Trading his snowboard for turntables and a computer turned out to be a wise decision for producer / DJ Datsik, who grew up in Kelowna.
The DJ, real name Troy Beetles, enjoyed riding powder on his board in the Okanagan Hills and once thought this was the lifestyle he was going to pursue. Instead, as one of the leading proponents of the music known as dubstep, he plays in front of enthusiastic fans at crowded festivals and clubs around the world.
After starting mixing and creating music in his room at home in Kelowna, he soon played shows in the US and elsewhere and has not looked back since. But the transition wasn’t necessarily that easy for Käfer.
“I’ve always been a bedroom producer and sat in my boxers and wrote music,” he said. “And then all of a sudden I had to learn how to hang up in a bigger club.
“I had to learn pretty quickly.”
On the day he was interviewed for this story, he and his girlfriend Sharra Duggan were in the middle of looking for an apartment in his adopted home of Los Angeles. She is also from Kelowna and helps run Firepower Records. The Beetles company began to publish the various projects of himself and others.
But while he likes to talk about his hometown, moving to California about 18 months ago was as necessary as the desire to be in a bigger center.
“To get on and off from Kelowna Airport, I would have to make a lot of connections because I would be playing three shows over the weekend,” he said. “In the end, I’d travel for 12 or 13 hours and play the shows. And at the end of the weekend I would have to travel back too.
“I just wanted to get away from it. It was definitely crazy, but I am finally comfortable here. “
Since his foothold on the international dance music scene, Datsik has adhered to a continent-hopping schedule that brings him to the acclaimed Shambhala Festival in the Salmo region for a headlining set from August 6-11. Although he’s already played shows in Ibiza, the US, Europe and South America this summer, he’s really excited to be a part of them.
He’ll also split the bill with a number of other top DJs, including one he believes is a main inspiration, Kelownian Excision (aka Jeff Abel). It is the fourth time that Beetles has played Shambhala and the seventh time that he has been at the festival.
Dubstep’s heavy sound has gained widespread support at festivals and clubs since it started out in clubs in London, England in the late 90s. With its mix of influences from hip-hop to electronic dance music, garage sounds and drum and bass, dubstep and its proponents like Excision and Datsik have made it a predominant style with its own bass-heavy sound.
Vancouver-born Beetles moved his family to Kelowna when he was four and attended Glenmore Elementary secondary schools, Dr. Knox and Kelowna. During his time at KSS, he also began his first forays into the world of DJs and producers.
“I came from the hip-hop side,” he said. “I have two older brothers and I snuck into their room, stole all of their CDs, and played alone.
“When I was 13 or 14, I got a copy of (music mixing software) Fruity Loops and started just messing around with the computer. I never thought it would turn into anything. “
Beetles started playing live at private house parties and studied audio engineering at the Center for Arts and Technology here in Kelowna. DJ Sticky Buds (aka Tyler Martens) was one of his teachers.
By the age of 26, Beetles had already remixed and worked with a number of other artists, including The Crystal Method, Wu-Tang Clan, Noisia and Diplo. He has described his own style as “dark and robotic”. It was also this particular style that caught the attention of singer Jonathan Davis von Korn and led him to work on his album Path of Totality and open it for the band on a US tour.
In 2012, Datsik released its full-length debut, the 12-song Vitamin D. It also featured appearances from the likes of Downlink, Z-Trip, Infected Mushroom, Snak the Ripper, and Korns Davis.
But while spending a lot of time playing shows in crowded homes around the world, Beetles pointed out that traveling to get there from a hub like LA takes as much, if not more, time than it does the appearances themselves.
“It’s crazy to travel as much as I do,” he said. “I try to record as much as possible, but in reality sometimes I’m in Hungary for one day and then only in Belgium for one day. But it’s just the lifestyle. “
You can find more information about Datsik at firepowerrecords.com/artists/datsik or on Facebook, Soundcloud and Songkick.
To learn more about Shambhala, go to shambhalamusicfestival.com.
