Dubbel Dutch Is Ready to Reconnect
Dubbel Dutch Is Ready to Reconnect
a.k.a. An interview with one of the early 2010s' unique talents, who literally went off the grid after saying goodbye to music in 2018.
If you were in a club at any point during the first half of the 2010s, there’s a very good chance you heard a Dubbel Dutch tune. That’s partly because he produced “Everything Nice,” a massive hit from dancehall superstar Popcaan, but even in the years before that, his tracks were being rinsed by DJs on both sides of the Atlantic. Though he was a New York native, Dubbel Dutch (a.k.a. Marc Glasser) was based in Austin, Texas when his music first began to circulate, and circulate it did, finding traction in the burgeoning post-dubstep sphere and its various offshoots, including what was frequently referred to at the time as the “global bass” circuit. That’s because his productions pulled from a wide range of sounds, as likely to reference UK funky and grime as they were classic rave and house, Baltimore club, dancehall or tribal guarachero.
Even as most of the excitement around post-dubstep was being directed towards the artists and sounds coming out of the UK, it was clear that Dubbel Dutch was a serious talent, which is likely why Dre Skull signed him to his Mixpak label in 2011. That relationship did lead to a couple of EPs and the aforementioned work with Popcaan, but within a few years, Dubbel Dutch had significantly retreated from the spotlight. Following the release of 2013’s Cloud Club, he stopped releasing original music, shifting his focus toward producing for other artists. That worked to a certain degree, as he landed credits with the likes of Kelela, Cadence Weapon, Bad Gyal and even Lizzo, but behind the scenes, things weren’t going so well. In 2018, he posted a lengthy note on Instagram explaining that he’d basically left music behind nearly a year before, and in the wake of that, he’s more or less been off the grid entirely.
Rumors circulated about what had happened with Dubbel Dutch, particularly among those who got to know him during the early 2010s. (That includes me, as we ran in similar music circles, and I also booked him to play multiple parties in both San Francisco and Austin.) There were stories, some of them rather concerning, about things going awry with Mixpak and a move the West Coast that hadn’t gone as planned, but mostly, there was just silence. Dubbel Dutch wasn’t active on socials, wasn’t releasing music and wasn’t really in touch with the music world any longer. Knowing that there were lots of people out there wondering where he’d gone to, I reached out periodically during the past few years, asking if he’d be up for an interview, and while he’d occasionally respond, nothing ever panned out and he’d eventually disappear.
In truth, I’d all but given up on the idea of talking to him here in the newsletter, but last week, Dubbel Dutch unexpectedly resurfaced on Instagram, albeit with a rather cryptic post that contained no music and no explanation of where he’d been for the past six years. Still, he’d made a public gesture for the first time since 2018, so I reached out again, figuring that perhaps he’d be willing to come a little further out of his shell.
That instinct turned out to be correct.
This time around, Dubbel Dutch responded to my interview request within a few hours, and just a couple of days later, we hopped on a video call and had a long chat. Our conversation covered a lot of ground, and though his current location and various movements during the past six years were perhaps the most pressing topics, he was also open about the years before that, explaining not just what had happened with Mixpak, but also the various ups and downs of his transition from dance music to pop production. Along the way, he touched on some of his early influences and the challenges of being an American artist in a scene dominated by the UK and Europe, and he also talked about his own music, both the unreleased material in his archives and the new stuff he’s been making lately. And while it’s not yet clear to what degree he’s “coming back,” Dubbel Dutch does appear ready to reconnect and rebuild some of the relationships that deteriorated during his time away from the industry spotlight.