Catching up with SHOSH

There’s never a bad time to redefine yourself, and SHOSH is the latest example of this. After 10 years of being at the forefront of garage with 24 Hour Garage Girls, she thought it was time for something different. This does not mean she’s done with garage, though. She’s still got her weekly show on KISS FM and is still incredibly passionate about building up the scene and supporting the underground movement. 

While trying something different, the right direction turned out to be dubstep. In 2024 SHOSH released her first ever dubstep track ‘This is Not a Test’ on UKF, and in 2025, she’s following this up with ‘Skanner Power’ on Deadbeats and an upcoming EP on Deep, Dark & Dangerous. “I feel like I’m really nailing my dubstep sound and that’s just giving me so much confidence,” she says. 

We had a chat with her and talked about her move to the dubstep scene.

A lot has happened since the last time you sat down with us in 2021… Tell us all about it!

I’m so grateful for everything that the garage scene has done for me. I started with a brand idea and as a promoter in 2013, putting on parties, and then I grew into a DJ and a producer organically out of that. Garage seemed to be the place that I was best suited for because of the branding and the ideas that we had at the time. I think I’ve always struggled to make the kind of music that I want to be making in the garage genre. It’s always been a little bit of a struggle to get there quality wise. With my production I’ve always felt like I’m underperforming, I didn’t really ever make that big garage banger, but then I started making dubstep last year. 

It was actually an accident, because I was just messing around on Ableton and I had all these random ideas about, oh, maybe I’ll try a jungle track or maybe I’ll just throw a lot of ideas into the mix and see what comes out. Let’s play with it. I accidentally made dubstep out of that and it felt so natural. It’s almost a cosmic thing. When I sit down to make a dubstep track now, I finish it that night and it’s something I’m really proud of. I’ve been getting these tunes signed to lots of amazing labels and big international organizations that I’ve really looked up to over the years. I never really felt like I got that far with garage so it felt like an instinctive calling to dubstep. It’s been something that I’m naturally much more proficient with in the studio so, I’m very excited to be launching this new direction for myself. It is a step away from the brand that I brought up, 24 Hour Garage Girls is my identity and it’s been my brand and my identity for 10 years. So the step away from that has been quite scary, but I’m so excited about this next chapter.

So are you completely done with garage?

No, as 24 hour Garage Girls, I can continue to play garage and with KISS FM I’m still flying the flag for underground artists and helping the scene with breaking new artists and keeping the genre relevant right at the forefront of KISS. I can perform with my garage girls Kelsey, Millie, Jasmine, they’re some of my closest friends and I would be so sad if I didn’t get to perform with them anymore. I can still do all of that but then the idea of SHOSH as a solo artist is now fully 140 dubstep, so I’m getting the best of both worlds. I am trying to get KISS to let me play some dubstep on my show, TBC on that one. I feel like KISS FM needs a dubstep specialist show and I’m on it.

When did the love for 140 start?

I used to be a massive dubstep head in the 2010s. Oh my gosh, I was absolutely obsessed with dubstep. I used to listen to every single Zeds Dead mix, even some Skrillex and Pendulum stuff. Artists like Skream and Benga, Coki, Flux Pavilion, these artists were absolutely out of this world geniuses to me. I used to live in Brighton back in that time and they used to put on an event called FreeBass, a free dubstep all night event. I would still go around the side of the building and sneak in around the side just so that I was there for every minute of it. Even though it was free to get in! But I never saw myself making dubstep back then, it was more of a personal passion whereas garage was my identity and my brand. It feels crazy to be meeting all these artists now, 15 years later, and actually getting to tour and collaborate with them when I was a die-hard fan back in the day.

How have you changed as an artist going from garage to dubstep?

Being a garage girl, that’s definitely still in me. I love the genre, I love the artists that I worked alongside for the last 10 years, I love playing it. I think the biggest difference on a personal level is probably my confidence. I always felt like something was missing from my garage production whereas I feel like I’m really nailing my dubstep sound and that’s just giving me so much confidence. Just knowing that I can do it, knowing that there’s not something wrong with me. I’m reaching my potential in the studio with dubstep. 

You were saying that your confidence is getting higher now. On your socials, you’re really open, playing your song in public and doing these videos. That’s nice to see...

It’s so hard. As much as I feel confident now in the studio, I’m still a total introvert and going out in the streets and making TikToks or trying to make videos, it’s a mix of cringe and being mortified. I get really shaky before I do it. But then I think, if I don’t do it, then I’ve only got myself to blame for not moving forward. I still hate doing content, but at least I know the track is a banger, so I can at least back myself on that.

How do you get over that initial nervousness?

