The idea for this series has been with me ever since I started writing for Fresh Music Freaks. I loved the notion of meeting new people (one of my favourite parts of raving), exploring new genres with them, and experiencing what they love about music. Yet it was just an idea, and therein laid my personal contradiction; I’m a social butterfly at raves, making new friends and finding old ones left and right, occasionally to the chagrin of my crew who find it tricky to keep tabs on me. But the idea of contacting strangers outside of raves to ask them personal questions about their personal preferences made me nervous.
Enter Adrian Caterina, also known as AJ. When the notion of this series was in its infancy, I went to go see Camelphat with my best friend at Noir in Toronto, Canada. As I was dancing, I noticed a guy with a long red beard and a bright bandana, grooving to the music with equal parts enthusiasm and recklessness. The way he danced reminded me of headbangers I had seen in Dubstep tents past, but somehow he was doing it to the time of the steady Tech beat. I approached him and asked if I could touch his beard (I have a thing for beards, okay?) and he smiled and stuck out his chin for a scratch. We introduced ourselves and as we chatted, we discovered we were both attending the same event the next day- Electric Island– and promised to meet up.
Over twenty-four hours later, at 7 AM, we were bleary-eyed and worn down from hours of dancing. We had left Electric Island together after losing our respective friends and wound up closing out the afterparty. We had then been invited by a new group to their house nearby to relax and enjoy some drinks. Adrian finished up a smoke and decided to head out, and as he turned to say goodbye, he quipped with a grin, “Well, it was nice meeting you.” I laughed and hugged him as our hosts gawked at us, mollified that we had barely known each other for a day.
It seemed natural to have Adrian be my first interview. He was a self-described Basshead, a lover of Dubstep and experimental sounds. Several hours into the after-party, I pitched the idea of the article to him, and he agreed with that same reckless enthusiasm I had seen in his dancing.
We met at a sushi bar near my apartment, both of us coming from our respective works. As he came out of his car, he looked every bit the Basshead- but beneath the WuTang beanie and trippy Rick and Morty hoodie, Adrian was relaxed and soft-spoken, making me less nervous about conducting my first ever interview. As we stuffed ourselves with fish and rice, we chatted about work, music, and our friends. Adrian has this great ability to make you feel at ease, to draw the conversation out of you naturally. With our plates cleared and chopsticks down, I pulled out my pen and paper and asked if he was ready, and he gave me a grin and a nod. I hope you enjoy reading his thoughts as much as I enjoyed writing them down.
FMF: Tell me about how you got into Dubstep. What started it all?
AJ: It was around 2017. There was a lot of shit going on in my life, so I was kinda just trying to open up and get out of my comfort zone a little bit. And my friend invited me to Ever After, so it was my first introduction to dubstep and Electronic music. And I wasn’t really about it at the time, I was always just like, “Man, that sounds kind of trash. That’s just random noises, what is that?” And then I went there, and I was like “Holy crap, this is amazing!”
FMF: Everyone who goes to Ever After seems to really, really like it.
It was a really good time, it was just awesome. Everything was perfect, it was one of the best memories of my life.
FMF: What was your favourite act that you saw there? One that stuck out in your mind the most?
I didn’t even know who was playing at the time, ‘cause I didn’t even know the genre. But Snails was pretty cool. Excision was cool too; he plays every single year. It’s weird though because now I’m moving away from that kind of stuff, the more heavier stuff. Like, Excision literally has a song called “Throwin’ Elbows”- he’s the epitome of moshing in Dubstep, it’s that kind of stuff. That festival was a fun time, it was wicked. That first time I saw a three-man tier, and my friend who introduced me to the festival was on the top. I was like, “This place is wild!”. It was the first time going to one of those things and seeing so many people in one place, all there for one reason, to listen to music and have fun.
FMF: So what would you say is your favourite genre now?
It’s hard to say, it’s like ‘Experimental’, but I like Dubstep. I like more Reggae-Dubstep; one of my favourite artists is Ganja White Night, he’s really cool. Ganja White, Boogie T, he’s cool- actually, it’s really funny, I’ve been stopped by people saying “Yo, man, you look just like Boogie T!” I didn’t even know what Boogie T looked like, ‘cause a lot of artists I listen to, I don’t even know what they look like. But Boogie T is really cool, he actually goes on stage, and he’ll bring out his guitar on his set. He does live stuff, it’s really cool. He’s a trippy guy. Ganja’s more of that Dubstep, but like, wobbly Dubstep kind of stuff.
FMF: I like that you use the word ‘wobbly’ to describe it.
Yeah. I’ve been getting into a little bit of Riddim lately, I just found out what Riddim was. It’s Dubstep, but it’s more of like, repetitive. Instead of sporadic sounds, it’s like “doo-doo-doo-doo”, almost like House, but more in your face than House is. I really like House now too, actually. I really like Tech House, it’s a fun time.
FMF: Well, that leads into my other question- what genres do you like outside your main ones?
Tech-house is really cool. I’m actually starting to like Psytrance a little bit too, it’s fun. I like to move, and its just constant movement. That’s why I really like Tech House, ‘cause you move a lot. Whereas Dubstep is fun because you can play around with it more since it’s so sporadic and random.
