Interview: In Conversation with Exposure: Sub City EP (Dispatch Recordings)

After years of honing his sound across shared houses, club nights, and labels like A R Records and Jungle Cakes, Bristol producer Exposure steps up with his most refined release yet. The Sub City EP on Dispatch Recordings captures the energy and atmosphere of the city that raised him, drawing from years of late-night sessions, local inspiration, and time spent behind the decks.

We caught up with him to talk about the EP, his creative process, and what lies ahead.

Let’s kick off with a big one. The Sub City EP is out on Dispatch and already turning heads. How does it feel having it out there and getting the reactions it has?

Dispatch has been an absolute pillar of underground Drum and Bass for the past 25 years, so it’s a real honour to be putting this EP out with them. Ant TC1 is a real connoisseur, so I spent a lot of time getting the tunes right, and I’m really happy with them. They work well when listening at home or in the club, and I’ve been enjoying people’s reactions to them. 

The EP feels like a tribute to Bristol in more ways than one. How much of your own story and local experience went into these tracks?

I mean, Bristol is home to me and has inspired me more than anywhere. Bass music is just everywhere, it’s in the fabric of the culture and everyone feeds into it, it’s a very inspiring place to be.

These clubs, sound systems, promoters, and artists dedicate their whole lives to putting on events that bring people together and move them through music.  We had many great nights with A R Records at Lakota, The Black Swan, and The Crofters Rights, with so many dedicated people coming out to show their love for this music. 

A lot of these tunes were tested out at these events, a place to hone your craft and tweak your mixes when you got back to the studio. 

You’ve said the tunes were born from late-night sessions in shared houses. What made that writing environment so effective, and do you think it left a stamp on the sound?

Undoubtedly. I lived with many different producers, first with Stitch and Subtle Element, and then with Phaction for five years. We were always working on tunes, refining our skills, collaborating with musicians and vocalists. I  released tracks with Akov, Sula Mae, Phaction and Mark Douglas over this time.

Everyone’s always so up for helping each other and working on music, so there’s a constant evolution to your sound.

There’s a strong identity across the EP without it becoming repetitive. How did you go about keeping things fresh across the four tracks while maintaining a consistent vision?

To be honest, I didn’t write them all specifically for this EP. I make a variety of different styles of DnB and Jungle, and I've always had Dispatch in my sights, so when it came to submitting tunes, I picked ones that felt like they worked together as an EP. 

Membrane, your collab with Screamarts, is a standout. What drew you to working with him, and how did that tune come together?

Yeah, that was a fun one! I met Screamarts while visiting Akov in Vienna, and he came and stayed at my place for 10 days. We made five tunes during those sessions, and Membrane was one of them. It was a few months of back and forth to get the track finished, but Marv is a genius, so it was a really good process working on it with him. 

Doom Scroll sets the tone perfectly. It’s moody and driven but still quite measured. What was the idea behind that one?

This tune had various different versions, but the core idea was inspired by old techstep rollers from the early 2000s like Noisia - Block Control. It’s just a one-note bassline and stepping drums, and it just does damage on a sound system. The film sample came in a much later version and made me think about how much time we are wasting scrolling on our phones, hence the name Doom Scroll.  

How did the link with Dispatch come about, and what did it mean to you to sign this release with them?

I met Ant at a Dispatch night we played at Lakota in Bristol on New Year's Eve a few years back. It took me a while to get my productions up to the standard required, so I hadn’t sent him anything until I knew it was good enough. 

Dispatch has always been one of the top labels with an unbelievable discography, so I had to make sure I was sending over my best stuff. 

You’ve had releases on labels like A R Records, Jungle Cakes, and Grand Theft Audio. How do you see this Dispatch EP fitting within your wider discography and evolution as an artist?

I don’t want to be pigeon-holed for making one style of DnB. I love making this type of stuff, and I think this fits nicely in the deeper, more underground side of my sound. 

I often think it might be confusing to some people that I’ll release a liquid tune with piano and vocals, then next it’ll be tearout filth, but that’s just what I like. It’s like my DJ sets, I want to take people on a journey and keep them guessing what’s coming next. 

