June 14: XOYO London is going to get taken over by one of the most mind-blowing club line-ups we’ve seen in years as one of dubstep’s foremost and consistent pioneers N-Type celebrates 15 years of his label Wheel & Deal.
Benny Ill, Benton, Boylan, Crazy D, Chad Dubz, Deep Tempo, DFuse, Enada, G Double, Hijinx, Lotu, Minty, N-Type, Riz la Teef, Sepia, Sgt Pokes, Shantie, Silkie, Slimzee, Slowie, Spooky, Sukh Knight, Trends, Youngsta will all be in attendance.
If you’re into your 140 flavours, you should be, too.
To mark the moment we catch a vibe with N-Type himself. Interrupting him on his holiday, we even push him for a mix. He did not disappoint…
A blazing session of futurism and fire – complete with a shed load of dubs – get acquainted as we catch up with the Croydon captain to chat about the history the genre, his own unique rise as an artist, the importance of other genres and their influence on dubstep and…errrr…. five knuckle shuffles. Ahem. Tickets and info for the XOYO bash can be found right here. Read on for a very entertaining exchange. Big love to N-Type.
Yes mate! Let’s talk about the state of that line-up! Jeeeez. Never seen an XOYO line-up so stacked. This is going to be a night to remember isn’t it?
Yes mate, as it’s our 15th birthday I wanted to go all in and get a hench line up of friends, family and drop some Back 2 Back sets that have never been done before. I have also invited some of my favourite artists from Bristol, I love the vibes in Bristol and the community that they built there so I wanted to bring those wicked vibes to London for the celebrations. I have also got Mc Jumunji coming from Miami to perform the American Grime and Sunken Frequencies track Let’s Be Clear which was just released on the Wheel & Deal 100 album, so lots of treats for the XOYO gang.
Wow amazing! You just mentioned the 100 release which was a few months ago, 15th birthday now… How you feeling about these landmark moments?
It is a milestone for us and I’m proud to still be here repping dubstep and underground bass frequencies in 2024, it is also amazing to see how well some of our artists have done over the years and how many talented new artists there are out there. Dubstep is flourishing again and the quality of the music is great as you can hear in my mix (lol shameless self plug there).
Haha. Plug away! Tell us about the W&D100 VA for a second… Lots of new talent on there and wicked sounds. Very healthy snapshot of both your label and dubstep full stop!
Yes it was awesome putting it together and the response has been sick! I wanted to make it a compilation of ‘what’s going on now’ and give the spotlight to a selection of newer artists on the block.
Artists like Azotix from Romania who I came across recently on Instagram, he sent me a pack of awesome tracks and I found it hard to choose what I wanted to sign they were all so good but Chained seemed perfect to kick off the album.
The album flows like one of my DJ mixes, I always order tracks like I was taking you on a journey. Other new artists to the label on the album are Rumble (UK), Rafeeki & Sunken Frequencies (USA), Incandescent (Canada), Kampah (Australia), Ricky Tan (UK), Wolf’d (USA), Fomentum (USA), and Solidstates (UK) as you can see all new names and from all across the globe. Wheel & Deal dubstep is definitely an international sound.
Fully! How else are you celebrating 15 years? I saw you’re celebrating in Outlook for a start!
Yes so we have a stage and boat party at Outlook Festival this year plus we also have parties in the states and across England and Europe. Some of the events haven’t been announced yet but currently have these dates….
14.6: XOYO, London
25.6: Discopussy, Las Vegas
28.6: The Black Box, Denver
29.6: The Black Box, Denver
4.7: Kingdom, Austin
5.7: Domicile, Miami
6.7: The Sly Grog, Asheville
25.7: Outlook Festival, Croatia
27.7: Wheel & Deal Boat Party, Croatia
There are more shows to be announced, too.
Sick. Does it feel like 15 years?
No way! I can’t believe how time has flown by, I mean I started DJing in 1994 inspired by jungle music, then started DJing regularly on pirate radio in 1999 so that was really the start of my DJ career. I had other labels before Wheel & Deal but W&D became my main focus and I started throwing parties with great success.
Go on. Take us back to start of the label in 2009 for a second…
The way Wheel & Deal came about was after the release of my Dubstep Allstars 5 compilation album on Tempa Records. The mix gained massive respect worldwide and was the first to feature tracks like Benga & Coki – Night, Kromestar – Slow Reaction, Coki – Ruff Loving and more.
I got approached by an agency called Echo Location and I joined their roster and I was the only dubstep DJ on the roster alongside artists like Chase & Status, DJ Hype, Friction and Pendulum etc so I got to play at a lot of D&B raves and concert events including stuff like the Prodigy tour and shows by Pendulum and Dizzee Rascal.
