Sergeant Pokes has been a part of Dubstep for a long time and any person who has been to at least a few dubstep raves should have seen this man bounding about in front of the decks. He doesnt really need much of an introduction.  We caught up with him last week in Berlin ('cos we're rock and roll like that) and asked him a couple of questions...

EXAMPLE: Pokes how was it playing in Berlin and were you doing any other dates in Germany?

POKES: I really enjoy the late night vibe of Berlin and its been ages since i played there, its one of the places where i still get a bit of a knot in my stomach as in the past Berlin has been a place that isnt too keen on men on microphones whilst they are trying to dance. But i think generally now the people that come to the parties know that it is or can be a part of the overall experience.
Im playing in leipzig at Conne Island on the 3rd of december and Mala is playing in Berlin at Wax Treatment this friday on the Killa San Soundsystem with Mark Ernestus and Tiki Man, im gutted to miss that party its going to be hefty.

EXAMPLE: You've been involved in dubstep since day one.  How does it feel when you play raves now having seen it grow from a tiny tight community to a international explosion?

POKES:  To be honest , i cant really say ive been here from day one there are people that were grafting on this sound long before me. In truth i think us DMZ lot are more like third or even fourth generation- but yeah ,it was still 15 producers in a dance most of the time when i first started going to the sounds. Its amazing  to see  what has been created and the fact that there still isnt really any beef between the heads that i feel built it to what it is now.Obviously there are people who you feel should be out more or should not have stopped doing there thing but they all played the part in making it what it is. You meet people who genuinely mean it when they say they were at such and such a party and it changed their life, thats the shit that i want to be part of.

EXAMPLE: You've been playing with Magnetic Man got any tour stories?

 
 
POKES: Yeah , i got shitloads.

 

Example: What tunes do you listen to outside of dubstep?
 

POKES:  Its weird , sometimes i go through periods of time where i just dont listen to anything and im kinda in one those phases now . So i guess mainly what ive been listening to is Prince on loop because thats what Skream insists on when we drive to gigs.

EXAMPLE: What was the first piece of music you ever bought?

POKES: i think the first thing i  actually remember buying was Run DMC "Runs House" and "Beats to the Rhyme" and the Fat Boys "Wipeout" and "Crushin" both on 7" from our price in '87.  

EXAMPLE: Where do you think Dubstep is heading now?  

 
POKES : There are too many people doing too many things to be able to say its going in a certain direction -its not a narrow genre, its vastly varied and their are lots of artists utilising the scope that is available. People on the outside associate dubstep with a certain thing but they miss the point in my eyes. A lot of producers are just about the tempo and i love that ,its left  its residue on the fringes of other genres and started to infect them too.
 

EXAMPLE: What have you got coming up in 2011?   

POKES: Just some mad secret shit that i cant tell you about. Sorry man.

 

Safe Pokes :D

 

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