Dubstep trio Magnetic Man have spoken about their recent chart success, taking bass music into the mainstream.
Born out of the ashes of the garage scene, dubstep gestated underground before hitting the mainstream recently. Magnetic Man scored a Top Ten hit with ‘I Need Air’ while Katy B took ‘Man On A Mission’ even further.
Together, the pair represent a new movement within dubstep, one that is at ease with commercial success. Magnetic Man is a supergroup of sorts, containing Benga, Skream and Artwork.
With their debut album no doubt set to crack the charts, Magnetic Man recently reflected on their sudden rise to fame. “Everyone thinks we’re making loads of money,” Artwork told The Guardian. “But we’ve invested so much we actually lose money doing these shows.”
Live, Magnetic Man are a pulsating mixture of melody and bass reverberations. The trio use a complex structure which apparently cost £750,000 with live appearances becoming bigger and grander by the day.
Yet the trio first met while working in a record shop, Croydon’s epochal Big Apple Records. Working together in a room above the store, Artwork was to have a huge impact on the arguably better known Benga and Skream.
“My brother worked at Big Apple records and I used to walk past with my mum and sometimes have a look in” Skream told The Guardian. “The first time I met Arthur I was maybe 12. He had a studio above the shop where he made garage tunes. I was a little bastard kid, DJing in my bedroom, but I ended up working there.”
“Before there was such a thing as dubstep we were listening to Hatcha play garage like Sweet Female Attitude’s Flowers. I didn’t have the skills to make that, so I just made dark, bassy music. The production was awful, but the tunes were heavy.”
It seems that Artwork remains the central inspiration for Magnetic Man. “Well, Artwork has a get-things-done nature,” claims Benga. “If it was left up to me and Skream, none of it would ever happen. He’d go out and get pissed and I’d be sat in the studio on my own.”
Magnetic Man are set to release their debut album next month.
