Dance Hall Day’s in Pompey
By Lilly. K. Drew
Written 23rd December 2019. Last edited 11th October 2026.
Executive Producer, Dan Subtifuge, has run his successful label “Totally Dubwise” for nearly six years. From the ripe old age of fifteen, his aspiration to pursue a career in music drove him to produce and release his own content.
Totally Dubwise specialises in Reggae / Dub and Dancehall releases. Subtifuge is passionate about these genres, describing them as: “deep, conscious yet not preachy. The content tends to have a message that you can relate to, if you grew up poor and struggled in life, which a lot of people have. You can just close your eyes and get lost in the bassline and hypnotic offbeat drum arrangements, the combination of the use of digital sounds and analog, then the message, which is of unity, love and respect.”
After a few successful releases, his music began to develop a loyal following. Buoyed by the increasing demand, he decided to set up Totally Dubwise. For him, the opportunity to control his own destiny, and to avoid being a “cash cow” for other people was important.
Running an independent record label requires wearing a lot of different hats and facing various challenges. “You have to have immense time management, as well as the ability to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep going.”
As Executive Producer, Subtifuge describes himself as the driving force and vision of the label. This includes coming up with the ideas for the content, and working with multiple different people such as singers, session instrumentalists, remixers, producers and engineers. Once the music is done, Subtifuge designs the artwork covers for the release and any marketing materials.
Prior to the distribution of the music, Subtifuge ensures that the metadata is correctly registered so that it can be discoverable, and royalties are collected. After this, he sends a promo email to all the DJ’s to set up pre-release air time, and sets up marketing via reviews and blogs. He also designs and maintains the website, and creates content for a range of merchandise including rolling papers, grinders, clothing, bags, and physical music including vinyl and CD’s.
According to Subtifuge, there are several important qualities needed to run a successful label: “Vision, drive, diplomacy, creative ability, time & patience, an understanding of marketing, social media, to an extent product development, both musically and from the point of view of merchandise, or even artwork for releases. The ability to communicate with other producers, engineers and musicians/ singers I work with, having a clear idea and direction of where I want the project to go.”
The elements of the role Subtifuge find exciting are the creative process and the challenge of pushing himself. “It gives me focus and keeps me learning new skills, so it is very mentally stimulating. A large part of it is knowing that the music I release is contributing to people’s lives, memories and experiences are being made to it. I also know the value and power of music, it has a life changing ability not only from the perspective of income, but also in the sense of being a positive force to motivate people to better themselves.”
Career highlights to date, include: Kenny Ken’s remix of Serani’s “No Games”, which was released as a free download on Soundcloud.
Totally Dubwise works with “around 30 vocalists and 30 producers/ engineers and instrument players.” Subtifuge is clear that he would “not call them employees but more contributors.” These include General Levy. Tippa Irie, David Boomah, Dubmatix, Mr Williamz, Demolition Man, Daddy Freddy, “and many other ground-breaking artists from the Reggae & Jungle/Drum ‘n’ Bass communities.”
Recently, the label has worked with the likes of Blackout JA , who’s upcoming album will be released in 2020. This features contributions from producers Aries, Jamie Bostron and Dubmatix. Subtifuge will also be releasing his own projects in the New Year, collaborating with vocalist Perfect Giddimani.
When asked if he had any interesting stories, Subtifuge highlighted the time he DJ’d back to back with Nicky Blackmarket, and warmed up for and played after Kenny Ken – which are not generally everyday occurrences.
Subtifuge provided an interesting insight into how the music industry has changed in the current climate. “Not for the best that is for sure. It is still full of politics, lots of people who feed off of artists and creatives, due to streaming music has become very disposable. People used to invest more into the artist they liked or brands. Nowadays it is more the corporate machine that is benefiting from everyone’s work, the joys of capitalism, hey.”
Releasing his own music under his production name (Dan Subtifuge) is also a big part of his role. Most notably, Subtifuge collaborated with Mr Williamz to release Jungle anthem ‘Ganja Dadda‘, which has been featured on various compilations. On hopes for the future Subtifuge wants “to keep raising the bar for myself, keep on learning, building and growing.”
Totally Dubwise releases the majority of its music in download format, but they recognise the nostalgia of vinyl and CD and are planning to release more music in these formats in 2020.
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