Over the past few years, the London-via-Los Angeles DJ and producer Carré has been turning bass heads left and right with a string of releases that tap into the rich essence of what many discerning underground music listeners might just consider to be proper dubstep. Indeed, her tracks have a certain undeniable bass weight and production nuance that puts them in conversation with a long line of deep British sound system music. Carré also runs the great label and party series Fast at Work, which flew the flag for non-brostep bass music in Los Angeles before it was uprooted to London, where it is now, seemingly, right at home within a larger context. We sent some questions over to Carré; read our interview and listen to her new single, “Meltdown,” off of a forthcoming release on EMA’s label Woozy, below. 

Tell us about the forthcoming EP. 

Carré: My EP, Meltdown, came together about a year ago, so I’m really excited that the music is finally getting out into the world. EMA had reached out saying she was looking for the next Woozy on wax and asked if I had anything to share. I made “Meltdown,” “Crawler,” and “Season Seven” at different times—not necessarily with the intention that they’d all be part of the same release. 

“Meltdown” and “Season Seven” were heavily inspired by the classic dubstep I’d been listening to—”Meltdown” in particular references the sounds of the System Music and V.I.V.E.K catalogs.  We were able to get two insanely sick remixes, one from the legendary dBridge, and a killer take on Season Seven from the incredibly talented NVST. I’m obsessed with both remixes. 

You just moved to London, right? How are you liking it? As an American, is it exciting to be living in a place where a lot of the music you are inspired by was incubated? 

Yes, I moved to London in February! It feels really right to be here now. I’ve had a deep connection to the city ever since I did a year abroad here during university in 2012–13. That year was the catalyst for everything. It’s incredibly inspiring to be in the place where so much of the music I love was born.

Where do you see Fast at Work fitting into the London electronic music scene? And how is that different from the label’s role in Los Angeles? 

We’ve thrown a couple parties in London over the past couple of years that turned out really great, but it’s definitely a challenge to enter such a competitive market. The city already has so many parties booking many of the same forward-thinking artists we would gravitate towards for our events in LA. That being said, we’re coming from the DIY world and I’m excited to bring that spirit and creativity to parties in London. We also have a couple exciting releases coming out on the label this year, so I think that will help Fast At Work continue to gain more recognition in the UK, Europe and hopefully beyond.

Are there any Fast at Work parties that stand out to you as being particularly memorable? 

Well, the party that will always stand out is the one where LAPD sent a helicopter to break it up. That’s the one that gave us our helicopter brand identity. Beyond that: Darwin and Livwutang in 2023; INVT in 2022; Introspekt, Spekki Webu and Josh Caffe for our collaboration with Signal in 2023. I also think our 2024 parties really leveled up the brand, especially Aurora Halal and Succubass; Verraco, and deep creep. 

How do you feel about more, for lack of better words, populist forms of dubstep? Do you think you have the ability to cross over to a different type of dubstep fan? Have you ever played a set in Denver? 

There’s a lot of dubstep out there that, to me, feels more different than it is similar to what I’m making or playing. I actually think it’s cool if my music crosses over to those fans, especially if it guides them towards deeper exploration in this direction. I haven’t played in Denver yet, but I’d like to! I’ve heard good things about a few of the DIY parties there.

What are a few tracks that have been exciting you over the past few months?

A few newer releases I’ve been loving and playing a lot of recently: "Poison" by Beatrice M. [Tectonic], Sub Basics, “More Water” by Witch Trials [Temple of Sound], “Left Hand Path” by Commodo x Gantz [Ilian Tape], and “Fractal” by Introspekt [Tempa].

Do you have any formative memories of growing up in Northern California and listening to electronic music?

Not really electronic music in its more traditional form—I was mostly into bands until university. That said, I think I was connecting with electronic elements through artists like Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead, and through indie dance stuff like Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Bloc Party.

What is the best sound system you’ve ever played on? What made it so great?

I got to play on the Sinai Soundsystem at HVYWGHT in March in London and then again at The Mine in Brighton. It’s a lot of power to wield which is what makes it so fun. Another favorite was the system by N/A and Thought Society at one of my favorite parties of last year, Parameter x Vitamin1000 in San Francisco.