Sub Focus

Nicolaas Douwma(born 13 April 1982), better known by his stage nameSub Focus,is an English DJ, record producer, songwriter, musician and sound engineer. He has been releasingrecordssince 2003.On 12 October 2009, he released hisself-titled debut album.He released his second album,Torus,on 30 September 2013.Douwma's album in collaboration withWilkinsontitledPortalswas released on 9 October 2020 throughCasablanca Records.His fourth album,Evolve,was released on 12 May 2023.

Sub Focus
Sub Focus in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Nicolaas Douwma
Born	(1982-04-13)13 April 1982
Origin	Guildford,Surrey,England
Genres	Drum and bass drumstep dubstep electro house
Occupations	DJ record producer songwriter musician sound engineer
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Virgin EMI Mercury RAM Owsla Casablanca
Website	subfocus

Music career

Starting out

Originally a fan of rock music, including bands such asNirvana,Douwma started a band at school with some friends although this was a short-lived ambition as he "wasn't very good" at playing musical instruments. At the age of 13, however, he discovered computer software for producing electronic music and became a self-taught producer, and started making rudimentary dance music. The main reason he followed this path and ultimately got more involved in it was because it meant that he could successfully create a whole song on a computer without having to be able to play a musical instrument. His first major influences were groups such asThe ProdigyandThe Chemical Brothers,artists who blendedguitarswithdance music.He first discovered jungle and drum and bass music after hearing "Incredible"by M-Beat andGeneral Levy.

Douwma did not start taking music production seriously until he left school and deciding what to do for a career. In order to advance and to get more of an understanding of electronic music production, he went to college and studied sound engineering.From 2001 to 2002 onwards, largely due to encouragement from his friends, he started sending out demo CDs. His breakthrough came in 2003 when a friend of his who was playing in a club on the same night asRAM RecordsBossAndy Cgave him his demo CD, with his phone number written on it (he had the CD with him so he could have some exclusive tunes to play in his set). After hearing it, Andy was so impressed with the demo, he phoned up Douwma straight away and signed every track instantly, and Douwma was signed to RAM's sister label Frequency, before making his debut on RAM two years later.

2005–2008: Early career

In March 2005, Douwma had a number one single on theUK Dance Chartwith "X-Ray / Scarecrow". The single reached number 60 on theUK Singles Chart.In June 2008, he hit number one on the UK Dance Chart again with "Timewarp / Join the Dots".

2006:Sub Focus

In 2006, he traveled to the U.S. and played at Five Nightclub in Washington, D.C., courtesy of Upfront Productions.

2009–2010:Sub Focus

Main article:Sub Focus (album)

In August 2009, he cracked the UK top 40 for the first time with "Rock It / Follow the Light",which reached number 38."Rock It / Follow the Light" also got him a thirdUK Dance Chartnumber one, as well as reaching the B-list ofBBC Radio 1's playlist. Sub Focus has also remixed selected works ofThe Prodigy,deadmau5,Rusko,Dr. Octagon,Empire of the SunandDizzee Rascal.On 6 October 2009, Sub Focus released "Smooth" which was free to download. On 12 October 2009, he released his debut studio albumSub Focus,the album peaked at number 51 on theUK Albums Chart.

2010–2019:Torus

Main article:Torus (album)

In 2010, Sub Focus was a support act for Australian drum and bass bandPendulumon their UK tour to promote their third albumImmersion.Later that year, he produced theExampletrack "Kickstarts"for his second album,Won't Go Quietly.The track was successful in theUK Singles Chart,peaking at number three.This makes it Sub Focus' most commercially successful production to date. A free track "Falling Down"featuring vocals from Kenzie May was released on his website and was later released digitally as an EP. In 2012, he released"Out the Blue"featuringAlice Goldand it reached number 23 in the UK Singles Chart. It was followed by "Tidal Wave"featuringAlpineswhich peaked at number 12 in the UK Singles Chart, which also became his first to spend at least two weeks in the top 40. "Tidal Wave" also featured on the Mercedes Benz "Sound with Power" advertising campaign, along withTinie Tempah.On 12 May 2013, "Endorphins"featuringAlex Clarewas released, continuing his recent chart success, peaking at number 10 in the UK Singles Chart. The album's fifth single "Turn It Around"was released on 22 September 2013 and reached number 14. His second studio albumToruswas released on 30 September 2013. He headlined the Radio 1 Dance stage at theReading and Leeds Festivals2013. Sub Focus played at Glastonbury 2013 with his new live show setup. Later in the summer of 2013, he went on to play at Dour Festival, Reading & Leeds, Global Gathering, Bestival and Isle of Wight festival among others. He headlinedBBC Radio 1XtraLive at theBournemouth International Centreon 7 October. He then completed a 2013 UK tour. The sixth single fromTorus,"Turn Back Time",slowly climbed the UK Singles Chart to number 10. The next single fromTorus,a new version of "Close"featuring a session singer instead ofMNEK,failed to chart.

2020–present:PortalsandEvolve

Main articles:Portals (Sub Focus and Wilkinson album)andEvolve (Sub Focus album)

On 15 September 2020, Douwma announced on Twitter that a collaborative album with fellow UK artistWilkinsonwould be released on 9 October of that year.The album was made available for pre-order onCDandvinyl.Portals'tracklist was revealed by Douwma on 17 September. It contains 11 tracks, including the four singles "Air I Breathe", "Illuminate", "Just Hold On" and "Turn the Lights Off".

On 8 March 2023, Douwma announced a third solo albumEvolve,which was released on 12 May 2023.The album contains 14 tracks including the singles "Vibration (One More Time)" featuring AR/CO, "Ready to Fly" withDimensionand "Off the Ground". The album won "Best Album" at the Drum and Bass Arena Awards in 2023.

Discography

Main article:Sub Focus discography

• Sub Focus(2009)
• Torus(2013)
• Portals(2020)(withWilkinson)
• Evolve(2023)

External links

• Official website