Low-end inspiration: Flava D is at the forefront of bass music

Royal-T makes up one third of t q d with you and DJ Q. How did that project come about?

I’ve worked with Royal-T a lot in the past and it was the same with DJ Q. Those two had never worked together before. They were working on their first collaboration one day in the studio when I suggested putting something on the track. They asked if I wanted to get on it and that was how it started. We were just inputting our ideas and it just made sense. ‘Day & Night’ was our first track. We did our first back-to-back set in Birmingham and it went off! Our energies just complimented each other and we knew how to blend together as a DJ collective. Footage from the show went a little bit viral and created a massive buzz so we knew we had to do more work. We never expected to be touring it all.

Shall we expect an album then?

We’re working on new music at the moment – we’re just wrapping up our latest tune. It’s just hard because I’m in America at the moment, Q lives in Huddersfield and Mark lives in Southampton. We’re always busy so it’s hard to get into the same place. We’re going to work on more singles and there’s a lot coming up but I can’t really go into it. We’ve got a tour to announce later in the year but then we’ll take a break from it for a bit. We don’t want to overdo it and play the same cities over and over again.

DJ Q’s been around for years and is obviously a bit of an icon in the bassline scene. What impact has working with him had on you?

He’s influenced me massively. I was listening to his BBC 1Xtra show when I was 17 or 18. I look at him as a DJ EZ-type figure. He produces as well, he’s not just a quality DJ. He’s the full package. He can make a disgusting bass banger but he can also make really nice, chilled 2-step. You don’t find many DJ/producers that are that consistent. He’s one of my favourites and I’m privileged to be working with him.

You’re touring the US right now. How receptive has the US crowd been to the kind of music you play?

What I’ve noticed this time is that people are getting down to grime. They’re a lot more responsive to the bass sound now. The whole vibe is different thanks to guys like Skepta. There’s still a long way to go but every time I come back it gets better. I was playing in Seattle and my tune ‘In The Dance’ got a reload. Obviously the reload culture is not really a thing in the States compared to the UK. It’s what we do. That was a big moment. Even if I drop a Skepta track, like the very first bit of ‘Man’, the people love it. There was even people coming up to me asking if I could play certain tunes of mine. It’s just good to know I’m playing to people who know about my sounds.