MARY ANNE HOBBS
Interview by Katya Guseva
Your story of growing up is very interesting. You worked at an egg-packing factory at 16, ran away with a hard rock band and created your own zine, worked for Sounds paper at 19, lived in “the dark underbelly of LA” writing about thrash metal… First, what made you take on all these adventures? Second, how do you feel looking back at all of the things you’ve done then?
I’ve always just charged at my dreams and never looked back. I will act on a hot idea in a moment, and I’m a great believer that you make your own luck. I have never been interested in a formal or a normal life. I’ve just spotted a chink of light and ran toward it. Seen a fascinating threshold and stepped across it. The sum total of all my experiences has lead me to these exact co-ordinates on the map of life. And I love it! My journey has been hectic, testing, thrilling and increasingly flashes past at warp speed. The most precious commodity I have now is time. I wish time would cool it’s heels a little.
This is my favorite quote, and it atomizes how I feel:
Like a wind crying through the universe, time carries with it the names and deeds of conquerors and commoners alike. And all that we were, and all that remains, is in the memories of those who cared we came this way but for a brief moment…
Your influence on the development of grime and dubstep genres is undeniable, but what do you consider your biggest achievement in and contribution to the experimental music scene?
The Dubstep Warz special on my BBC Radio1 show in January of 2006 with Digital Mystikz, Skream, Kode 9, Vex’d, Hatcha, Loefah and Distance, showcasing their sound. There was such a magic in the studio that night, and we captured the energy of the emerging scene in the UK at a real flash point. The global response to that radio show was astounding. People will still tell me “Dubstep Warz changed my life” almost every week. The West Coast Rocks special I broadcast in February 2009 focusing on the incendiary LA and SF scenes has provoked a similarly incredible response.
