Notable for his involvement in establishing both the London grime scene and Dubstep scene, Chris Reed (also known as Plastician) is a pioneer for his groundbreaking electronic music.

Taking over DSTRKT 5 at Boomtown this year, Plastician spoke to VIVA Magazine about Manchester rave culture, his early influences and his set ahead of this year’s festival.

 What have you been up to at the moment?

I’ve been consulting a couple of days a week for a company called pirate studios, they have studios all over the UK, Germany and America. We’re going to be launching a DJ live streaming platform there, which I’m heavily involved in.

We’re also running some events with them as well that we’ve been doing since the beginning of the year. We did one last week with Oneman and Jamz Supernova; that’s been pretty fun.

I’ve also been running my label in the week (Terrorhythm Recordings); it’s into its sixteenth year now. We’ve had one release so far this year. Hopefully in the next week or so we will have some scheduled releases for in the next couple of months.

I’ve been writing a score for a computer game too, which is a first for me and has been a real exciting experience!

Still one of my favourite tracks we’ve released on Terrorhythm. The new Sorsari & Danny Scrilla remixes really do it justice too! https://t.co/FIZthVHyqk

— Plastician (@Plastician) April 9, 2018

What shows have you played around Manchester?

I played at Antwerp Mansion the other week, and before that I played at hidden for Hit and Run’s birthday at the beginning of the year. I’ve been quite lucky to have hit Manchester a couple of times recently.

I’m not sure if there’s anything locked in for the near future yet as I’ve got a baby due in a few weeks so we’ve had to take some time off in May and I’ve had to be selective of what I can do.

What’s your favourite thing about playing to Manchester crowds?

It’s got a great musical heritage for me. I grew up in the 80’s and Manchester played a key part in rave culture in the UK and the rest of the world really. It’s just got electronic music and rave culture in its blood and DNA.

It’s a great city in terms of the students there too. They seem to go out every day of the week; you can play there on a Wednesday and it will be just as busy as playing a Saturday; it’s a good spot whenever you get a booking there.

I’m a Manchester United fan too, so sometimes I even get to squeeze in a bit of football when I’m there!

How old were you when you first got into music?

A friend of mine’s dad worked for a festival company so I had festival experiences from around 14 years old. We used to go backstage at some of the London festivals and met a few artists.

I suppose my taste was pretty narrow back then though. I used to listen to Jamiroquai, Oasis, Blur and The Prodigy. Then when I was 16 some of the kids who had older brothers started bringing in jungle tape decks. I liked bits of that but it wasn’t really until I heard garage on pirate radio that I really got into it, and I was like: ‘woah, I really like that music’; that’s when I started having a go on turn tables and just took it from there really.

What was it like getting your first pair of spinning tables?

I got my own on either my 17^th or 18^th birthday. It was good to finally get my own, because although I had friends who had them, they used to hog them! You went around to their house and all you really wanted was to have a go and just be left on your own to mess around with them for a few hours.

Once I got my own I was constantly trying to learn how to mix, because I didn’t have any mates who really knew what they were doing with them. I taught myself by copying mixes from tape packs. It took me a while but it was a learning experience, it was all practice for a while.

What’s been the most memorable experience of your career so far?

Hard one! I’d say closing the main stage of the Big Chill festival right after M.I.A, and I closed the main stage at Exit Festival a few years ago.

I’ve been lucky to have travelled a lot and have played in pretty much every continent. I really enjoy getting a day off somewhere I’ve never been to before, so i’d say a lot of the travel and places I’ve got to visit have been the highlights too.

How would you describe your sets and what goes down well at them?

I never really know what I’m going to play until I get to the gig or I look at the line up and work out what other people are going to be playing and what kind of vibe it’s going to be.

For years I was very much stuck and involved in grime and dubsep and that was all that I played for a long time. My sets can really vary nowadays though. I’d say you never really know what you’re gonna get with me.

I always like to play as forwardly thinking as I can and I’m never one to play an entire set of old records. It’s fun don’t get me wrong, but I feel if you don’t spin some new music then you’re not really doing your bit.

I’d say my sets always focus on new music that I like but then it’s always really fun to throw in the old memorable ones to keep people interested and show them new stuff that they might not have heard yet.

Where have you planned to play this year?

So I’ve got We Are FSTVL, Boomtown, but as I’ve got the baby on the way I’m keeping everything in the UK with a couple of bits in Germany and Holland. I’d imagine from August onwards though I might start playing a bit further afield again.

You’re playing Boomtown, have you ever played before?

I’ve never played it before but it’s always one that pops up on my newsfeed every year and I look at it and think, ‘that looks like a good one’. The stages look amazing and the crowds look like they’re really up for it, so I’m really looking forward to it.

What does everyone have to look forward to with your music this year?

I’ve got so much stuff that I’m sat on at the minute. The only thing that’s holding me back at the moment is that I’m unsure what tracks to put together. I need to work out a strategy, but there’s lots of things musically happening.

I’d imagine in the near future you will start seeing announcements for my releases; I’m sat on about 15-20 tracks at the moment so they will start appearing in the next 12 months. Some of it makes a bit more sense bringing it out now too than it would have a year ago.

For more details and tickets for Boomtown 9-12 August 2018 click here: boomtownfair.co.uk