BlueDollarBillz on Garage, Grime & Growth

We recently had a chat with the mind behind BlueDollarBillz, exploring the channel’s journey from its grime roots to becoming a hub for electronic music enthusiasts and electronic music promotion.

Reflecting on the blend of UK Garage, Drum and Bass, and beyond, they highlighted their commitment to authenticity and diversity in music selection.

BDB! How’s it going, and what have you been up to lately?

Hello! Everything is good in the hood! I’ve been doing the usual promotion of artists and labels through the channels and trying to think of new ways to expand the brand, which I’ll hopefully have more news on soon!

Can you share with us the story behind the creation of BlueDollarBillz? What inspired you to start the channel and focus on electronic music?

It’s a funny story really, I often get asked what BlueDollarBillz means and to be honest, it doesn’t really mean much haha. Blue is most probably my favourite colour, but the name has no meaning because at the time of creating the youtube channel, I just wanted it to be really random so no one really knew who I was. Obviously being from the UK, people are like, DollarBillz?!

When I first started off the channel, it was to post grime music, there’s a few dubs on there so a few rare bits for people to listen to that you couldn’t really hear anywhere else. Grime was really popping off again at the time so it was an outlet to share some sick tracks.

Did the music scene in the area where you grew up influence your music taste and the eventual direction of BlueDollarBillz? If so, how?

I was born and bred in Enfield, North London so being from the capital city, it meant I had access to so much music and so many good nights out on a constant basis, so it definitely had a major influence on me and the stuff I like.

Going back to the last question, I’ve always had a lot of love for loads of genres. My true love has always been UK Garage though, so I had to switch the channel up a bit to show all the music that I really enjoy. When I was about 9/10, one of my good mates, Joe, introduced me to UK Garage and Jungle/DnB and the rest is history really.

My influences come from all over. I used to go to a lot of Metal and Hardcore Punk shows in my teens so I really do like a bit of everything.

What’s your process for selecting tracks and artists to feature on your channel? Are there specific things you look out for?

In all honesty, everything I post is a reflection of me and the music that I love. As you can tell, the channel is very multi-genre now and has come a long way from the grime origins it began with. I have to like it to post it or I would feel like I was lying to myself by representing something that I might not be too keen on. This is something I’ve always been really proud of, and something I’ll stay with going into the future.

How do you balance featuring well-known artists, as well as giving a platform to upcoming artists?

To be honest, I don’t really think about this too much based on what I said in the last question. I do like to think that I have an equal balance of both though. I scour Bandcamp and other digital sites daily for new music. If I like it, then I’ll cop it and sometimes I’ll post it to the channel to give it a spotlight. Other than this, I get sent lots of promos and emails from people asking me to upload their tracks but the same me having to like it still applies to this! I’ve met some great people and made some wicked friends through doing what I do, and I really want to make 2024 a year of better networking, socialising and building up connections.

From your perspective, how has the electronic music scene evolved in recent years, and where do you see it heading?

It’s constantly evolving, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. We’ve seen various genres hit a 2nd peak after their initial peaks back in the 90’s/2000s, e.g UK Garage, Dubstep, Jungle, Grime, and so on. I always have this thing where I feel like genres shouldn’t stray too far from their original sounds but it almost feels like a lot of stuff is doing this currently, but obviously, music will always change as time goes on so who would I be to say it shouldn’t? Going forward, especially in the UK Garage and Speed Garage scenes, I’d like to see more original tracks and less bootlegs. Now this isn’t to say that I don’t like a few of them but they are starting to get really formulated and sound the same.

How do you think the rise of streaming platforms and social media has changed the way electronic music is produced, shared, and enjoyed?

I like to think people stay true to themselves with the things they make, and they actually enjoy it but there is definitely an influx of people jumping on certain waves to gain followers and numbers, whether that be shares or plays. We’re in a time period where things like Instagram and TikTok posts are rife so there’s a constant need to keep people entertained with content, and in all honesty, people should be taking advantage if it’s something that works for them.

Streaming is great, but always support the artists where you can, by buying their releases.

Your Discord server and YouTube channel have become a hub for young electronic music fans – what are the most important things in your eyes to create an active and engaged community?

The Discord server was created as a hub for people to discuss and post music, amongst other general things in a safe and non judgemental environment, this was always my main goal. I took massive influence from the CloudCore server in making mine.

This all comes down to the content again, CloudCore has a lot of engaging activities run through their discord which are absolutely super, and I feel like mine runs itself. People come and go when they please, and there’s no real expectation for people to post all day as it’s always there as and when they need it. I made archive channels which host all the Bandcamp links, all the youtube posts and the soundcloud posts without all the text in between them so people can refer to it when they’re on the search for new music, it’s like a treasure trove! Luckily enough, we’ve never really had much trouble on the server apart from the odd couple of trolls, but moderation needs to be a priority.

BlueDollarBillz Discord: https://discord.gg/e72T7nqxG3

Cloudcore Discord: https://discord.gg/cloudcore

Hold tight all the Discord gang!

Can you share some under-the-radar artists right now who you think are doing something unique and deserve more attention?

I’ll name some labels instead to give a wider scope, but not necessarily under the radar: Amigo Dubs, Pirate Cutz Records, Dat Loud Recordings, Who Framed Dubs (These 4 if you want proper proper UKG/House stuff), Dimeshift, Amity, WVWV, Stereo 45, Pressure Dome, CloudCore (Obviously), Redstone Press, GODDEZZ, outlet, Shuffle n Swing, Animated Audio, Wot U Sayin?, +98, Taipan Trax, Brick Sweat Records, Outhouse Sounds, Over & Out, Da Demolition Squad. To name a few… lol, could go on and on.

Imagine you have an unlimited budget and access to any artist in the world. Who would you pick for your dream lineup at a BlueDollarBillz event?

Currently, it would probably be something along the lines of, in no particular order: Main Phase, Silva Bumpa, Oldboy, Villager, Dunman, Dual Monitor, Skeptic, Frazer Ray and not necessarily a producer but I’d stick Dr Dubplate on there as well.

Would be an absolutely banging night!

Are there any exciting developments or new directions for BlueDollarBillz on the horizon that you can share with us?

2024 will be a year where I’m planning to concentrate on networking, making new connections and building the brand but a lot of it is still quite a learning curve for me, so I’d really like to meet people who can point me in the right direction or offer me any tips.

Going to be doing a lot more releases this year, and maybe a compilation or two in the near future. But, the first EP is in the works and will have more information on that soon. Keep an eye on the socials!

https://linktr.ee/bluedollarbillz