Niveau Zero is a well known dubstep act in France. He is known for his heavy tunes that are influenced by metal in one way or another.

    First and foremost why dubstep and metal?

Because both styles are not that different, in my opinion. For me dubstep is the power metal of electronic music.

    You were in a metal band before becoming a DJ. When and why did you shift to electronic music?

I shifted to electronic music when I discovered rave, party jungle and drum’n bass music. Bands like Ministry, Fear Factory, NIN or Strapping Young Lad had already enlarged my musical horizons. Roni Size, Goldie and Dylan did the rest.

    To what extent does metal influence your mixing and composing?

When I compose I try to find the same energy that I already found in Metal before. Of course I mix this, with other influences like dub, grime, hip hop and techno to create a crossover sound.

    A lot of metalheads have their beefs when it comes to electronic music because they associate all of it to mainstream music. How can you, as a metalhead and dubstep DJ, motivate them to give electronic music a try?

It’s funny! I probably know more metalheads who crossed the line and now listen to electronic music than the inverse! Tell them that « SCORN aka Mick Harris » was the first drummer of « Napalm Death », « BONG-RA » was bassist player of « Celestial Season » etc…

Otherwise a good solution is to provide an album of “Broken Note”or “Drumcorps” for their birthday; )

    In “My Roots” there is a phrase that caught my attention, “Not Everyone Likes Metal, Fuck Them!” What does this phrase mean to you?

I took this phrase from a puppet show called « the FurTV ». It means what it means! But if I were a gentleman I could say « it’ s bad to be obtuse ». Seriously, when I play my heavy stuff in electro clubs this phrase takes all its meaning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaQ_RjIf3fU]

    What do you think about metal these days?

To be honest I haven’t bought a metal CD in 10 years. However, I still discover awesome bands on the internet like « Dillinger Escape Plan », « As they Burn », « ISIS »,« Sunn 0)) ». But I prefer to listen to my old vinyls of Pantera, Sepultura, Slayer, Meshugggah….

    You played in Lebanon about a month what can you say about this experience? Was it any different from the other raves that you play in?

In Beirut I had the feeling that everyone was really motivated to have a good time!

That’s the main difference! People in Europe are a little bit jaded sometime. It was an awesome party!!

    What can you say about the Lebanese rave scene and its local talent?

I was surprise to discovers that Lebanon hides an important underground scene. I played for the Acousmatic Crew and they looked really active. They play electronic music close to the metal aesthetic. I met a lot of local artists and there are really good DJs and producers. For example a young producer, Jad Ataoui is gonna explode soon!

    There are a lot of upcoming Ad Noiseam events, will any of them hit Lebanon?

Precisely, the 9th of July AD NOISEAM will celebrate its 10th Birthday in Beirut. You can’t miss it !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTyuSyvrwHk]

    How does it feel to be the most sought-out French Dubstep live act?

Hummmm …We can’t say that !!
First because the French will say I’m pretentious, and the second reason is that there are others artists that are really good like: VON.D and F, who are known internationally. Otherwise, I’m glad that you think it. ; )

    Any final words and thoughts?

“Not Everyone Likes Metal, Fuck Them!” ; )