In Conversation with: Gnasha
Words: Gina Bonnar | 7 July 2020
We talked to one of our favourite producers on the dubstep scene right now, Gnasha. We talked about production and mixing styles, her favourite releases over lockdown and some advice for women that want to start Djing and producing! She has also done a mix for our soundcloud which you can find at the end of this interview including dubs from herself as well as tunes from the likes of Von D, Cartridge, Lampa and more. Enjoy!
Hey Holly. For those who don't know you, can you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do.
Hi Gina, In a nutshell, I’m a Dubstep Producer and DJ based in and from Leeds!
How is lockdown treating you? Have you been up to anything interesting?
Yeah have been trying to keep occupied which I’m sure everyone knows is harder than it looks when you’re confined just to space within your own home. When I first heard we were going into lockdown I was super excited, finally I had all the time in the world to create music but it’s been harder than what I first thought. I find myself lacking in ideas and inspiration. It’s not all doom and gloom though, I have managed to create a few things which I’m excited to share with everyone, Some featured in this mix.
Can you tell us a bit about how you got into the dubstep scene, who were your particular inspirations?
I guess I’ve always been interested in electronic music, my dad used to listen to trance when I were really young and I remember one of my first musical interests were The Prodigy. I found them so intriguing and exciting and I remember being curious about how they made that type of music from a young age. I used to be into the more commercial side of electronic music and listen to artists like The M Machine, Koan Sound and Noisia; it wasn’t until I started going to local events that I found I had a real love for more of an underground sound and that I found what route I would like to take with my own music.
We are loving your tracks - especially the recent Savage Flip tune, very big! How long have you been producing - did this come with Djing or after?
Haha, thank you! I’m glad you’re liking it! So I started producing at around the age of 14. The next few years from there I just experimented really and if I’m honest I had no idea what I were doing for a while but just picked things up over the years by watching youtube tutorials until I started studying Music Tech when I were 16 and then things started to make a little more sense. The DJing came later, I didn’t fully learn how to mix until I were around 16/17, production has always been my main focus.
In terms of track selection do you have a certain "style" that you stick to? or does it depend on your mood?
I guess it depends on my mood in a way, I mix by influence so whatever I’m getting influenced by at that moment in time tends to dictate what kind of mood my sets will be. I also like to try to mix it up and have a variety of styles within the 140 genres and just mainly play tracks that I love. I’ve always been a fan of darker sounding things so I guess I’m more likely to play that kind of style/ mood.
As an event planner, I always feel the need to stick to a certain style and genre - in a way I feel like I need to fit into a category when I have many other genres that I enjoy. Do you feel like there is a lot of pressure to fit into a box when djing and producing?
Yeah it can feel that way sometimes, I guess as a smaller artist too I want to make sure my main association is Dubstep/ 140’s but I also like to make other genre’s too which I want to share with people. As I haven’t got a massive name for myself in the Dubstep scene it’s hard to decide what to do with other genre’s I like to produce, so I just keep them if I want to do any side projects and things like that.
Are there any other music genres you particularly have a passion for?
At the minute, I’ve been listening to a lot of trip-hop and more melodic stuff. I’ve been really loving an artist called Sevdaliza, if you haven’t come across her I’d definitely give her a listen! I’ve also been listening to a lot of break-beat house stuff, DJ Seinfeld has made his way into a lot of my playlists; I love the euphoric vibe he has in a lot of his tracks. It’s super reminiscent of 90’s dance music which I have a lot of time for too!
There have been a lot of amazing releases during lockdown. Are there any particular women in the scene/releases that are exciting you right now?
Obviously Khiva’s release on Deep Dark & Dangerous, big love for that! Charla Green Has been smashing it recently, got big respect for her and her music, she recently released a 2 track EP which you can listen to on her Soundcloud. Got them Eastern vibes which I think most of us agree we are digging at the minute! Other than that I’m loving Lampa’s content he’s been self-releasing on Bandcamp. Mungk and Kali are definitely worth a mention with their recent releases. These two are definitely soon to be making moves in the scene!
