In the Studio: Sub Zero
Known across the globe for his high-energy, jump-up dancefloor smashers in both solo mode and as one half of the super group known as G Dub, the name Sub Zero has become synonymous with absolute mayhem on the dancefloor. Knocking out hit after hit on the ever-essential Playaz imprint, it’s not just his ability to craft massive face-melters like “Poon,” “Dodge City,” “Time Traveller” or the aptly titled “Motherfuckers,” but his surprising ability to craft deep and moody bits like “Protection” and “Hearts on Fire” that reflect the true range of skills the Leicester, UK-based producer is capable of in the studio.
With the success of his recently released Inside the Beast EP still doing damage on the dancefloor, and rammed with the same mix of straight-up burners alongside emotionally charged grooves, we touched down with an all-access pass to the Sub Zero studio to see if we can glean some insights into crafting our own chest-trembling wall-shakers.
What’s the secret to crafting a proper dancefloor tune? Was it something you were taught, or was it a matter of just figuring things out on your own?
I think the trick to making a successful song is mainly trial and error and that old saying: “Practice makes perfect.” I think a lot about being a good producer is just having time and patience to keep banging away at different ideas until you find something that really works, and knowing when to leave something alone and when to finish something. I think after a lot of time—and by that, I mean years and years—you just get to learn what works and what doesn’t.
“When you work on a track so much, it’s kind of like trying to paint a picture but standing a few inches in front of it. Sometimes you have to learn to step back and see it from a different perspective.”
I imagine at this point, you’ve learned your own studio inside and out. What if we were to take you out of your usual working environment and ask you to sit in on a bedroom session at our pad. What basic elements (including snacks and stimulants) would you need to work your magic?
I think one of the great things about making music nowadays is that you don’t need a huge studio with loads of fancy equipment to make good tunes. As long I have Cubase and good, solid computer that can handle running it with lots of plugins, then I’m happy. Sometimes I find having too much stuff in your studio can be a distraction, and I like to keep my setup quite minimal. As far as stimulants go, I’d have to say tea and Nakd bars is my flex (laughs). I’m trying to be healthy, so yeah, that’s all I like to have with me.
Your work habits no doubt are a huge part of your ongoing success. Give us a sense of what kind of hours you’re putting in during an average week and how you use that time.
I try and use the studio five days a week minimum, but to get real good results, probably everyday. But that is hard to do with DJ schedules and life, of course. I try to be in the studio for at least five hours a day and will often do further research beyond that: sample-hunting and constant listening to my unfinished tracks over and over to try and get a sense of what they’re missing and if I like them or not, etc.
I imagine it’s hard to know when to move on from one project to the next.
Definitely. When you work on a track so much, it’s kind of like trying to paint a picture but standing a few inches in front of it. Sometimes you have to learn to step back and see it from a different perspective. I find it’s often helpful to leave a track alone and not listen to it at all for a week or two at least, and then go back; I can straightaway hear what needs doing, if anything. Often, it can be the case that the tune was finished a while back and I’ve been overworking it.
Writing music is this constant back-and-forth until you get the right balance in the track, and knowing when it’s time to leave it alone and say it’s finished. I think often a great tune is written very quickly, and that initial vibe you have is what makes it great. I guess as a producer, you’re always looking for the vibe. But it definitely doesn’t happen every day!
All of the tunes are fire on your latest EP for Playaz, but “Straight In” is the one that stands out for me. Walk us through the process of how that one came together.
“Straight In” was a tune that came about very quickly, as I often just want something fun and mixable to play in my sets. I find when I don’t overthink and try too hard, something amazing usually comes out. For this one, I messed about with some drum sounds and managed to create a really cool, militant-style beat, and the bass just really wrote itself. It was definitely a fun tune to write.
The bassline came out really cool, and I sort of stumbled across it by accident. I often mess around with plugin chains to create crazy sounds, especially with those super filthy midrange bass sounds. I will try a few different distortion plugins, reverbs, EQs and compression, and I will just kind of move the plugins around so they will appear in different orders in the plugin chain. This often changes the tone of the bass sound and can create really sick noises. I think with “Straight In” I did this, and it just worked really well and created this really cool, dirty bass sound, which fit so nicely with that militant drum beat. All I was thinking at the time was putting together something with a short intro and a drop that would really grab people’s attention in the rave.
Of course, the EP continues to go down hard. Can you usually tell when you’ve got a hit on your hands, or is there always a bit of uncertainty until it actually drops and is available to the public?
Because I DJ so much, a lot of my tunes are almost tailor-made to fit in my sets, and I build them around that. With “Straight In” and “Something for the Weekend” I just wanted really easy-to-mix, fun-sounding tunes for my sets; whereas other tunes off the EP, like “Inside the Beast,” are more about the big breakdown and buildup to the metallic drums and hard-as-fuck basslines.
A tune like “Hearts on Fire” I’ve never actually played in a set—not because I don’t like the tune, but because I just find it wouldn’t really suit the kind of big raves and clubs I play in. It’s more the kind of really nice song that you can perhaps listen to in your car or on a chilled Sunday afternoon. Either way, I do really want to try and incorporate a lot more vocals and songs with my more hard-hitting dancefloor stuff. I’m always looking to make those tunes that meet in the middle somewhere and will work in a number of environments.
Sub Zero’s Inside the Beast EP is out now via Playaz, so gear up and prepare to stomp the night away!
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