Safeasfx Interview w/ Soulvent Sound

ORIGINS

• When did you start DJing? I first got exposed to DJing in 2009. I wasn't a DJ then, but growing up in the Okanagan, I was a Heavy metal kid who was starting to broaden my taste in music. I started discovering electronica, electro house, and some Drum N Bass, although I didn't really understand it at the time and was not fully sure if I liked it yet. In 2009, I moved back to the West Coast to my hometown, Powell River, and really got exposed to the scene. Still not fully understanding why my friends were dancing behind their laptops, and everyone on the dancefloor was losing it, but I knew I liked it. In a small town, if there was a party, everyone went. The older crowd listened to house and breaks, and the teens loved dubstep ( UKF, sweet shop era ), but we all partied together. I moved back to the Okanagan for one year, and by then, I had a DJ controller and was collecting music, and I moved back to the coast.  I had 2 friends that were brothers who lived down the street who had a radio receiver in their backyard and were running a pirate radio station, and I first started playing on there. I was not exposed to UK pirate radio culture then it just kinda happened, and I learned about it much later on.

• What’s the story behind the name Soulvent Sound?
  

Sometimes names just come to you naturally, and in this case its a play on words with the word solvent, but coming from the soul to form a solution or a journey from the soul.

• How has your music taste evolved over time? Who were some early influences?

As I mentioned before, I got exposed to Dubstep pretty early and was obsessed with it, and like house and breaks. One day, a friend mentioned Glitch Hop and showed me some stuff, which was like nothing I had ever heard before, and within the sub genres as well, like ghetto funk and electro swing. DJs I looked up to in town kept talking about finding your niche, and I kinda thought i had until I discovered Psy breaks and trance, and I really understood what they meant. I felt like I had discovered something no one else was playing at the parties, and it really went off and gave me this crazy feeling of power similar to what I felt when I listened to metal. Fast forward a bit, and I got into Detroit techno, Chicago Footwork, etc. I have an ever-changing taste in dance music, but these days my main influences are Dub, Grime, leftfield, Ragga throughout a lot of genres, House, Techno, Breaks, Garage, Dubstep, Electro, Jungle, and Drum and Bass. Sometimes I cruise through the old music folder, and Il find tracks I found but maybe didn't understand at the time, but going back with a different, developed taste, I find them and surprise myself. I am a huge track ratter and have been collecting music for a long time. You should see some of my Bandcamp bills.

• When did grime first click for you? I first started discovering Grime in early 2013. I was always keeping up with mixes from DJs in Vancouver ( Specifically Lighta crew, among a few others ). At this point, I was right into the deeper Dubstep. These mixes all had one thing in common. There would always be a track or two that really stood out. Sounded like Dubstep but had an even more punchy raw sound, and I was so fascinated by it, I would scour the internet looking for similar tracks. It became part of the repertoire in 2015, I got to close for D Double E in Kamloops. I was finding instrumentals, etc. But I was not exposed to the MCs, so I didn't fully know who I was performing with at the time, but I knew he was a rapper and that he was big. crazy fun time and very surreal.
  

PROJECTS & PLATFORM

• What led to the creation of Front Left Agency?
  

  While attending Capilano University for Arts and Entertainment Management, I completed my first practicum with Seara Management, working in artist management and booking, and later moved to RF Label. I saw a big gap in representation for artists in the city and started my own roster.

• Tell us about the Record Works livestream — what’s the idea behind it?

  Record Works wasn't my platform. I just got to play it once and had a really sick video made for it ( Shout out to Armix ) 
  

  

• What inspired you to start Eclectic Thursdays?

  I consider myself a musical terrorist and a soldier for the arts; I consider it a civic duty to go out of my way to contribute to enriching a city where a lot of people who are not exposed to the scene don't know where to get away from the top 40 and reggaeton of Granville ( there is CBC piece on this it really inspired me ) in a city often branded as no fun creating positive 3rd spaces for people and platform for artists who I feel do not get booked enough while getting to push sounds I want to hear more of.  I only ended up doing 3, but with the motion of this year, I intend to bring it back for the fall so people have something to check on Thursdays once a month. 
  

• Do you see Soulvent Sounds releasing original music in the near future?
  

I have production knowledge, but I've been putting it off for too long. When things started to pop off, I reached a point where I was getting booked for a lot of festivals. It was like I really needed to dig in and catch the producer bug. Still, as it went on, I found myself more interested in the business side of music and went to school for entertainment management, and really went in on the afters, pop-ups, and renagages. Lately Iv been feeling really motivated to create, so a new laptop and start building a studio is on the list of things to work towards. I have a couple of tracks I made a while ago with quite a bit of help, so it feels like a good time to turn that wheel with the motion I've been gaining again lately.

SHOWS & MOMENTS

• Tell us about the show you did with Hxdb 12 years ago. As per the earlier questions, moving back to my hometown, the summers were amazing parties every weekend in beautiful locations. Over time, people were throwing fewer shows, and it made me realize it was time to step up and make my own fun. HXDB was one of Vancouver's DJs. I listened to his mixes and music religiously, so I booked him for a birthday with no event experience and just did it.

  
  

  Learned a lot since then, but it was the show that sparked my passion for events and curation.

• How was the Bassterdam show?

