Dabbling in Dubstep

BustedBASS aim to take dubstep music’s growing popularity to new heights at Ohio University

“Defining dubstep is one of the hardest things to do,” Joe Sherwood says as he relaxes in the living room of his off-campus house in Athens. Although Sherwood couldn’t provide a proper definition for the genre, dubstep music is an offshoot of house or electro music that builds in power and contains something known as “the drop,” a point in each song in which the bass kicks in in full force.

Since the early 2000s, dubstep has made its way into clubs, bars and house parties throughout the college scene, gaining popularity in recent years. Well-known artists include Skrillex, Bassnectar and Skream.

Sherwood, now a senior history major, began listening to dubstep as a junior in high school. In college he and fellow DJ Arthur Henke formed BustedBASS, a DJ tandem which has only started getting requests to spin dubstep within the last year. Although Sherwood and Henke started by playing house shows, Athens bar such as Jackie O’s, the Union and the Pigskin have started to feature their beats.

Sherwood and Henke remix all of the music themselves that they play while DJing. Along with dubstep, listeners will hear everything from pop smashes to club remixes.
“We put songs on top of songs and make a whole new piece of music,” Sherwood explains. Also, listeners shouldn’t be surprised if they hear some unexpected artists included in their remixes, like Led Zeppelin or George Michael. “As long as you can find a way to make it sound cool, you’re good.”
            Various remixes continue to blare from Sherwood’s laptop as he discusses his future while sitting on the couch directly underneath a giant banner displaying BustedBass’ logo. “We’re trying to go around the world with our music,” Sherwood says.