RDG AKA Ruben Dag Nielson has been tearing up Copenhagen’s underground music scene for over ten years, blending jungle, techno, dubstep, experimental, D&B, downtempo... whatever he gets his hands on really! But after getting fed up with being labelled by genres, and frustrated with the ‘too comfortable’ tendency of Danish culture, he took a bold artistic move and came out with the slogan “genre is not relevant”. In turn releasing a (sick) album which defies all generic convention. Read on to find out why genre isn’t relevant - according to RDG.

Hey Ruben! What’s the underground bass music scene like in Copenhagen, do producers, DJs and promoters tend to stick to specific genres?

For the small number of people there are in Copenhagen - like 1.3 million people - the music scene is very healthy. But musically I think it can be quite settled. If a genre is popular or fashionable around the world, it’s probably popular in Copenhagen. And if you look at Denmark socially, we don't like to take chances because it’s so comfortable here. I think people tend to play it safe here because life here is easy!

RDG & K Man in Denver (Lost In North America Tour 2016) by Emma Ceaglske

What about the attitude towards bending and mixing genres and bass music in Copenhagen? It's quite a big trend here in London...

I see electronic music, where bass music is a part of it. And I’ve been trying to push that ethos here in Copenhagen. It's been my goal from the beginning to maintain the energy and innovation from global music communities and put that back into the Copenhagen scene. But some people still look at the nights I’ve been doing lately, and they ask me what’s the red thread...what’s the glue?

So what’s your response to those people?

“My focus is aesthetics and vibes, not the genre or tempo…”

So can you explain why genres are not relevant to you?

What I wanna do is look at music in a different way. Because genre is not relevant to me. I go off vibes and energy. I don't look at tempos for genres, and labels. To me music is a vibe... A feeling.

I know genres are important for guidance, record stores, and communication. But I don't think they're relevant when listening and creating . Does it really matter? And then as soon as you have those terms, like dubstep or drum and bass, you’re already disliking it or liking it, because of a boxed in name that contains rules and limitations.

So do you feel it’s more the language that's the issue? And the positive or negative connotations attached to certain genres?

Exactly. Communication is important but a feeling is a feeling. Sometimes you can’t even describe a feeling, and you can't take that away. So that's how I look at music.

Agreed! But as an artist it’s not ideal for PR when you have no genre... So it’s cool the way you’ve tackled that by claiming your slogan - “GENRE IS NOT RELEVANT”.

Everyone has a description of what they do. I just realised that I’m seriously limiting myself if I say I’m a dubstep or a techno or a dnb producer. I’m just me! And genre is not relevant to me. I have an album that's coming out that basically summarises that.

Tell me about the album?

The album is called Planetary Sound Fiction. I like outer space, and one of the reasons I like space is because it's unknown. The same thing as what we've just talked about. Because outer space exists but nobody knows 100% what it contains.

So for me, it's like a journey into space in 14 tracks - navigating between around 70 to 170 BPM and a shit load of lovely genres haha.

You’ve got samples that range from 1960s jazz legend Sun Ra to vocals by grime MC Killa P… the vibes couldn’t be further apart!?

Killa P definitely adds something different then an ambient track with Sun Ra on it. All the tracks are unique on its own, but stronger as a whole. If you listen to it from the start you’ll understand the complete vibe and idea behind it, it’s my sound, my vibe!

The videos you've done are quite genre-bending as well.

I work with a lot of different people, some I’ve never worked with before, to show different kinds of emotions. It's why I didn't get the same guy to do everything.

You did one with the Boiler Room, right? Which means it must have a wide reach. Do you think audiences outside of Copenhagen “get” your genre-bending music more?

100%. The shows I get are mainly not in Denmark. Of course there's people who book me here, but I make alot of my own shows tbh. To keep this stuff alive in Denmark, I need to continue making an effort.

Bas Under Buen 2017 by: Flemming Bo Jensen

Do you have any advice for promoters or artists who also don’t believe in genres.. how should they promote themselves or their events?

First you need to define what you wanna do. I've been producing dubstep for over 10 years, but I realised through that time it wasn’t really 100% me (I still have a lot of love for the sound of course)... I thought it was, but I'd force myself into doing that. I felt like I had to make a product, because it was expected of me. I was adding to the industry and not to myself.

“if you don't want to do something musically if you don’t have something to add to it, then don't do it. Integrity is golden”.

What does integrity as an artist mean to you?

Integrity is honesty. Its moral principles. And as a promoter, a DJ and a producer, I can definitely tell if someone is forcing something. And that's not integrity in my opinion, if you're not honest. As soon as you are honest about what you do the purer stuff is gonna come out.

“I do admire people who can go through their whole life doing the same genre or work. Its commitment, and there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes I wish I could do that but it's not me, I'm just not like that...”

Ha, me neither! Anyone else we should look out for who’s really succeeded in defying genre conventions?

In Copenhagen - Deb Foam, Hvad, N.E Girl, Code Work. In the UK, Om Unit. Sam Binga, Pessimist, Forest Drive West, Gothrad. Then there’s this guy from Israel called Muqata'a. Torn from Russia. Ena from Japan, Pugilist from Austraila, and many many more!

click here to pre-order rdg’s album, planetary sound fiction. and here to follow him and his dog kojo on insta

Copenhagen Artist RDG Argues why Genre is Not Relevant