  
  

Was a great time, what more could a DJ ask for…big sound, 90 minutes to play and nothing but brick to trap the sound. Hour sets have their time and place, but I usually do not feel settled into a set time untill the halfway 40-minute mark, so the extra time is always welcomed.

• What was the vibe like at the Robert’s Creek show?

  Roberts Creek is a special place for music. I have played there a couple of times over the years. It's a small community, but the passion for dance music runs deep, especially dubstep. I have only played there in the winter and fall, but in spring and summer, it seems people come out of nowhere and fill the space. I haven't played one yet, but a shout-out to Coastal Sound Club; their shows are amazing.
  

  

SOUND & SELECTION

• What are your top 5 grime records? I never really got too into listening to full grime albums til a bit later, since I was always hunting down EPs to play tracks for sets that were usually hard to find edits of the classics, but some noteworthy ones are white Label classics -Ruff Squad and Konnichiwa - Skepta, for more recent pick Streets, Love & other stuff - P money, and Whiney is a top pick 
  

• Which producers are you really into right now? DJ Sprinter from Denmark is becoming a set staple, Hedchef for electro alien breakbeat stuff, and Krypsis, both of those artists are in the mix, really edgy forward-thinking stuff check them out. 
  

• If you had a grime alias, what would it be?

  Honestly I have no idea I love to DJ too much 

  
  

• Garage or bassline?

  Garage
  

• 2-step or DnB?

  DnB has always been one of those genres that I always loved and collected, but it hasn't been til the last year, or so. I  have actually played it out in sets. My home DJ setup is a CDJ 900 and a 350, so no cheating and mixing DnB is so satisfying on the old gear.
  

• Grime or dubstep?

  Illegal question next hahah
  

YVR PICKS

• Favourite food spot in Vancouver?

  Pizza Coming Soon is a new favorite
  

• Favourite sushi spot in Vancouver? There are levels to sushi in Vancouver but  in terms of quality to price, a recent discovery is Sushi Den
  

• Favourite club in Vancouver? I haven't been going out as much lately, but I recently checked out Fortress and love the remodel, and the DJ was playing some really leftfield Dancehall that really worked with the space with a really classy vibe 
  

• Favourite festival in BC? I attended a major BC festival a while ago, but I will say Basscoast does have a special place in my heart. I have volunteered many times and even took my dad to the festival twice. Doesn't matter what stage you go to, the music is always cutting edge and unreal vibe.

CULTURE

• What are you listening to or playing when you’re off the decks? I have been discovering a lot of Japanese psych rock lately, and House in the Tall Grass by Kikagaku Moyo has been on repeat lately
  

• Favourite recent episode of South Park? Ha, so many it's hard to pick 
  

• Have you seen Love on the Spectrum (Vancouver season)? Thoughts? I am not really one for trash TV  

• Favourite Anthony Bourdain episode from any of his shows? I know you're a big Bourdain fan also. I consider food an element of entertainment but parts unknown Peru or France.
  

PERSONAL

• What does a perfect Sunday look like for you? Beach day then fire up the decks and BBQ
  

• Any shoutouts? A big shout out to Backwoods Outcasts Collective, the friends and connections from this crew are next level, and a personal shoutout to Mr. Tooth for the main stage set at Desert Bloom festival in Cache Creek this May Long weekend and he has an amazing roster of artists including Marcus Visionary in Toronto to some talented Okanagan talent you should check out and book.

• What advice would you give yourself 6 years ago? I have some advice I would like to share from 6 years ago and 2 years ago…

For my six-year advice to myself, I say, do your own thing and play the long game, don't get too wrapped up in what other people are doing, or try to fit into these so-called communities, they are often gated and come with stipulations and become breeding grounds for lazy curation that benefits the few, and go off respect and talent and keep them in your outer orbit . Things will happen at your own pace and make moves organically, and the people will see what you're doing and flock to you. There is this sample from a Detroit techno track that has always stuck with me. Make your own parties, start your own label, find your niche, and keep the people moving.

For my advice from 2 years ago is as life progresses and you venture into other areas outside of music like career or starting a business putting music off to focus on the other so you can do music again down the road does not work you have to turn both wheels at the same time and really have to ask yourself if your doing yourself a service or is that other thing taking up all your capacity and you are just using the dancefloor as a cheap way ( i am not talking about money ) to eliminate stress.

STATE OF THE SCENE

• How do you see the current state of grime, garage, and bass music right now? I think it is great and has always been pretty consistent things will get bigger and different but overall things are good.
  

• What’s something happening in the scene that people aren’t paying enough attention to? This is something not inherently profound or new but I think communication among promoters is important to benefit the scene and as ticket buyers support independent parties by buying tickets early is huge for me.
  

• Do you think things are moving in the right direction, or getting too polished? I think it is a fine line between the two bigger opportunities need to have polish without over planning and reading the floor and getting into a flow is important.
  

• What keeps you excited about DJing and curating in 2026? I have come to discover out of all the aspects of music, curation is my favorite and it keeps me going thinking of creative ways to make music flow in a night and create an experience for people.
  

• What’s something in the scene right now that feels overdone?I could touch on the amount of cheese some people put in their sets and saying let people enjoy things I think a bit of musical snobbery is good but lets keep this positive
  

• And what still feels fresh?I have really been enjoying melding of techno, breaks, bass and leftfield club music coming out of places like New York and the UK its edgy forward thinking music to dance to.