In this interviewing session we’re honored to sit down with Volume A. DJ, producer and last but not least one of the people pushing the scene forward from and on the shores of the idyllic Malta.
Dirty Beats: Hello from across the pond! Always good seeing a familiar face. Welcome back and thank you for taking the time to have a chat!
With two of your EPs sitting proudly in the DIRTY BEATS catalog, we’re no strangers. However, for those out there that are not so lucky, do you mind introducing yourself?
Volume A: First of all thank you for having me. My name is Jean Paul (JP) I’m 30 years old and live in Malta. I’ve been into the Dubstep scene since 200, apart from music I’m into skateboarding and photography.
Dirty Beats: Looking back, how did your journey in the bass music scene begin and what kept you going?
Volume A: Well it all started way back in 2007 when my mate showed me a tune of Caspa and instantly I fell in love with the sound. I Immediately became obsessed with the genre and kept discovering more artists such as Distance, Benga, Skream, Mala, Coki, and many more. After two years or so I formed an event promotion with two of my best friends known as the FDM crew. We did maybe around 6 plus years doing events and getting acts from the UK to Malta. We had such good memories and made so much history here in Malta with the Dubstep scene. After many discussions the three of us ended the crew and continued our journeys in music separately.
I started making my own production after the crew ended and it opened a different world for me which was the best thing that kept me going <3. Connecting with so many people from all over the world with your music is one of the most incredible things that happened to me in my music journey. Slowly I started to get signed to labels such as Milc, Keep Deep, Gradient Audio, Dank ‘N’ Dirty Dubz, DIRTY BEATS , M.U.D
Dirty Beats: It’s been a crazy year so far for everyone. What’s your view on its effects on the scene and of course on you as an artist?
Volume A: Well yeah Covid basically killed my career for the time being, as no clubs are open here in Malta and most other european countries. February was my last gig which I headlined in Poznan Poland, since then I have not had another gig. Recently I got signed to Dungeon Beats which was going to be a kick start for me to start playing in different countries but of course Covid is restricting that.
Dirty Beats: Shifting our attention towards the future, do you have any ongoing projects? Are you planning something in particular?
Volume A: Yes I do have a couple of projects coming up which are digital and hopefully a collaboration I have with a good friend of mine is coming out on vinyl sometime early next year.
Dirty Beats: There’s no way we’re going to miss out on the opportunity of trying to grab some producing insights. In broad strokes, how does your workflow look?
Volume A: I mostly produce on how I feel to be honest, I do suffer a lot from beat block. I can do like 3 solid months writing music and then do like 4-5 months doing nothing that I like. But within those months of beat block I like to create sound design and find new samples I can work with for the times I do feel like making music. I highly suggest anyone that suffers from beat block, do not let it make you emotional as you will end up quitting music. It’s just a faze and state of mind when it comes to music, the more your head is clear the more music you will produce. Also for another tip Youtube is one of the best platforms for inspiration on how to create music.
Dirty Beats: Which artists serve as an inspiration to you?
Volume A: There’s a lot of new artists in the game at the moment that inspire me, but my idol will always be Distance <3
Dirty Beats: Malta is an amazing place with fertile ground for music in general. How does the Maltese dubstep scene fare?
Volume A: The dubstep scene died once we stopped doing parties here, it’s very hard to get people here to listen to dubstep as they have the mentality that dubstep is Skrillex and all this Riddem music. One of the reasons why we stopped doing parties here.
Dirty Beats: What’s one of your fondest memories from your journey through the scene so far?
Volume A: My whole music career has been all positive, from making events and meeting so many artists in the game which played here in Malta. I’ve played in Poland, Croatia, Uk which were all amazing experiences. Getting signed to labels was also such an important part of my memories.
Dirty Beats: As we are nearing the end of our interview, is there anything you would like to transmit our readers during these challenging times?
Volume A: Stay physically active and mentally focused as from these hard times we can learn a lot about ourselves and of course music, cause you have more time to write music <3.
We thank Volume A for finding the time to share his thoughts and we thank you for taking the time to read this interview.
It’s all about the sound.