Enter the dragon

>> Montreal’s Komodo breathes a
little fire into the dubstep sound

SWEET AND LOW END: Komodo

by ERIN MACLEOD

In London every week, fans of heavy bass gather for FWD, a club night that really put dubstep on the map. Here in Montreal, Matthew Burton, otherwise known as Komodo, has been promoting his own particular take on this sound—dubstep it is, but it’s definitely a little different. In addition to the big, deep beats, Komodo throws in instruments like the Australian didgeridoo and Turkish flute, throat singing and live drums, evident on his new album, Subluna, ready to be played loudly (make sure to crank the bass!).

Mirror: The stereotype of dubstep is that it’s London-centric, male-oriented, hoodie-sporting, head-nodding—

Komodo: There is definitely something to that stereotype. When I went to FWD, it was a roomful of dub zombies. It didn’t really seem like a party. My immediate reaction was that I liked the sound, but I didn’t really see the way it was being listened to going off in my city. I spent the past number of years thinking about ways and making tracks that would infiltrate that low end, dub, bass aesthetic but present it in a way that would make people in Montreal think, yeah, that’s cool, I want to dance to that, I want to come to those parties.

M: London dubstep is a little cold.

K: Absolutely. My brother, DJ Hosta, is a big fan of dubstep. He makes a really big effort to go finding those tunes that are deeper, warmer and bouncier. The fact that he’s finding those tunes means that they exist. But there aren’t that many DJs spinning that. What I find is dominating the sound right now is kind of aggressive and harsh. There is definitely room for that, but I want to counter that with other ideas about what it can sound like.

M: What would you call your sound?

K: I like the idea of opening people’s ears to new and different sounds. I don’t care what people call what I’m doing. What I say I’m doing is dubstep and other bass-heavy grooves. When I do the Komodo Dubs nights, I’ll invite DJs that play dancehall, grime, 2-step, garage, dub techno—as long as it’s got that bass. I don’t care what the tempo is!

CD launch at SAT on Tuesday,
May 20, 6 p.m., free