Diving into the New Year with Dieselboy (Interview)

The secret is out: United By Bass won 2018 with more than 10 hosted events, and we’re here to stay! I got the chance to chat with drum and bass legend Dieselboy – The Destroyer – after he rocked the first SD UNION event of 2019 at Brick By Brick. The night was full of fun, friendship and freaky fast beats, and was the perfect kickoff to the new year with around 400 of our closest friends.
Read on to learn what The Destroyer thinks is delicious in San Diego, his favorite D&B release of 2018, and which DJ he’d be stoked to cook a meal for.

- This is not your first rodeo with SD UNION - what’s your favorite part about visiting San Diego?

“I like to visit my cousin who lives here, and my boy Nate from Damascus. I’m also always trying to explore the culinary landscape of San Diego. Tonight I went to Carlsbad, to a place called Campfire. My friend Ryan is a chef there. Then I got to hang out with Z-Trip who only lives about 30 minutes north of San Diego now.
San Diego is a f*ckin’ cool town; I almost moved here at one point. Every time I come here I really enjoy myself – apart from the shows, which are really f*ckin’ fun. I try to make sure I eat good food, fish tacos, that kind of thing.”

-Tons of great music came out last year; did you have a favorite drum & bass release of 2018?

“You know, I’m so choosy about what I play. There’s a track by Phace called Das Techno that came out near the end of the year, that I really like playing. Very, very good.
And there’s another track by an artist called Death Camp 13 – it’s a cool tune that was mixed down by Break. It’s just this really raw, breakbeat-y, nasty, grindy, drum and bass tune that I just f*ckin’ fell in love with, and I play it every set.”

"We're doing our PTOD XX, our 20th year, this year."

- Any big music festivals or international shows you are planning for 2019?

Yeah – my European agent (PRSPCT Agency) just picked up some new employees, so I’m playing Pirate Station in St. Petersburg in March. I have a big festival in Belgium in May, so the European bookings are starting to pick up. I’m also playing EDC Las Vegas this year – it’s probably my 10th time playing but I always enjoy it. Hopefully they don’t put me on at 4 or 5 a.m. like some of the other
years. I also have a new mix coming out called Heart of Darkness, that I’m just starting to work on now.
And – we’re doing Planet of the Drums XX, our 20th year, this year. So that’s gonna be pretty cool. Dara retired, but he’s still pulling for Planet of the Drums. It’s just not the same without all four of us.

- A famous DJ is coming over for dinner - WHO is it and WHAT are you cooking?

I mean, I’ll cook for any DJ, I don’t care who it is. I’d probably say Dubfire, because in the world of DJs, he’s the guy that goes to the most high-end restaurants in the world. I’m talking 3-Michelin Star places in Japan. He really knows his stuff.
If he’s coming to my place, what am I cooking? Probably something Italian, but I would spend a lot of time making sure that it was really good. I take my Italian very seriously, I’m really good with pasta dishes – I don’t fill my sh*t in. I would make something super, super special for him.

This wasn’t our first time hosting The Destroyer, and it certainly won’t be the last. We love the OG D&B energy that Dieselboy brings to our events, and the people his music brings together. Make sure to check out the photo album from SD UNION with Dieselboy on Facebook, and keep up with all the latest event promos and content on both the SDU & UBB Instagram.
Don’t miss the next party; we’re going full techno with Pleasurekraft & Brennen Grey. Buy your tickets now for STAY UNITED at Spin Nightclub on Saturday, February 23.

Veronica Stetter

Author | Editor @ UBB