It was massive career milestone for me and Obi my agent at the time always encouraged me to start a new label. I had a label at the time called Terrain Records which I started with someone else, and it eventually closed down, so I wanted to start something fresh. I was on the phone to Caspa trying to think of names and he suggested something like an N-Type set… Bare reloads! Wheel & Deal! I thought yeah…that makes sense I’ll have that haha.
History! Also, regarding those early days, thanks to The Others your 001 has a wank reference… I can’t think of any other label which can claim such a title. How do you feel about this?
See these are the type of questions I’m after in an interview lol This is definitely a first and it’s nice of you to pick up on that haha. Erm yes, the name is jokes, to this day I never asked why he called it that but it was funny so we emphasised that on the artwork being the dodgy bit in the back of a Friday Ad newspaper. End of the day we are all a bunch of wankers whether we like it or not!
Haha. Innit! Tell us a fact about Wheel & Deal you’ve never told in an interview before…
I’ve told a few before this question in fact but we are just about to get some jungle / drum & bass and garage remixes coming in of some of the labels biggest tracks, so hold tight for that.
Oh bam! Exclusive! That’s great. What’s the most fulfilling thing about running a label in 2024?
Giving artists a platform to shine or launch their careers and most importantly an outlet for good music, good parties and good vibes.
And what’s the most frustrating thing about running a label in 2024?
Watching vinyl sales go up and down all the time. I love vinyl, I’m a massive collector but it has become a lot harder to release. There is a lot of work that goes into a label, so even when I’m on holiday (like I am right now) I’m still working.
I hear that! It never stops. So what’s in store for Wheel & Deal? What can we look forward to?
We are just doing those other genre remixes of some of the labels biggest tracks so hold tight for that. ColtCuts – Catnip is one…
Oh hell yeah
Yeah! My roots are in those genres so it’s time to give back to where I came from. More big parties… I have my biggest party yet coming in Bristol this year watch out for that, plus Leeds and Brighton dates on the horizon (more exclusive info there). I also have my album Typography dropping this year.
Loads to look forward to! Amazing. And big up for this mix. What a vibe. What do you have to say for yourself?
The mix has some of the biggest tracks at the moment from W&D and other labels and artist Dubs. It is a freestyle mix built for the dancefloor! Glad you like it!
Quite a few dubs in there…
OH YES! Always. I’m a dubaholic!
Haha. You’ve mentioned other genres a few times and I think we’re in a good place across all of bass music right now. There’s a lot of movement between 140-174 tempos at the moment. Always has been to a degree but newer cats like Azotics and Hamdi are just blazing up down the tempos (just to name two) – this has got to be healthy for everyone hasn’t it.
Yes I love that as I came from jungle and D&B then started buying garage records after meeting up with my pal Walsh (Rest In Peace) at school. My production has always been inspired by other genres. I have also been playing these genres in my sets but it depends on the vibe of the dance and how I feel at the time. 140 / dubstep is the genre that I was a part of pioneering across the globe so it will always be my first love.
Love that. Anything else to add or state in your case?
No fuck off! I’m on holiday!
Hahah
Lol Joke! Big up 1 More Thing. It was good to chat, you got the inside info! Thanks again.
Join N-Type and co @ XOYO on 14.6.24 : Tickets & Info
Follow Wheel & Deal: Bandcamp > Soundcloud > Facebook
Tracklist:
2 Chef Boyarbeatz With Onhell – Grime on steroids
3 Skream & Torcha – ID
4 Samba – Six To Six
5 Mythm – Snakes
6 Hamdi – Killa
7 Azotix – Burden
8 Chef Boyarbeatz – Fuck off
9 Wolf’d & Basura_- Wicked World
10 Solidstates – Tank
11 Basura & Wolf’d – Hide VIP
12 VON D – RUNTZ
13 Skream – Filth (Emalkay Edit)
14 Alix Perez – Pulsate
15 Mez – Nottingham (Daseplate Remix) (2024 Edit)
16 Distinct Motive – Wupwupwup
17 Azotix – Silhouette
18 Strategy – Carbon Footprint (Torcha Flip)
19 RWB x SMG – Executioner
20 Cesco & Hamdi – Swing King
21 Chase & Status x X10 – Elders
22 Mythm – Revenge
23 Leo Cap – Let’s Kill This All
24 Mythm – Whispers ft. Ghost
25 Chef Boyarbeatz – Sick Dub
26 Distinct Motive – Cells
27 ColtCuts & Mythm – Dead End (Wraz Remix)
28 Distinct Motive – Mellow Man (Caspa Remix)
29 Solidstates Ft Riko Dan – War Mi
30 Solidstates – Splash
31 Joker – Juggernaut
