America is keeping real dubstep alive

We all know the supposed history of dubstep in America, right? A bastard version of the sound blew up around the turn of the decade, igniting a stampede of brostep bangers and seething moshpits that left the country's earth totally scorched. Original heads declared the genre dead while an astonishing amount of new fans became hooked on the stadium-sized buzzsaw riffs that would go on to morph into the homogenous glob known as EDM. For dubstep purists, things got pretty bad. So much so that you probably wouldn't believe us if we told you that, a few years down the line, America is proving fertile ground for dubstep and is keeping the real, underground sound of the genre alive.

"I could do more shows [in America] in a month than I could do in England in a year," says Swindle, who released his debut album on Mala's Deep Medi label last year and is sitting on a plane as we speak on the phone. "It's a party every night, there's always somewhere to play." While the hype surrounding dubstep in the UK has long since died out, audiences in the US couldn't be hungrier for it. Having consumed the wob-wob-wobble, they're now getting stuck into the deeper sound of artists like Compa, Kahn, Vivek, Commodo, Seven and J:Kenzo, who have toured there recently or are planning to soon. "People are excited because they don't get to see [UK dubstep] that often," Swindle explains. "They're more excited because you're an export."

Of course, the scene in the UK is alive and actually in the best health that it has been for some time. Youngsta's Contact and Vivek's System are club nights where you can experience the heady rumble of real dubstep while labels like J:Kenzo and Mosaix's Artikal, Kursk's Innamind and Deep Medi, among others, are nurturing new artists who are pushing things forward. But there's no doubt that it's gone back underground, crowning moments now a fuzzy memory, club kids currently way more interested in house and techno. In contrast, there's a real feeling of fresh-faced excitement in the US, as if the shock-of-the-new experiences us Brits had several years ago are happening over there right now. "When the conditions are right in the UK, it's still the most fertile place for it. But we're spoilt. Things move so quickly over here," says Kahn, the Bristol artist who's part of the Young Echo collective and one of dubstep's leading talents. "It's refreshing in America, it's like going back in time. Kids have travelled 12 hours to come to a party. The vibes are great. That's why DJs love going there. It's the energy and the music is still relevant."

J:Kenzo also agrees that the original essence of dubstep can be found in the US, saying, "For me it has a feeling of how dubstep started in the UK… It's the right time for foundational dubstep and [promoters] are putting a lot of time and effort in bringing over artists from the UK to represent." Parties like the now defunct Dubwar in New York and the ever-successful Smog in LA have been bastions of the sound since 2005, but there are now more dubstep promoters in the US than ever before. And they're booking European talent at a rapid rate. "Corporations started getting involved and rinsing out people like [noisy dubstep artists like] Flux Pavilion and Doctor P and now the kids are just tired of hearing it," says Nicole Cacciavillano, who promotes the Sub.mission party in Denver and runs her own booking agency specialising in dubstep talent. "This year the true soldiers are rising to the top. Kids are digging for producers that are pushing boundaries and luckily we get to bring them to America and expose the youth to proper sounds." Sub.misison is about to turn seven years old with a rave featuring Mala and artists from the Deep Medi roster and Cacciavillano prides herself on the party's ability to achieve that OG aesthetic: a dark room, a big soundsystem and clouds of weed smoke that hang thick in the air. Other raves include Gritsy in Houston, Deep Sessions in Washington, Bassic in Boston, Mad Classy in Austin and Too//Future in Florida.

Then there's Reconstrvct in New York, which – with its secret subterranean locations, on-point line-ups and fan devotion – is likely to be talked about in the same way as DMZ at Mass and FWD>> at Plastic People. Founded in 2011 by Luke McCann and Scott Mosher, each edition is a mouth-watering prospect for anyone who digs bass. "The future as I see it is one without barriers of genre or label," says Mosher. "As the scene continues to grow, I think the events that will be the most successful are the ones who incorporate and support both the foundational sounds of the culture as well as the variety of fresh and innovative directions the sound continues to take." That'll be put in action in March when Reconstrvct welcomes London label Keysound and the myriad low-end mutations it represents.

With fans travelling from far and wide to reach Reconstrvct (and even helping clean venues up at 7am to help McCann and Mosher get their security deposit back), it's clear that people are dedicating themselves to dubstep in a way not seen since the 'glory years'. And there's a delicious irony in the way that the trickle down from the commercial dubstep explosion is invigorating the scene. "I went back in April and I played 25 different shows in 25 different states. They're small events, a couple of hundred people, but they are proper heads," says Vivek, the London artist who runs the aforementioned System party as well as the fledgling label of the same name. "They're bang into the music, they know all the tracks, they follow it on the radio, they're collecting vinyl. There are pockets [of fans] all over America and over time they will get bigger." According to him, venues are getting equipped with better sound and more and more spots to play are appearing all the time. "[The crowds] love all of it big time, even the deep stuff that doesn't really move UK crowds," says Manchester producer and new Deep Medi signing Compa. "They dance properly, not just dancefloor swaying. Americans rock man, I can't wait to tour there in May." At this rate, we're tempted to join him. As scene stalwart, cult selector, original Dub War affiliate and Reconstrvct resident Joe Nice puts, "It's all coming together."

[ Images from top: Kahn, Swindle, Vivek]