Meet Hamdi: A Producer Influencing Global Dance Music Culture

From dubstep to grime and UK garage, Hamdi throws down at any BPM. The artist, legally known as Alexander Hamdi, creates heaters that set the dancefloor on fire. The international sensation has garnered support from electronic music heavyweights such as Skrillex, Knife Party, Fred Again.., Zeds Dead and Porter Robinson, as well as some of the UK underground scene’s most prestigious acts, including DJ EZ, Skream, Sherelle and Mala. Hamdi’s diverse sound is best featured on his latest single, “Criminal,” out today, June 30.

Wobbly beats, swirling synths and heavy bass drops are heard by audiophiles on the release, which is made in collaboration with Zeds Dead. Indeed, the Hamdi’s energetic, rhythmic and bass-driven sound proves to help influence global culture within the ever-evolving landscape of dance music.

The artist—who is half Tunisian, half English and currently based in Oxford, UK—says he and Zeds Dead aimed to keep UK influences within “Criminal” while also providing a middle ground that plays into the sounds of United States dance music.

Hamdi began producing at the age of 12, primarily exploring grime beats. He then was quickly attracted to the United States-influenced side of dubstep, particularly the likes of Skrillex, Knife Party and Flux Pavilion. After four years of being inspired by that genre, he found the sounds of bassline, which he describes as “high energy” and “fresh.” He started to focus more on dubstep after producing bassline for three years. While dubstep proves to be among his first entry into dance music, he says he doesn’t plan to only produce that genre.

“I love to explore loads of different types of genres,” he says. “I kind of get bored just producing one genre. I’d say my sound at the moment has influences from a lot of different places. I try not to be pigeonholed as a one-genre person because I love mixing it up and changing genres.”

The sound designer says that his philosophy when making music is not to think externally when producing—he focuses only on the record. He doesn’t try to make a song that could be a good fit for a label. Instead, he is mindful of the moment.

“I think that creates the best music when you’re completely present,” he says. “I try not to put too much pressure on myself to make a certain type of tune. If I start with a dubstep tune and it ends up as a UK garage tune, if it’s a banger, it doesn’t matter. The whole process I try and be quite loose with it and not have too much of an end goal in mind—just take things where the music takes it.”

The tastemaker says if he was told a year and a half ago that he would be working with Skrillex and Zed’s Dead, he would have been “very shocked” by the experience that he defines as both “overwhelming” and positive. He adds that he learned a lot from both encounters. From Skrillex, his takeaway was how the iconic producer thinks “outside of the box,” how he is “two steps ahead” with his ideas and how he has a clear vision of what he wants from a tune. In regards to Zeds Dead, he says he learned how to build hype around a track in the introduction.

Hamdi says the first song that made him fall in love with dubstep music was “Clap” by Document One. He was producing grime during this time, and he was introduced to the track by his tennis teacher who was friends with Document One. The tennis teacher said he had some tunes by the artist he thought Hamdi would like, and he was indeed correct—Hamdi fell in love with them. He returned from his lesson that day and started to produce dubstep for the first time. If he hadn’t discovered songs such as this and gone into making dance music, he says he would have been a real estate agent or gone down a path that aligned with his international relations degree.

While acting undisturbed in challenging situations can be troublesome for some, Hamdi practices this in his life and when navigating the dance music industry. He says the industry can be tough, adding that people are not always nice and that sometimes you don’t get the release you thought you would get. In those situations, though, he refrains from acting instantly and impulsively. Proceeding calmly allows him to consider the best way to move forward, which he notes can be easier said than done.

Looking back to the start of his career, the advice he would give his younger self is to not worry about making each release a “smash hit.” He says an artist has to be okay with the fact that there may be one or two major hits in the future, but some songs will “simmer.”

“I remember when I was younger, I used to get like really upset if one release didn’t do well or a release I thought was going to do really well just didn’t pop,” Hamdi says. “Now I’m sort of like, I picked the tune to release [and] when I release it, it’s out of my hands sort of in a way. I can do as much promotion as I can, but at the end of the day, if the crowd likes it, [that’s what matters]. I definitely [would] say not to put too much pressure on myself to make every hit pop.”