night. So I find us all in dubstep now going back to where we started. I don’t think dubstep will ever get as crazy big as it did in 2010 but I think because it did get that big dubstep is more accessible now and the kids who really truly love and appreciate the sound will have easier access to it than we did back in the day when it was really small and relatively unheard of and I think that’s a good thing. 

We couldn’t agree more guys. Our last question has to do with all of our individual .mission’s within the dubstep scene. Obviously ours here in Denver is to “Hustle Knowledge” by “Moving People Through Sound, Not Hype”. What would you say is your .mission? 
Cory:  Music has done a lot for me in my life both professionally and personally.  A lot of people have this connection with it and will say music can save your life, so for me to be able to have people listen to my music and enjoy it and share a part of their lives with me by listening to and enjoying my music, which is me sharing a part of myself, is pretty amazing. That’s the main reason I do this ya know? There’s a lot of other jobs I could be doing where I could lead a normal or stable life but I would rather choose this any day of the week no matter how old I get because it’s the fans that really appreciate the music and tell me my music has helped them and other people in the same way other peoples music has helped me that makes me happy. That makes up for every bad quality or any other negative aspect of this industry that most people tend to not talk about, like sacrificing personal time with families and girlfriends and that sort of thing but those sacrifices are worth it when it comes to my .mission, which is sharing my love and passion for music with other people who have the same .mission. 
Dre: Like he said man, I do it for the love of it. I love it all man. I love playing music all over the world for people that love it. I do it because I love to see the crowds that love it and seeing their reactions to dubstep both old and new is fucking amazing. My .mission is to just connect people all over the world with this sound and to to make sure people to have a good time. I love it all man, I really do.

Being able to sit and talk with these two was a very eye opening experience and everything they said projected well onstage when they played solo and back to back. Be sure to follow TRUTH and Megalodon to stay updated on that possible forthcoming collaboration. We hope they return for another back to back set VERY soon.