Rising bass artist Die By The Sword stopped by to share an exclusive interview and a killer new dubstep mix full of classics and IDs.
Die By The Sword (DBTS) has been steadily making moves in the sound system scene as of late and gaining a fanbase of 140 lovers along the way. Based in Colorado, the rising star had his biggest year yet in 2023 playing events like Infrasound, Sound Haven, and Meow Wolf. Other DJs continue to rinse Die By The Sword tunes in their sets everywhere, making it clear that the talent has an even bigger year ahead of him.
Not long after his recent SoundCloud mix of all-original unreleased music, DBTS released a two-track vinyl-exclusive EP via Hypho‘s Manuka Records this week to keep a piece of the culture alive, limiting it to only 50 available physical records. You can hear part of the two tracks on Manuka’s SoundCloud to get a taste before you buy the digital version, which will be available soon.
As Die By The Sword gears up for another busy year, he’s been hard at work in the studio building up his vault. To kick off the 2024 festival season, he’s spun an exclusive mix full of those unreleased gems and plenty of dubstep favorites, new and old. Stream the mix below on your best set of speakers, and keep reading for our interview with Die By The Sword.
Stream EDMID Guest Mix 413 || Die By The Sword on SoundCloud:
Hey Connor! Thanks so much for chatting with us. After your successful 2023, more fans will undoubtedly recognize the name Die By The Sword. We’d love it if you could start by sharing a bit of the backstory as to where it all started for you with music with your newer listeners.
Thanks for having me! This is one of my favorite mixes I’ve ever done, no doubt!
It actually started with a guitar. I have been playing instruments since age 10. Throughout my childhood and early teen years, I was in an orchestra and jazz band and played guitar in my spare time. In high school, I was really into metal and hardcore music right before discovering dubstep. I feel like those genres are somewhat cohesive with heavier dubstep, so it makes sense that I would go on to discover my love for bass music.
I started DJing in 2011 (in my bedroom, as you would imagine) and started playing in front of people at college parties in 2014. In the summer of 2015, I had a really miserable time living on my empty college campus for an internship, and that’s when I decided to start learning electronic music production.
From 2016-2019 I was living in Chicago, playing random nightclubs for quick money, and making all sorts of music that I was not really sharing with anyone aside from my close friends. To be honest, it was pretty much bits of every genre you could imagine, and most of it was absolute shit. I had the idea of Die By The Sword in 2017 when I started to make what I would consider listenable or maybe even enjoyable bass music, but I didn’t launch the project until March 2019.
And of course, how did you choose your unique moniker?
Mainly from the poetic meaning but partially from the Slayer song “Die By The Sword.” They were always my favorite metal band and still are, honestly!
Being local to Colorado is a perk for rising dubstep artists like yourself, as it’s one of the most influential US regions for the genre. How has your location and continued support from local brands like The Black Box, Sub.mission, and others impacted your career and growth as an artist?
Living in Colorado definitely gives eager producers a leg up, considering how the scene here has flourished for many years. When I got ready to relocate from Chicago to Colorado, I knew that it would probably help my dubstep career, but I moved here for the geography and change of pace. I had lived in Illinois for all 28 years of my life and really got tired of the lack of nature. I was ready to move on from Chicago as the pandemic had changed things a lot for the city.
Being near The Black Box out here is great. It is easily the best dubstep venue in the entire country. It was always a goal of mine to not only play there but to be a part of the Sub.mission Agency, and their support means more to me than I could put into words. I’m very honored and excited to be headlining the main room in April.
Conversely, you’ve gained some massive international support with releases on labels like LDH Records, FatKidOnFire, Infernal Sounds, and DUPLOC. What has it been like working with collectives like these?
When I first really started digging for 140 music, DUPLOC and Deep Dark & Dangerous were my go-to labels for tunes. Getting to release with both of them in the last two years has been surreal and definitely a dream come true.
The LDH vinyl release is another huge milestone that could not have gone any better. It’s still unreal to me that all of those records sold out in a day!
I would keep your eyes peeled at those imprints this year as well.
You’ve taken the stage at festivals like Infrasound, Sound Haven, and Wicked Woods. How have these experiences compared to more intimate club shows you’ve played? Do you approach the sets differently?
I usually try to let the guns blaze the entire time during festival sets, especially when you’re at the level where you’re playing pretty early or late. It’s important to keep the momentum going. Depending on the reaction to my originals early in the set, I might opt to just play my favorite heavy-hitting tunes to keep the energy high.
In more intimate venues, it’s way easier to see reactions and read the crowd to know what kind of tracks are going to go off before you even load them up. It definitely gives an advantage compared to festival sets, where sometimes it’s hard to even really see the crowd.
With so much unreleased music in your vault (that can be found in your recent all-original unreleased mix as well as the one you made for us), can you share any big release plans for this year?
I don’t want to give too much away, but I will be returning to some labels that I worked with last year, and earlier this week, I released a two-track EP vinyl with Manuka Records. In a few months, I will drop a four-track EP with a newer, mighty UK label sometime this spring. The fourth track is going to be a remix from an absolute don.
Just for fun, if you could only listen to three albums for the rest of your life, what would they be and why?
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. This one came out when I was a junior in high school. I had just lost my uncle and my grandfather in a span of less than two years and this album somewhat served as an escape for me in a tough time.
Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon. I listened to this one a lot at a really young age when I was getting into rock music (thanks, Mom). I know, it’s definitely a cliché choice, but this one really opened my mind to experimentation in music. Frankly, I don’t think it was done at this level in mainstream music at the time before this album.
Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92. I don’t even need to write the ‘why’ for this one. You just have to listen to it if you haven’t.
And finally, what goals do you have for Die By The Sword for 2024 and beyond?
I have a few more bucket list labels that I want to either work with or at least get my foot in the door with this year. It was initially a goal of mine to release the ID 2.0 Mix, as well as multiple EPs this year, and those are already set in stone.
Aside from that, in terms of production, I just want to keep progressing with the quality of my production and build a brand new arsenal of unreleased music to play and send out. My lifelong producer goals are to write an album and score a film. I haven’t been too focused on that, just because I believe there will be a time and a place for everything, and my mind is set on other things at the moment.
In terms of shows, I am hopeful to play in NYC and LA this year, as well as at either Mishawaka Amphitheatre or Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom here in Colorado. It would be awesome to return to Chicago for a hometown show sometime soon. It’s also a career goal of mine to play Red Rocks in Colorado, as well as some Chicago venues that I hold near and dear to my heart.
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