When I’m playing to a huge crowd, I’ve got that voice in the back of my head. They booked you, they want you here, so I try to manifest that. I’m invited, people have asked me to come and play my music here. It’s about giving everything to the crowd and making sure that the promoter gets a good show. Doing live performances has never been about my emotions or how I feel, it’s always been about delivering to the crowd, delivering to the event and giving everybody a really amazing time. 

With making content, no one’s asked you to do that like. You’re just standing on a street corner getting in people’s way or giving people something to laugh at on their commute home or whatever. It feels very different. Luckily I feel so welcomed and invited by the dubstep community. UKF has been amazing. Dead Beats have been incredible. Deep Dark & Dangerous, who I’m releasing with next month… Everyone has been so supportive, sending me garms and supporting the music and booking me for shows in America and Asia. I feel so welcome and I’m so grateful for it. 

How is the dubstep scene different from the garage one? 

I don’t know yet. I can’t wait to find out though. Despite releasing a couple of records I’ve only played one or two dubstep specific sets. One of them was for UKF at Drumsheds, which was amazing. I loved planning for that set because it was my first opportunity to go wall to wall 140  all the way through, and delivering that set to the crowd was so much fun. For now, I’m really looking forward to finding out more about what dubstep raves are like, especially in America. I am going to America in three weeks and it’s going to be dubstep shows over stateside. I know it’s huge over there, so I’m going to get a real taste for dubstep raves then. I can’t wait. 

The difference between UK and US dubstep as well!

Yeah, I prefer UK dubstep over US dubstep, though. I prefer the minimal bassy, more rootsy vibes that UK dubstep has. It’s very subby, it’s very woppy, it’s very low frequency, moody and I love that. As happy as I appear, I’m a very grumpy girl and that fits me right to the T. But I love the energy behind American dubstep and some of the producers out there are absolutely killing it. So yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing the difference in real life. 

There’s definitely a merge happening between the UK and US sound, because DJs like Hamdi are moving to the States now. You’ve got a bit of that sound in your tracks as well. 

Thank you, I love Hamdi. He’s probably been the biggest inspiration for my tunes. I’m actually an American citizen, I lived in Chicago till I was a teenager, so I can go back quite easily. This year I’ve got more gigs in America than I have confirmed in the UK. I’m going out for a tour in April but then I’m also going back in July, August and September for individual big stadium shows. America seems to be the place that keeps pulling me back at the moment so I might end up doing a Hamdi! It feels like everything that I’ve been waiting for from garage over the last 10 years is happening in dubstep in the space of six months. It feels really powerful.

What are you taking from garage into 140? Do you feel the influence?

Definitely! With most of my dubstep tracks I’ve literally stolen hi-hats and percussive things right out of my garage projects. I’ve taken all of the sounds from my garage drums and repurposed them into the dubstep tracks. The drum work feels quite similar sonically but then to be honest, the bassy wubs and everything, they’re really not that dissimilar. When I play a live set I will mix garage in at 140 and have a two-step moment. Why not? I’m really excited to see how well that goes down in America. There’s definitely a scene bubbling there. 

You’ve got a few 140 tracks out now on different labels, the most recent one is ‘Skanner Power’ on Deadbeats. How did you end up working with them? 

I hunted down Deadbeats, because they’ve got so many artists that I look up to on their roster. A Hundred Drums, Sicaria, Hamdi, Moody Good, Levity, all these amazing female artists, loads of really powerful UK dubstep and American dubstep artists. I could see this being a really good home for my music, alongside artists I really look up to. It’s been a great honor to release with them and there hopefully is more in the works with them in the future. 

Another label I’m gonna release with this year is Deep, Dark & Dangerous. I met them when I went to play Outlook Festival a few years ago and I was on the same artist transport with Dre from Truth who runs the label. We had a chat and we kept in touch because we had respect for each other’s genres. When I started making dubstep, it was a year and a half later. I was thinking of who I knew who supports dubstep. I ended up messaging him and he instantly was like, “We’ll sign it.” I’ve got an ep with them coming out soon, so they’ve signed a few tracks of mine. That was just super organic. It was two people who love music finding the right home for these particular tracks. 

Last but not least, I released with UKF in November 2024. ‘This Is Not a Test’ came out and I would say that was probably the biggest honor for me. UKF are the goats for dance music in the UK. I’ve been looking at that purple circle on YouTube for the full 15 years. Having my debut with them felt like I couldn’t have asked for a better launch to enter the genre. I’m releasing more with them in 2025, which I’m very happy about. 

Any final thoughts? 

One of the great things about working in the dubstep genre is that I’ve started collabing with Flava D and Mary Droppinz, two really powerful female producers. They’re amazing at what they do, genuine artists. So I’m excited to finish up those projects and get them out as well.

‘Skanner Power’ is out now, and look out for the Deep, Dark & Dangerous EP dropping in April. I’m also coming to America in April, so keep an eye out!