Caspa

Caspa is a dubstep producer from London, United Kingdom, born in 1982. He grows up in West London and comes to electronic music through jungle, hip hop and garage, moving from listening to tape packs of DJs such as Brockie and Det to attending garage raves when he is old enough. An injury ends his basketball career, after which he buys his first decks, begins DJing and starts making music on a computer after receiving a demo copy of Fruity Loops.

Early releases and labels

Before using the Caspa name, he records as Quiet Storm and makes the track “Bass Bins”, which is played by BBC 1xtra’s J Da Flex on the Underground Knowledge show in 2003. He then starts his own label, Storming Productions, in 2004 and begins a weekly show on Rinse FM. Through that period he works with artists including Search & Destroy, Dubchild, Toasty Boy, DJ Narrows and Oris Jay, helping establish the label as a significant outlet in the scene.

After receiving a demo from Swedish producers L-Wiz, he launches Dub Police as a sister label to Storming Productions. Dub Police focuses on developing dubstep and giving new artists a platform. Caspa’s first release under his own name appears there, followed by a release on Tempa, “Rubber Chicken”, which becomes one of the biggest tracks of the year and is widely treated as an anthem.

Dubstep profile and collaborations

Caspa’s work on Dub Police includes releases from L-Wiz, N-Type, Rusko and The Others, alongside his own productions, and the label grows into one of the leading names in early dubstep. In October 2007, he and Rusko are asked by Fabric to mix the 37th edition of the FabricLive series. It is the first commercially available dubstep compilation and helps bring the genre to a wider audience.

He also works on notable remixes, including Lennie De Ice’s jungle track “We I.E.” and TC’s drum and bass track “Where’s My Money”, the latter becoming a major crossover record in 2008.

Performances and later activity

In 2008, Caspa joins the agency Coda, leading to festival appearances at Glastonbury, Global Gathering, Big Chill and Glade, as well as dates in Israel, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and across Europe and the UK. Around this time he also starts Sub Soldiers, another sister label to Dub Police, which issues two parts of the “Ave It” series. By the following year, Caspa and Dub Police are holding a bi-monthly night at Fabric alongside DJ Hype and Pascal’s True Playaz residency.

His work sits across bassline, club, drum and bass, dub, dubstep and electronic music, with a particular place in the development of dubstep as a recorded and club genre.