Nick Douwma is the London born producer/dj better known by his moniker Sub Focus. Since emerging onto the scene in 2003 with his self-titled album, he has risen up the ranks to superstar level with sets all around the globe.
On the 3rd July the UK was blessed with his presence for a performance at XOYO in conjunction with Desperado Verde where he dropped a set to launch the company’s newest brand of beer.
Flavour had a quick chat with the man himself who revealed that despite his status in the music scene he still has many aspirations.
What’s cracking with Sub Focus for this year?
I’m touring the UK, Europe and doing bits and pieces in the US over the course of the summer. Then I’m going to be in the studio to work on my next album in this brand new space I had built in London.
Do you still have moments where you wonder how you ended up where you are now?
I had a friend a bit older than me who set up a dnb night at the university in Guildford and that’s where I played my first few DJ gigs. I often think I have been very lucky to be doing this for a job and I love making and playing music, it’s great to have got to this stage with it.
Following on from the question before what further goals have you set yourself?
I’m just starting to write my next album and I want to make it bigger and better than my last two, that’s really my main goal at the moment. Also there are festivals and stages I would love to play in the future; Glastonbury main stage, Fuji Rock festival in Japan and more.
Tell me a bit about the hidden discs that you did for Torus?
It was a concept that evolved as I was putting together the album. The word ‘torus’ is a geometric term for ‘disc’. The idea behind the album was about these unexplained monolithic discs, like an ufo or the monolith in 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968), appearing in different locations around the world. These were initially just depicted on the artwork but for the album release we wanted to add to this by having them appear in different locations in the real world in Google maps. We gave people clues to find them and with every disc a track is revealed from the album to hear. You can check it out online here: http://www.subfocus.com/torus
What are your top three tracks so far this year?
Not top tracks of the year, but here are 3 tracks I’m really feeling at the moment; Shadow Child and Doorly – Piano Weapon, Rockwell – I Need U and Hermitude – Hyperparadise(GANZ Flip)
Name/s that we all need to watch out for and why?
She is quite well known already but I’m really enjoying FKA Twig’s stuff at the moment, her videos, art direction and her music are really nice yet unusual.
For more info on Desperado Verde go to facebook.com/desperados