In a week that hasn't been without drama, you could possibly be forgiven for forgetting that NZ's all-conquering dubstep heroes, Truth, released their debut album this week. Consisting of 15 tracks of their unique bassweight compositions, this is definitely in the running to be one of the best dubstep albums of the year. Never mind the chainsaw ear-rape, this is dubstep at its roots. With the album's release this week and ahead of their launch gig at Sandwiches this weekend, Matty Baseline took some time to run some questions by the trio.

You guys have been involved in the NZ bass music scene for some time, what was it about dubstep that drew you to it?

We came to the sound with very few preconceived ideas, which gave us a lot of freedom to experiment and really develop our own style independently. I think the opportunity to be original was something which really drew us to the sound. We also love the spaciousness of dubstep, you can do so much with relatively little. For years we had been writing music together, but when we started experimenting at around 140bpm we found that things just fell in to place much more naturally. Many sounds which we had wanted to use in tracks suddenly worked when making dubstep.

Going back a fair way now, how did the 3 of you link up?

The three of us linked up through a shared love of bass-driven music. We were all going to the same gigs back in the late 90s and just kept bumping in to one another. From that a friendship naturally formed. A few years later we decided to start playing together as a crew and also make music together.

 
What triggered the desire to write an album?

We've been making music for a long time, probably about 10 years each. We've always wanted to put out an album, but we haven't felt like the time was right until now and we didn't want to rush things. We also felt it was important to find a label with a good reputation which was prepared to back us. For us an album is a big step up from putting out a single. An album can encompass so much more of an artist's sound. The idea with "Puppets" was to create something which the listener will come away from saying "so that is what Truth is about".

 
Did you take a different process in writing the album, than you would singles? How did this work?

We wanted the album to convey a particular vibe or musical message, whilst portraying what we consider to be the complete "Truth Sound". In that respect we approached the album tracks from a different perspective. Usually with singles it is a label picking a couple of tracks you have made which equate to what the label sees as good music. With an album, there is much more scope to express the music over a greater number of tracks, and really explore the music a bit more deeply.

The approach we took was to work hard in the studio for close to 2 years, putting aside our favourite productions as we went. When we had a big pool of tracks, we narrowed down the beats so that within the pool there was a certain theme, but also enough diversity to keep the listener interested. Then we listened to those tracks in different contexts and narrowed it down to 13-14 tracks. We added "The Fatman" as part of the CD package, as we felt this track was an integral part of what Truth is, and also as the first single we had put out.

Do you each have favourite tracks on the album?

All the tracks are our favourites! It was hard narrowing it down to the final 15 which made it on to the CD. There are tracks which each of us lean more towards, but we will let the listeners make up their own minds as to what they are feeling most.

Having Mala release your first 12" gave you instant credibility within the scene, how did this connection come about?

Mala was travelling NZ on tour, and our friend was travelling with him. On the way to his gig in Christchurch they dropped in to Andre's place to chill for a few hours. Mala ended up leaving a CD of his beats with us to listen to. The next day we got together to make beats and had a listen to the CD, which totally inspired us! We decided to give making dubstep a go. When Mala came back to Christchurch on the Saturday we have him a CD of the tracks we had made. He called on his way back to the UK saying he was really feeling the beats. Next thing we knew he was opening and closing with our tracks and not long afterwards he had signed "The Fatman" and "Stolen Children" to Deep Medi.

With 3 members in the group, how does the studio dynamic work and do you split DJing duties?

The studio dynamic is always changing. Often just two of us will get together for a jam session, and other times it is all three. Usually, one of us will do the final layout and mixdown alone as we find this works best for the finishing touches. We'll always try to start a fresh beat when we get together. We can be pretty brutally honest with each other in the studio, we're not afraid to tell each other if we don't like something, it's the only way to keep the quality up! If there weren't three of us, who knows what the music would sound like as we all have quite diverse tastes.

In New Zealand, we try to play as all three when possible. Overseas, it often makes sense to split up to make the most of our limited time. For example, on our forthcoming UK/EU tour, there are two of us travelling and in the first weekend we're doing 5 gigs over 3 nights.

