Brave New World

Tring isn't a house hub like Chicago or techno capital like Detroit. It doesn't even rival the dubstep epicentre of Croydon in South London. But the old Hertfordshire market town is home to Huxley, among those reinventing UK garage. “It's a really tiny place,” Dodman says. “The only thing of note is it's got a museum of stuffed animals [the former Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum], which had some fleas dressed in clothes!” No wonder, then, that the so-called “Big Thing from Tring” has lately moved to London.

The DJ/producer, his handle inspired by Brave New World author Aldous Huxley, is returning to Australia after 2012's “whistlestop tour” that saw him in the country for just two (jetlagged) days, playing Melbourne and Sydney. “It almost feels like I haven't been there yet.”

It was back in Tring where Dodman first embraced jungle, DJing at 12. It was a brief phase. “I went to my last drum'n'bass rave when I was about 17,” says Dodman, who worshipped Micky Finn. From jungle, he discovered garage, which eventually led him to (deep) house. Dodman, who threw garage parties in Tring, then migrated to the South Coast for a Media Studies course at the University of Portsmouth. Here, he'd focus on refining his production skills over DJing. “There wasn't exactly a thriving scene.” Dodman goes so far as to describe Portsmouth as “pretty rank” before backtracking – he recently played an “amazing” gig there, things having changed. In 2012 Dodman, now producing for some years and even launching his own Saints & Sonnets imprint, unleashed his breakthrough record, the nu-garage Let It Go, on Hypercolour.

His house bass-heavy, Dodman is often identified with a post-dubstep movement – as is Maya Jane Coles (whose Dazed he's remixed). “The first house music I released was kind of loopy German tech-house [cue: 2009's Sassanids EP with mate Tim “Ethyl” Hopgood on Cécille], and then I found my way by going back to what I used to love. I'd say it was more garage-influenced than dubstep – I still take a lot of influence from old garage. I've never really listened to loads of dubstep – I like bits of it, like Burial and all the obvious kind of things that are around – but, I don't know, it's a weird thing...” Dodman still digs techno – though, with his roots in “deeper” music, he favours the “Detroity sort of stuff” to the hard variety, rating Carl Craig. Dodman has spoken of developing a techno project with Sam Russo, a Craig Richards ally. “We've done a few tracks,” he divulges. The pair are considering an LP. “I've never been one to make out-and-out techno before, so this is quite good fun – it's quite different from what I'm used to.” Nevertheless, that undertaking has “taken a backseat” to Dodman's solo album, which he'll begin working on in earnest following a US jaunt.

Dodman, who's reportedly been liaising with vocalists, is unsure of his album's direction; it could be either clubby or song-based. “I almost feel like I've got two albums in me,” he ponders. “It'll probably come out as a mixture of the two – and the ideas that I have got down kind of reflect that.” Meanwhile, the Brit, who in November issued No Matter What via Kevin Griffiths' Tsuba (with remixes from Detroit houser Marc Kinchen!), will release Bellywedge/Little Things, again through Hypercolour, next month, with another EP forthcoming on Rinse. The pirate radio veteran has, coincidentally, also started an “eclectic” monthly radio show on Rinse FM. 

Dodman's plans for Oz? “I am gonna play a mixture of housey stuff and a bit more garagey – not too garagey, but just a couple of classics. Last time I played there the crowd were quite responsive to a lot of stuff, so I'm looking forward to being able to play a bit more across the board.”

Huxley will be playing the following dates:

Friday 22 February - Prince of Wales, Melbourne VIC
Saturday 23 February - Shape, Perth WA
Sunday 24 February - Skyroom, Brisbane QLD
Thursday 28 February - Sugar, Adelaide SA
Saturday 2 March - Chinese Laundry, Sydney NSW