Heard It Here First

After releasing his new Machine Learning EP, ENiGMA Dubz kicked off his Machine Learning Tour this past week at Denver’s esteemed Black Box venue with support from cutting-edge artists Neumonic and Curlyone.

As headquarters of Colorado’s underground music community, The Black Box is a favorite amongst many creatives and legends, especially ENiGMA Dubz. Originally from the UK, ENiGMA Dubz has spearheaded modern dubstep and sound system culture internationally. He has a measureless influence on artists and genre-defying production.

Curlyone laid the groundwork for the night with a proper set that had the Funktion-Ones shaking. First touching the decks in 1999, this Sub.mission crew member has had a momentous career in music and played amongst some of the heaviest hitters in the scene, including Emalkay, The Widdler , and Kursa. The crowd rolled in as Curlyone magnetized the energy on the dancefloor with pumping soundscapes and experimental finesse.

Propelling that UKG sound to the States, Neumonic delivered a smashing selection of tunes, including his iconic hit out on Morii Records, “Nawty” with the Sakawah Boys. This California-based tastemaker continues to push boundaries and defy genres in his musical craft, which was evident in his Black Box set. Seeing how far he’s come, even in just a year, was an honor.

The energy in the room was high as the marvel ENiGMA Dubz took center stage. The pathbreaking digital animator Mezmer graced his futuristic visuals from the Machine Learning EP, and everyone in attendance went wild. Fusing together a mind-bending journey set that progressed over 120 minutes, the Machine Learning Tour experience was seriously one for the books.

We also got to sit down with ENiGMA Dubz before the show for an exclusive insight into the Machine Learning Tour and EP. Check out that conversation below and catch the full DJ set at Black Box on YouTube or SoundCloud if you missed it.

HIHF: What was your creative process when producing Machine Learning? Were there any obstacles you faced throughout the process? 

ENiGMA Dubz: It was actually really complex. I’ve never produced something so complex before. I wanted it to be like a soundtrack and I’ve had the concept for about two years. Every time I thought about doing it, I was like I haven’t got enough headspace to do it because it’s not only producing music. I wrote the script, I used AI voice simulators to do the speech, so I was like I want to introduce the AI side as well but keep the creative or ‘human’ side.

Each time I wrote what I thought was Week 1 then it would become Week 2 because I would go back and reverse-engineer the process. It was just a bit of an interesting one and I wanted to do the character of the EP to evolve from sounding like a robot at the start to by the end it’s almost like a full human.

HIHF:  Tell us the story behind ‘Machine Learning.’ What inspired you to produce a sci-fi, AI-themed EP? 

ENiGMA Dubz: I was very much inspired by the film Ex Machina. The initial concept was four tracks weeks 1-4, the premise being that each week the AI becomes more and more intelligent. What I did was add certain themes and melodies which I carry through the whole EP. Some of the melodies are reversed at the start so you can’t tell what it is. I actually wrote like six different week 4’s. Each time they progressed with new ideas, so loads of stuff to do VIPs!

I had weeks 1-4 and it was getting close to the deadline but I suddenly thought I want to do some interludes. I did the interludes because I thought if a human was learning something, if it goes to sleep at night it would be processing it. So I imagined the machines processing when the session finishes, so the interludes are like processing times for the machine to think about what it’s learned.

HIHF: What can we expect from The Machine Learning Tour? What stops are you most excited for? 

ENiGMA Dubz: The EP grows as it goes through based on the machine learning each week and I’m doing the live shows in the same process. So from the start of the set to the end, there’s a progression in how hard we go. I want each week to follow the path of the machine and each track that I play after each week to fit the energy.

There’s a massive show in London with Caspa and Rusko. The mad part about that is one of Caspa and Rusko’s remixes was one of the first remixes I heard as a dubstep fan in the early 2000s.

We were so blessed to get to witness the Machine Learning Tour experience and chat with the legend himself. It’s so cool to see full circle moments in the career’s of deserving artists and ENiGMA Dubz has proven his impact time and time again. Be sure to check out the new EP and let us know where you’ll be catching the The Machine Learning Tour in the comments or on our socials below!

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