FMF: I always joke that Dubstep needs strength, but Tech House needs endurance.
It is endurance! You’re constantly moving.
FMF: So when you go to a dubstep show or a bass show, what’s the general vibe? What’s the crowd like?
It’s hard to describe. It depends on the artist, really. If you go to a big show like Ever After, it’s very much good and bad, because you get a lot of people who are a little snobby- not snobby, just there to party. As opposed to actually loving the music.
FMF: I feel like you get that a lot at festivals.
You do. Moreso the Mainstream ones, obviously, but as far as Dubstep goes, Ever After had a lot of people I couldn’t be bothered talking to. But there’s a lot of good people there too, you know? Like “this is amazing, who are you?” But usually, it’s pretty good. And especially Valhalla, those festivals, everyone there are the most blessed people, so down to earth and chill.
FMF: How would you describe the fellow fans of your genre? Do you find that there’s a community?
Oh, definitely. I have a family in Quebec right now, whenever we go to Valhalla we always meet up, and we camp together too. And all my friends, we all have our own likes, but as soon as someone finds one song, they share it with everyone else, and we’re all on that shit. We’re always trying to find the next best thing, the next song that’s really good, or the next artist. There’s definitely dicks that go to the shows, but it’s mostly good people, good vibes. Family vibes, that’s the best way to describe it. Famjam.
FMF: Everyone seems to make fun of others for liking their own genres. Have you ever been made fun of for being a Basshead?
Oh, definitely. All the time! Like, I’m the only one at my work who listens to Electronic and I’ll- I don’t care, I’ll play my music. So they’ll be all “Whoa, what’s going on over there?”, or they’ll just make a comment, but I don’t even care. I’m so cool with it, so it’s like “Yeah, it’s a bunch of robots just fuckin’ beeping away over here!” My one buddy said today, “That sounds like a video game!” And I’m like, “Yep, I’m winning!”
FMF: Is there any genre in EDM, or fans of a certain genre, that you don’t like or understand?
I would say probably not. But I’d say some people in Psytrance are pretty weird. They’re pretty crazy, some of those guys. But I’ve met really good people there too, so it’s hard to say.
FMF: What’s the best show you’ve ever been to? If you had to pick one that really exemplified to you what you love about Dubstep.
Best? Oh, that’s tough. Well, Ganja White Night at Ever After this year was really insane. And then I wanna say, this year at Valhalla, Of the Trees was really sick. There was a stretch that started at 3 AM and went to 7 AM, and there were three people in a row- it was just dirty. Shades, Of the Trees, Distinct Motive and Abelation.
FMF: I’m so inexperienced with Bass. The only ones I ever knew of were Excision, Illenium, Snails-
Yeah, those are all the main ones-
FMF: -Way back in the day, Skrillex. I used to listen to a ton of Skrillex.
I’ve never really listened to Skrillex, to be honest. Only a little bit. One of my first Electronic songs that I did listen to, “Bangarang“, that was like, the first electronic song I listened to.
FMF: I bought that album. I was very obsessed with “Bangarang”.
Oh shit, that’s funny. That was literally the first song I ever heard, and it was like “Yo, this is a sick song!” But it was literally the only Electronic music I would listen to for a whole year until I went to Ever After. I listen to it all, now.
FMF: When you look back on the stuff you used to listen to, and the stuff you listen to now- do you look upon your older stuff with fond memories? Or are you like, “Oh, I can’t believe I listened to that”?
It’s crazy. I still look back on it as fond memories. I just look back, thinking about how close-minded I was. First, it started with Classic Rock, and I’d only listen to Classic Rock, like what my dad would listen to. Grew up on the Beatles, like, I still know every song from the Beatles. And then I would always be like “Yo, Rap is trash. There’s no skill, they’re not playing instruments, they’re trash.” And then I started listening to Rap, and I went “Wait, this is dope.” And then I started thinking, and I would hear Electronic, and think “That’s trash, there’s no skill, what the hell?” And then I started listening to that, and I was like “This is amazing!” I look back, and I think “I’m never going to be close-minded for anything, I’m just gonna try it and see if I like it.” You never know.
FMF: What do you love the most about being a Basshead?
I love moving. I like banging my head, that’s pretty fun. And I like moshpits, the rare occasion that moshpits happen, they’re pretty fun. I like jumping around, especially for Riddim lately. That stuff’s actually hard to keep up with sometimes… but I like banging my head, the people- for every genre, you can find the good people. But definitely banging my head.
After we finished up, we stepped outside to say our goodbyes. Our show had been decided by him: we would be seeing dubstep acts Space Laces and Must Die on November 2nd. I would be seeing Fisher the night before, and he joked about what a change that would be for me.
“There’s something I forgot,” I added. “Is there anything I should wear to the show? Maybe I can lay out some outfits and you can help me choose on the night.”
“You should wear a bandanna.” He gave me a smile, and for a second I could a wicked spark in his eyes, a glimpse of the AJ I met on the dance floor. “I’ll bring you one.”
