In all my years of interviewing artists, I’ve never encountered someone who answers questions as rapidly and enthusiastically as Toronto-based producer and DJ Dylan L.

The Ottawa native’s mind appears to move at lightning speed, which partly explains why the man who’s made a strong name for himself as The Phat Conductor has recently adopted a second pseudonym: Ill Gates.

As The Phat Conductor, Dylan became known as a versatile creator of funky breaks and electro-house, with releases on 2 Wars & A Revolution, nods from the likes of URB Magazine, and Beatport-chart–topping collaborations with Robb G. He’s remixed the likes of DJ Dan and Si Begg and toured with breaks biggies including Bassnectar and FreQ Nasty. So what’s with the new tag?

“Breaks started becoming more and more new-school, and sounding like rave music,” says Dylan, who’s a fan of more intimate events. “I didn’t want to lose the work that I put into that scene so I decided I’d keep The Phat Conductor going, but also have this other alias that would get back to the roots of what I’d originally wanted to do.”

Judging by the slowed tempos and heavy-duty sub-bass of his Ill Gates work, Dylan has long wanted to craft a new kind of dubby, techy hip-hop. His debut album, Autopirate — featuring fantastic collaborations from locals including dubstep producer Meesha, tech-house craftsman Stéphane Vera, drum ’n’ bass DJ/producer Mutt and hip-hop MC Masia One — comes with a huge range of sounds and impressively crisp production. The album’s deep bass shine will please fans of dubstep, a scene and sound that Ill Gates is happy to align himself with.



“It’s been a long time since there was anything that sounded truly different,” says Dylan. “Before dubstep, I played things that basically sounded like dubby breaks or 2-step, but as soon as the half-time thing started happening, it opened up a whole other world of possibilities.

“Dubstep has all the beats and bass you can handle, but it’s got so many different sides to it — some sounds like minimal techno, some like reggae, drum ’n’ bass or IDM. The slowed tempo is such a marked difference from the years of jacked-up British dance music that we’ve all been subjected to.”

Ill Gates’ recent Sweatshop EP — in particular the Antiserum remix — has already been embraced by dubstep DJs around the world. No doubt the coming “Irma Vep” single, which features delightfully tight, playful rhymes from Masia One, will add to the audience.

Linked by a mutual friend, Dylan and Masia have hit it off so well creatively that they are in the midst of two albums’ worth of material, one with Dylan’s band The Dept. of Motion and the other as The Gates Foundation, a live trio also featuring Meesha.  Ill Gates has also recently remixed Myagi, Eprom and Filastine. It’s an impressive outpouring.

“I think the main thing is that I’ve learned to relax quite a bit,” laughs Dylan. “I never try to boss my sounds around at all — a lot of the time, the song knows better than you do. There was a point when I was writing one or two tunes a year; I did six last week, and I think they’re way better than the ones I agonized over.”

He has, however, learned to boss his gear around, having manipulated Ableton Live software into an original DJ template that allows for a flexible performance.

“When you perform with a laptop, the back of that laptop can be just like the Berlin Wall,” says Dylan. “If all people see is some nerdy guy making a computer face, they can’t tell what’s going on. But if you’re working with a live vocalist and there are dub delays and people can see someone working a DJ mixer, it’s immediately obvious and less exclusionary. It’s important to let people in on what you’re doing.”