Small Stepper Break Down Their Socially Conscious Sound Ahead of May 19 Dada EP Release
Offbeat, experimental, and acutely socially conscious duo Small Stepper is set to release its new EP Qualms at Dada on May 19. Beijing based producer Blake Stone-Banks (aka Fløøød) provides the richly textured, dancehall inspired but distinctly experimental sonic backdrop for his friend Dez Williams (who goes by DZZZ onstage), a Kingston-born, Brooklyn-based vocalist that Fløøød linked up with during trips to New York. Fløøød will be bringing DZZZ (who works at an ad agency in NYC by day, along with directing music videos in his spare time) to Beijing on May 19 for a set at Dada that'll not only make you dance, but also leave you pondering contentious social issues thanks to DZZZ's thoughtful lyrics. Below, the duo breaks down their unique sound before that groove laden Dada set.
Tell us about how you guys linked up and began making music.
Fløøød: Fifteen years ago, Dez and I were working on a documentary together about disco roller skaters in Central Park. We needed music for the doc, so we decided to make our own disco songs.
DZZZ: The best projects always start with a terrible idea and disco skating soundtracks was ours! We didn’t make music together for fifteen years but continued making music independently of each other.
Fløøød: Dez was in this project in Brooklyn called Rahtid! Sound. At the first 87FEI parties in Beijing, I’d play a lot of their “Rock and Rahtid!” mashups. I’ve been a fan of Dez’s music under various aliases, including Dub Dillinja and the Iris Ation-Tropical Fantasy stuff on Dubshot Records. So, my last trip through Brooklyn we started tracking his vox onto some music I had recorded in Beijing. It seemed to gel.
How do you compliment each other as artists?
DZZZ: I select the ingredients and Blake cooks the meal. Then when he’s done in the kitchen I sprinkle a garnish or two on top. We both decide how to plate it and who to serve it to. The food is usually Ital. You see me?
Fløøød: Or we could say Dez writes the lyrics and I create the beats. Dez also plays gatekeeper, navigating the sound and keeping things on track. The project has been fun for me to get away from my usual skweee thing and test waters in new genres. The EP tracks are downtempo but the live show is more hard-hitting, starting in 80bpm dancehall and instrumental hip-hop and advancing into 140bpm+ grime territory.
DZZZ, tell us about some of the muses and inspirations that sparked your lyrics on the song "Blood," from your new EP.
DZZZ: I wrote "Blood" in response to what is going on globally with this new heightened sensitivity toward immigration. It seems every border, no matter where it’s located, is getting harder to cross. Unfortunately, couples and families get caught up in this mess and relationships become broken, families are torn apart. I wanted to attack this subject from a different POV. Sing a different kind of love song. Then, for the music video, we put the word out that we were looking for a dancer. We weren’t shy about the subject matter of the song. We linked with a dancer named Matt Elder who plays a laborer going through his late-night tasks and is suddenly thrown into this fight with an invisible adversary. For the video, Matt pulls on his experience as an immigration social worker communicating the struggles of undocumented Americans.
Fløøød, tell us about building the instrumental for the song "Gyal," and what some of your key inspirations were.
Fløøød: Influences are broad. Dez had me listen to a lot of classic dancehall because we originally aimed for a more organic dancehall sound using analog synths and drum machines rather than digital, which defines most standard dancehall. In the end, we ended up selecting six slower tracks for the EP because they tended to gel together. Influences are less dancehall here now. I find myself looking more to maybe Andi Ott or Africa HiTech.
What aspects of Qualms are you guys most proud of? Overall, how is this EP a step forward for you guys as artists?
Fløøød: For me, it’s a step in terms of genres as well as theme. The music is much more cut up and granular in terms of the instruments I’m working with. Before as Fløøød I played everything live on analog synths and sequencers, which I’d bring to the stage. It was fun to have that for live performances, but it made the sound difficult to EQ and be precise with. With the live show for Small Stepper, I’m sampling some instruments and cutting them up digitally to give a weirder sound that then supports a few live instruments, and of course live vocals. Some drums and synths are still live, but the feel of the music is more cut up and faster, taking in elements of grime and juke, which is something I always liked listening to but hadn’t let myself experiment with before.
DZZZ: For me, Beijing is the biggest step! I haven’t performed in Asia, so I’m just excited to see what the scene is like there in China.
DZZZ, what is the dancehall scene in New York like these days?
DZZZ: The dancehall scene in NYC is very much alive. And the inescapable reach of social media platforms means the music is even more accessible. But dancehall in New York has its home in deep Brooklyn, in much the same way that punk rock is undeniably an East Village thing. And like everything else with a little bit of edge in Brooklyn, the genre is going through a gentrification phase. That said I want to be clear, as Blake stated before: Small Stepper is not a dancehall act.
So how do you categorize your duo?
DZZZ: Well, it’s true that the music was originally deeply influenced by dancehall. And that is what excites us about the project. But it would be an insult to all the dancehall greats to categorize us as such. We’re more experimental, indie and weirder than true dancehall will ever want to be... except maybe for Major Mackerel.
Small Stepper will perform at Dada on May 19. Tickets are RMB 50 (more information here). Check out their Bandcamp here.
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Photos: Courtesy of Small Stepper
