Touching Bass: B Traits

B Traits: I’m great thanks! Today I’ve just been preparing for my Radio show this Friday (7-9PM BBC Radio 1). I also stopped by the R1 building to have a quick chat with Eliza Doolittle as she is providing the Bedtime mix for my Sunday night show in a few weeks. And of course, prepping for Carnival! Our brand new DSB banners just arrived today and they look awesome!!

Counting down the darn days. What would you say has been your favourite carnival moment of the last few years though?

Notting Hill Carnival in general is a pretty massive experience for me. Back home in Canada, we don’t have anything even remotely close to carnival, so every year I am in such awe of it. For me, getting to DJ on the Digital Soundboy Soundsystem stage each year is so much fun, everyone comes round to just have a good time and vibe, different artists and DJs show up out of nowhere and jump behind the decks. I’m definitely looking forward seeing who will be showing up this year!

Cool. Do you still get really panicky before a show or have you fought your fears?
Umm panicky haha. I hope that never changes for me though, I quite like the butterflies.

What about having a routine before you go on stage?

Before every DJ set and radio show I like to brush my teeth. Then right before I go on stage or before I put the mic up I have to jump up and down real fast. It gets my blood pumping and calms me down a little. For the really big DJ gigs I’ve been experiencing lately, I’ll do a shot Jager before I start my set. Nothing like a bit of Dutch courage.

Not Jagerbomb? Moving on though, Digital Soundboy has always been pretty open when it comes to bass heavy music. Would you ever see yourself working with some lower tempo stuff?

Yes definitely, DSB doesn’t have any guidelines or rules and Shy encourages us to do whatever we want. I’ve made lots of slower tempo stuff, its just a matter of finishing it off for you all to hear.

Ahh cheeky. What’s your favourite D&B break?

Being from a dance background, the apache break is my fave. I played before Grandmaster Flash at Boardmasters festival recently and he played the full original tune and I went nuts!

Now, I’ve just got a couple of quickfire questions:

What’s your phone background?

A photo of my Granddad.

YouTube guilty pleasure?

Watching breakdancing battles and steel drum bands.

Would you rather be telepathic or telekinetic?

Telepathic.

What was your first crush like?

I was in Kindergarden and it was on a boy named Cody. He asked me to be his ‘girlfriend’ but I got a cold and missed a few days of school so he called me on the telephone and then refused to speak to me because he thought I sounded like a baby (because I was sick). He didn’t hold my hand again after that :(

Ahh babes :(



The Digital Soundboy Soundsystem, in association with Soul Village and Sir Lloyd, returns to Notting Hill Carnival on Monday 26th August from 12pm until 7pm. The DSB stage will be situated on the corner of Tavistock Road/Leamington Road Villas.

Read more editions of Touching Bass here

Touching Bass: Local Natives


Touching Bass: Brackles


Touching Bass: Stooki Sound