There’s a gritty elegance to the mixdowns. The basslines hit hard, but nothing ever feels overcrowded. Is that balance something you work towards deliberately?

I’ve been working really hard on my production. It’s been many years of sitting down and figuring it out and learning the craft of mixing, so I’m pleased with the sound I’m starting to carve out for myself. 

The contrast between uplifting euphoria and hardcore attitude is something I’m always trying to achieve. It’s why I’m called Exposure. 

Let’s talk about influences. What sounds or producers first got you hooked on drum and bass, and what still inspires you now when you sit down to write?

My first ever mix CD was Pure Drum and Bass by Fabio and Grooverider, and my first album was LTJ Bukem - Logical Progression Vol 1. So that was the blueprint for my taste in DnB, I’ve always loved the whole spectrum. 

I’m inspired by so many different styles of music. I love people like Jon Hopkins, Max Cooper and Radiohead. They’ve perfected that balance between hard and soft, music that pulls your emotions and makes you feel. 

I actually listen to a lot more ambient electronica and chill stuff than I do Dnb, it helps me to relax and be in my own space when I sit down to write. 

A lot of new producers wrestle with finding their voice or sound. What helped you carve out your own identity in the scene?

Persistence. I still feel like I’m finding my sound. I think it will be a lifelong process. It’s the idea that you can always write a better tune that keeps things interesting and evolving. 

It’s hard to sound completely original because we’re a culmination of all our experiences and inspirations, but I’ve never been one to follow trends. I try to make stuff that I like, and hopefully, people like it as well. 

In your experience, what are some of the most valuable lessons you’ve learned so far when it comes to releasing music and sustaining momentum?

Again, persistence is probably the best tool you can learn. It’s an incredibly hard thing to get good at and a difficult industry to be in. There will be a lot of rejections along the way, so it’s important not to take things personally. 

So, understanding that things take time. Like nature, we can’t hurry the process. Things will take as long as they need to take.  

It’s a lot of work; I don’t really have days off, and you make many sacrifices when you commit to this for your life. However, if you keep your head down and work on your craft, good things will happen. 

I have a love-hate relationship with social media. On one hand, I can connect with anyone around the world and they can discover my music, but at the same time, it takes my time away from the thing I really want to be doing: making music and DJing. So, taking time away from all that and the studio to be outside and look after my physical and mental well-being is a priority for me.

Sub City and Already There feel made for the club, but there’s a lot of subtlety in how they move. What kind of dancefloor reaction do you hope for when these get played out?

They’re two of the more musical tracks on the EP, so could sit in a mix you’d listen to at home, but equally work well in a club. 

I learned to mix on vinyl with tunes that would roll out for 6 or 7 minutes, and now we’re in an age of extended mixes of tunes lasting 2 ½ minutes, so I wanted to make some stuff that’s allowed to breathe and sit in the mix a bit more. They’re fun tunes to mix, and I’ve been getting good reactions when I play them out. 

You’ve been steadily building your profile across different corners of the scene. What would you say is next in terms of goals, growth or sound?

I want to DJ everywhere, I love it so much. 

I’m planning an Asia tour for the end of this year, and then I’ll be back in Australia and New Zealand. I haven’t been there in too long. 

In terms of my sound, I have some exciting projects I’m working on. Dancefloor, jungle, liquid, neurofunk and more of this techier deeper stuff, so I’m just making stuff I like and we’ll see where it takes me. 

Growth-wise, if I can become 5% better than myself from last year, then I know I’m doing alright. I’m the only person I’m competing with, so it’s an ongoing journey. 

And finally… if you could take just one drum and bass track by any artist, from any era, to a desert island, what would it be and why?

Impossible to answer! There are just too many tunes... Also, eventually, if you’ve only got one tune, it’s gonna do your head in! :)

But if you’d let me have two, I’d pick John B -  Up All Night, cos it’s the classic of all classics. 

And one that’s stuck in my head right now is Mailky, Frosper and Xorgen - Soundboy. That tune has it all: epic vocals, uplifting pads and a heavy drop, incredible tune. 

Huge thanks to Exposure for speaking with us. Sub City EP is out now on Dispatch Recordings and available on all platforms. Expect to see him on tour across Asia, Australia and New Zealand later this year.