WEARING A WIG

Tommy Dash is somewhat of a loose unit. As Skism, his productions have a tendency to be twisted - but it’s all in a days work for this guy. Skism knows how to make it work too, capitalising on the attention he has stirred with the most insane beats coupled with a little bit of salt and pepper, and heaps of chilli.

“My journey through dance music started about ten years ago when I cut my teeth as a drum & bass DJ. I was always into metal as a kid, so the natural progression into dance music from there was the heavier side of drum & bass.

“Today, I try and incorporate as many different influences from outside the genre I'm making into my tunes. Obviously it has to fit into a certain framework (tempo and structure) but other than that I like to experiment with classical progressions, metal influences, ethnic samples, breakbeats - that sort of stuff. The great thing about a young genre like dubstep is that you have the ability to try stuff that hasn't been done yet.”

Tommy has come from seemingly nowhere to virtually own the genre, and if that's a little on the edge, there's no denying the kids lap it up - check out the ‘Down With The Kids’ video; they're virtually eating from the palm of his hand, which is exactly what Tommy wants. “Musically, I'd say that this year I'm inspired by the more melodic/ euphoric styles of dubstep that have become more prominent. The obvious examples of people flying the flag are Flux Pavilion, Subscape and Gemini.”

Inspired by the scene around him, Tommy set up Never Say Die Records - with partner Nick Demus - just over a year ago. “We've achieved a lot in that time,” he says, “and have had tracks and remixes from the likes of The Freestylers, Foreign Beggars, Flux Pavilion, Excision & Datsik, Shockone, Reso, J Majik & Wickaman, DC Breaks and myself under various guises.”

Keeping busy, it seems, comes with the territory. “The big project for us at the moment is the new Foreign Beggars EP, ‘The Harder They Fall’. Some of the biggest names in the business have produced it (Skrillex, Black Sun Empire, Lazer Sword, Mensah, Alix Perez, Medison and Ruckspin). We are also releasing it on a very special format. We focus a lot on image and branding, our artwork is top notch and when we promote a release, we try and push the artist as much as possible rather than just sticking an MP3 with a logo on it out on Beatport like so many digital labels these days.”

This year, the focus for the label is all about building their stable, and in that respect, the lads have taken on some great new acts: Dodge & Fuski, 501, Skeptiks and Zomboy. Away from the label, Tommy describes some of the new stuff he's been working on. “I've just had a few remixes come out, there's one more to come out soon which is my remix of Heavy Artillery by Canadian dubstep giants Excision and Downlink. Other than that I'm actually collaborating a lot at the moment. I'm working on a pretty special remix with my good pal Flux Pavilion and I'm also working on a track with long time friends DC Breaks for their forthcoming album. I'm gathering ideas for my next EP, but it's pretty hard to get in the studio with such a busy touring schedule and a label to run - at the moment I spend more time on other people’s music than I do my own!”

The touring, though, is an essential part of building your name - far less subliminal than a record. And with that comes onstage antics that are at times random, always crazy and sometimes odd. “I wore a wig in a video once as a joke, and now everyone wants to see me DJ in a wig, it's pretty retarded to be honest, but sometimes you have to give the people what they want, even if it means looking like a bell end. Generally though, I'm a DJ’s DJ. Expect a three deck set with incessant energy levels.”

With incessant being the operative word, the lad is headed back to Australia to spread the raucous message he delivers so well.
“I've been coming to Australia since about 2007 so I'm pretty familiar with how you Aussies like to party! Expect banging music and even more banging hangovers.” We would expect nothing less, Tommy.

Skism headlines alongside Trolley Snatcha and Foreign Beggars at Never Say Die, at Electric Playground, Saturday April 30.