Malta’s music scene is often times a reflection of the island’s wider artistic culture – inward looking, consistent in its inability to break any mould and seemingly focused on not standing out too much.
While our pop music sensibilities seem to remain in the production values of the 1990s – or even earlier – and our techno and house releases seem more solid and palatable in 2017, they are practically all interchangeable with each other to the point that the producers themselves wouldn’t be able to recognise their own work. There are some artists who are doing their own thing and doing it well.
The past 15 years have seen multiple trends reach far and wide to leave their mark. A genre that originated in the impoverished south London neighbourhoods and has come to influence much of modern electronic music is dubstep.
Reaching international status by the mid-1990s, dubstep provided the blueprint for creating dark, atmospheric electronic music that could also be translated to a live club scene.
And, arguably, when it reached American shores, it provided the beginnings – along with house and techno – of the EDM explosion.
But Malta has been blessed to have a group of DJs and producers who were dedicated to the UK bass music scene for nigh on 10 years.
Since 2008, FDM Crew have been holding regular events, bringing high-profile musicians over and even been called to play in events like Outlook Festival in Croatia.
One of the founders, Depth – also known as Neil Fenech – has now gone one step further and is releasing the first Maltese dubstep album.
While there have been dubstep releases over the years by other great producers like Volume A, this is the first album. But Depth isn’t thinking in those terms – he just wants to release great music.“This album is a collection of hours spent in the studio with my mates and just having a good time with music production. I feel like it was a great learning experience and can’t wait to hear the tunes in a dance,” Depth says with the appropriate slang to reflect his music’s Jamaican origins. “There are even a couple of tunes I am really looking forward to hear an MC jump on top of,” he says.
Any MC looking to jump in some original Maltese dubstep need look no further
Any MC looking to jump in some original Maltese dubstep need look no further.
But it’s not only dubstep that Depth represents on his album –the British grime scene has exploded over the past few years with names like Skepta and JME doing big things worldwide, with superstars like Drake copying the London sound of the Grime boys.
Depth isn’t holding his breath locally. “The dubstep and grime scene in Malta is very small and it has always been like this from day one. It never really exploded locally like the techno and house scenes,” he says. “But this makes it even more special, in my opinion, because every rave we do you see faces that you’ve known for 10 years or more and who’ve stayed loyal to the scene from day one.
“Every event that goes down associated with these genres is always lit, irrelevant to the amount of people,” says Depth.
Clearly, quality is favoured over quantity in the UK bass scene. And anyone who has seen Depth in the midst of a hyped set would agree that whether it’s 10 people, a hundred or thousands, as he has played to at the Outlook festival, he always makes it a goal to get the crowd as energised as possible and get on his wavelength.
With the onset of his full-length feature album debut, all Depth is focused on is getting his music out to the people. His album, Time, is what he’s been working on for a while. “Time has been in the making for about a year and a half,” he explains. “When you hear the whole album you realise that there’s a variety of different sounds, the reason being that I’m influenced by any style of music and wanted to show it in the album.”
“There are 12 tracks in all on the album,” he says. “I think my favourite one is Illusions because it takes me to a special place. But obviously it’s hard to choose because they all mean something to me one way or another.”
Depth’s decade-long career in underground Maltese music has led him to teaming up with some of Malta’s hottest under-the-radar producers. “There are four tracks that I’ve collaborated with on Time. Two tracks with Mercil, one with Microlith and another with Volume A. These are three good friends of mine and awesome producers whom I’ve worked with for years and was honoured to feature them on the album.”
Even though he produces dark music, Depth’s optimism, humility and cheerfulness comes across clearly when chatting to him. “It feels really good to share my music with the people. I think it’s the first album that includes dubstep and grime in Malta… that makes it just a little bit more special to me.”
With the album successively launched at a massive event that included DJs Bass Culture, Sean Rickett, Mist, Volume A, and Supre, his album will be showcasing the evolution of one of Malta’s longest lived underground scenes and proving that Malta’s musical landscape isn’t as uniform as one would think.
“My musical journey here in Malta has been amazing overall, the memories, the good times, the people you meet, it’s a blessed feeling and am very proud of that,” Depth says with a smile.
“I would like to thank everybody who has supported me throughout the years and still support me to the day. One love!”