Introducing.. Geth Owen, 20 years old, from the village of Llanberis in North Wales, who DJs under the name Switch Fusion. He's currently going into his third year of studying Sound Technology at the University of Glamorgan in Cardiff.
Gethin on the decks
How long have you been playing?
I've been producing music for around four years now, and been DJing for around the same amount of time.
What genre of music do you play?
I produce electronic music, mainly under the drum & bass umbrella. Although I have dabbled with dubstep and house in the past!
Why did you start playing?
I started making music after seeing Pendulum play live in Llandudno, Wales back in late 2008. Their fusion of rock and electronica intrigued me and inspired me into working out how it was all put together, so I downloaded some software and started making beats!
What’s your most memorable musical moment?
My most memorable musical moment would have to be being played on BBC Radio 1 at age 16 by drum and bass pioneers, Fabio & Grooverider. At the time I was just spamming loads of radio stations and shows with my tracks, but never expected anything to come out of it. So it was a huge shock when I saw that I'd been played on nationwide Radio 1, within less than a year of starting producing, in the middle of doing my biology homework!
Gethin is currently studying in Cardiff
What’s your dream?
Probably to be able to make a living out of producing / DJing under the Switch Fusion name. It'd be cool to be able to produce for other artists too!
Who’s your idol and who would you most compare yourself to? (Dead or alive...)
It would have to be Rob Swire from Pendulum. He's the brains behind the Pendulum / Knife Party projects, and his productions are just amazing, technically and musically. Every time I hear a new track from him, it just makes me want to delete everything I've ever done haha!
But that's the level of production that I'd like to achieve one day. I'd probably compare myself more to artists like Sub Focus musically though, since my music tends to include more hooks, melodies and chord progressions, focusing on the more musical side of drum and bass.
If you could play with anyone, who would it be?
If I could collaborate with anyone, again it'd probably be Sub Focus because of the similar styles. Liam Howlett from the Prodigy would also be amazing to work with!
If you could play at any festival, which would it be?
Probably Glastonbury, since it seems to be "the one" in terms of festivals. I've never been there, but the atmosphere always seems to be amazing from what I've watched from TV coverage etc! Wakestock festival would also be a good one to play, since it's not only local to me, but very electronic music heavy.
Who are your fans?
I'm not really sure haha! I made a bootleg remix of Deadmau5's "Raise Your Weapon" back in 2010, and that got huge attention on music blogs and YouTube etc, garnering over 160,000 combined listens (Soundcloud, YouTube statistics taken into account). So I guess a few people started to discover my music through that, and the various radio plays I've had via BBC Radio and XFM. A few mates also keep tabs on what I do, but coming from North Wales where there is no drum and bass scene, it's sometimes hard to explain to people from around here what type of music I make!
What’s your all time favourite song?
Hmm, that's a tough one. I don't think it's possible to just have one favourite song, so I'll go with a few...One would have to be "Hold Your Colour" by Pendulum, because it's the perfect drum and bass track IMO, structured in a traditional song-like fashion. Another favourite song of mine is "Slide Away" by Oasis...not really sure why, probably because I used to listen to Oasis a lot growing up! Another inspirational track to me is "If We Ever" by fellow Welsh producer, High Contrast!