Do you have personal preferences between producing and DJing?

We love them both for different reasons, they are two sides of the same coin. We spend much more time in the studio on a weekly basis, it is a great feeling creating something new. But then it is just as enjoyable playing those sounds we have been working on to hundreds or thousands of people in a heaving club and seeing the effects of our studio work! Without producers DJs would have nothing to play, and without DJs there would be no demand for producers, so it's great to be able to do both.

What studio equipment do you use, are you entirely software based or do you use some hardware as well?

We actually each have studios, one each. We work a lot within software, using FL9 as a user interface. It's all about the plugins though to be honest! Synths like Massive, Zeta, Blue, Absynth,Vanguard and a bunch of others, combined with the right effects. We also have quite a bit of oldskool hardware. Probably our favourites are the Juno 6 and Juno 106 (hence the track "Juno", most of which was made on the 6). We also have a number of old Casios a Pro1, an old Yamaha and whatever else we can lay our hands on! It's definitely a good feeling to be able to include sounds from hardware, they can be so much more unique.

Do you think that being based so far from the home of dubstep helps you keep a unique sound?

It has played a factor for sure. We've certainly tried to create our own sound and being isolated must have helped a bit. It's hard to speculate whether being closer to the epicentre of the sound would have made a difference to the tracks we have been making. I guess we also have to credit the type of sound that New Zealand crowds seem to crave, which is perhaps a bit darker and heavier than some (though not all) of the stuff coming from London.

Who, inside and outside of dubstep, would you like to collaborate with?

We've collaborated with a number of artists we have wanted to work with such as Silkie, Loefah and Coki and Joker, and recently we managed to get in to the studio with Antiserum, which was very productive. We have plans to link up with Crushington soon which we're amped for. If we could choose to collaborate with anyone in the Dubstep scene, both Mala and Skream would be top of the list.

Dubstep's progression has been likened to that of Drum & Bass, but hugely accelerated. What is your take on the rapid growth from underground acclaim to mainstream success?

Well no doubt there are a bunch of factors which would be pretty hard to articulate. Having said that, one factor has to be the widespread use of the internet. It is arguable that dubstep is one of the first musical forms to emerge since the advent of social networking and a more general internet usage. Even when Drum n Bass was developing, the net was very slow, and generally used for work rather than pleasure. We remember back in the late 90s taking all night to download one mix set off napster, and being stoked about it! Now you download a mix in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. The music, videos, forums etc are available instantly to anyone with an internet connection, anywhere in the world.

On top of that, the actual sound of dubstep is quite user-friendly. It's at a good tempo for listening as well as partying. And it has developed a very diverse and expansive sound with something for everyone.

Having now played gigs all over the world, do you have any standout favourites or crazy tour stories to share?

We've played a lot of dope gigs over the last couple of years. It would be hard to pick a standout favourite, but there are a few we can think of. DMZ in Brixton, London is pretty much the home of Dubstep... we were privileged to play there last year on our first UK tour. SubDub in Leeds is another standout with an absolutely killer soundsystem. Denver in Colorado kills it, really up for it crowd and dope system. I think Austin, Texas must be one of the best and craziest gigs we did. Sunday night, in a basement with a ridiculous soundsystem... sold out. We had so much fun that the next night we decided to throw a follow up gig, which was also packed, Monday night style! It got extra crazy post-gig when we bore witness to a proper drunken Texan bar-brawl between the three promoters running the gig!

What would you be doing if it wasn't for music?

Well Tristan has a degree in Law, Dre has a Political Science degree and Julian is about to finish his computer science degree... but fuck that, we'd be doing music either way!

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this, could you share a top ten to finish?

Some of our favourite tracks atm:

• Truth - The Emperor
• Truth - Wednesday
• Truth - Amnesia
• SP - Trust Nobody VIP
• Truth - Puppets
• Mala - Drunken Swagger
• Truth - Indigo Mood
• Antiserum & 12th Planet - Purple and Gold
• Truth - Juno
• Joker & TC - It Aint Got a Name
• Crushington & BSE - Wolf Moon
• Silkie & Truth - Feel

Truth at SoundCloud