With dubstep being a male-dominated scene, have you always felt welcome as a woman in the scene?
I’d never say I’ve felt unwelcome in the scene but I have noticed there can be subtle changes in people’s attitude because I am a girl, I remember when I first started playing gigs I sometimes felt a little shy and overshadowed because I’d feel like the odd one out. I Kinda just try to play it off and hope that people realise that I don’t expect or want to be treated differently because I am a female in the scene and I treat others as equals in hope that it is reciprocated. I don’t want the fact I’m a girl to taint people’s opinions on me or my music, I want the music to do the talking!
What do you feel needs to be done to tackle gender inequality within the music scene in general?
I think it just needs to be made more of a normality that girls can be into something that is usually male dominated, and vice versa. I’ve seen it many times and probably will still continue to see it, when people are shocked that a girl makes great music and can be amazing at mixing, sometimes it leads to people nit picking where they usually wouldn’t just because they’re female. It’s definitely getting better though! Thinking back to when I first started producing I could probably count female producers and DJ’s that I knew of on one hand and I definitely couldn’t do that now. So it’s better than what it was but there’s still room for improvement.
There have been a lot of amazing releases during lockdown. Are there any particular women in the scene/releases that are exciting you right now?
Obviously Khiva’s release on Deep Dark & Dangerous, big love for that! Charla Green Has been smashing it recently, got big respect for her and her music, she recently released a 2 track EP which you can listen to on her Soundcloud. Got them Eastern vibes which I think most of us agree we are digging at the minute! Other than that I’m loving Lampa’s content he’s been self-releasing on Bandcamp. Mungk and Kali are definitely worth a mention with their recent releases. These two are definitely soon to be making moves in the scene!
With dubstep being a male-dominated scene, have you always felt welcome as a woman in the scene?
I’d never say I’ve felt unwelcome in the scene but I have noticed there can be subtle changes in people’s attitude because I am a girl, I remember when I first started playing gigs I sometimes felt a little shy and overshadowed because I’d feel like the odd one out. I Kinda just try to play it off and hope that people realise that I don’t expect or want to be treated differently because I am a female in the scene and I treat others as equals in hope that it is reciprocated. I don’t want the fact I’m a girl to taint people’s opinions on me or my music, I want the music to do the talking!
What do you feel needs to be done to tackle gender inequality within the music scene in general?
I think it just needs to be made more of a normality that girls can be into something that is usually male dominated, and vice versa. I’ve seen it many times and probably will still continue to see it, when people are shocked that a girl makes great music and can be amazing at mixing, sometimes it leads to people nit picking where they usually wouldn’t just because they’re female. It’s definitely getting better though! Thinking back to when I first started producing I could probably count female producers and DJ’s that I knew of on one hand and I definitely couldn’t do that now. So it’s better than what it was but there’s still room for improvement.
Do you have any advice to women that want to start producing and djing?
Give it a go! It can be quite an intimidating hobby to start with but you don’t know your capability until you try. I encourage anyone who is thinking of writing music and experimenting with music to at least try it and see how you find it, everyone has to start somewhere! And to anyone who is starting to produce/ DJ, Don’t be afraid to ask people for help and how they approach writing music or mixing, it’s something I definitely wish I started doing earlier when I first started out but felt too embarrassed to ask!
What's in the future for Gnasha? Have you got any plans for the near future?
Yess! I have 2 upcoming releases with 2 amazing labels, These will be my first releases on labels so It’s very exciting! I have to keep quiet at the minute as to who they are but keep your eyes peeled! Other than that I’m just continuing to write material and drink my body mass in tea each week while we’re seeing out the rest of lockdown and I look forward to be getting back out into the scene!
And finally, tell us what kind of mix you have done for us! We are looking forward to hearing it!
As of recent Bandcamp days, I’ve been expanding my collection of tracks so a lot of the mix is my favourite selection of tracks which I’ve got recently! Got some bits from Khanum, Unkey and some exclusives from myself, I hope everyone enjoys the mix!