Prizefight & Trustee on the changing influence of UK Garage

The UK’s influence is becoming near impossible to ignore. Speed garage has taken the country by storm, with artists like Club Angel, Mincy and many more rising to the top as a near endless supply of UK internationals come to town.

‘HARD28’, a collaborative effort between Naarm/Melbourne-based Prizefight and Trustee, is no different.

The two producers’ addition to DJ Cosworth’s Bristol-based HARDLINE is an ode to the main stage focus that Garage is demanding.

To reflect on that influence, the release itself and their collaborative process together, Mixmag ANZ sat down with Prizeight and Trustee.

Q: How did you guys come to meet?

We originally met in 2022 at a party that Scott (Prizefight) was playing at, and Tate (Trustee) was working as a videographer. That happened to be the first time Tate had attended a dance music event.

Q: What made you two decide you wanted to collaborate?

We’d been friends for a while and both had similar sensibilities musically, so it felt inevitable that we’d eventually get in the studio and start making tunes together. Our first collaboration, titled ‘Dubplate License’ was released on Osmosis Jones’ label In The House in 2024, and we continued to work on music together since.

Q: What are some stand-out moments of collaboration on this release that you’d like to share?

The two collaborative tracks (Centipede and Basilisk) both have quite distinct sounds and pull from different influences. Basilisk particularly stands out to us as the most interesting and unique track on the project, as it fuses a Dubstep style half-time clap and foghorn bass, while remaining firmly rooted in the realm of Dembow and UK Funky. We spent a lot of time refining the sound design and structure of the song, which was an arduous yet rewarding process.

Q: ‘HARD28’ comes to us via Bristol label Hardline, which has featured a variety of Australian artists over the last 5 years of its running. Why did Hardline feel like the right fit for this release?

Hardline felt like the right fit for the EP as they have quite an eclectic catalogue spanning multiple genres within the world of bass and club music, similar to the multiple influences that we embedded into the release. Our main point of reference was the Longeez record which kicked off their Drum Workouts imprint, as it felt like a perfect fusion of techno and Latin Bass. We were also inspired by other artists on the label such as Amor Satyr and Siu Mata who were pushing the percussive club sounds on their respective releases.

Q: While ‘HARD28’’s most clear through line is clearly garage, there’s a heap of Latin influence coming through, including more dance-hall inspired percussion on Tarantula, and Iguana too. Why have you guys leant into this sound?

While we’re both known for our garage production, we actually attempted to step away from that style on this specific release as we wanted to experiment with sounds from outside of the UK. As you mentioned, we were heavily influenced by artists from the Latin Bass scene; specifically producers and labels such as Verraco/TraTraTrax and TSVI/Nervous Horizon. Both of our DJ sets over the last couple of years have featured a lot music from the region so we wanted to fuse those elements with our existing production styles to create a unique sound within the Australian dance music space. We’d also like to mention other artists like Nick Leon, Bitter Babe, Doctor Jeep, Burna and Dismantle, who were also major references for the sound of our EP.

Q: What do you think the impact of Central & Southern American music has been on dance music lately? What kind of impact has it had?

South American dance music has an extremely rich history that spans many countries and scenes so we can’t specifically point to one factor that is contributing to its growing popularity, but the fact that it’s resonating with an intersection of fans from bass, house, techno and beyond speaks to the versatility and universal appeal of the music. However, we think it’s important to recognise and platform the originators of the style, especially within a Eurocentric industry. We would love to see more artists from the region being given opportunities to tour globally, and it would be especially amazing to have more Latin artists representing their sound in Australia.

Q: Why do you think there’s a growing presence of UK dance music in Australia?

The popularity of artists such as Interplanetary Criminal, Nia Archives and Sammy Virji (just to name a few) has definitely helped the sounds of UK dance music garner international recognition. As for the growing interest in the style amongst Australian audiences, we think the strength of the production coming from our local producers has a massive part to play.

Q: What do you think that kind of presence means for local artists?

The popularity of the aforementioned UK artists has definitely helped to platform many talented Australian producers, as they are constantly supporting tunes from the likes of Osmosis Jones, Isgwan and Cotto in their sets. Furthermore, the A&Rs at labels such as EC2A and Hardline (Dr Dubplate and DJ Cosworth) are constantly searching for new underground artists to showcase on their platforms, and they’ve managed to cultivate an international community around the Garage scene in particular. Their support has encouraged many local producers to pursue the sound and have helped us to break through to an overseas audience, which we are extremely grateful for.

Q: What do you guys hope for this release?

We’ve already seen amazing support on these tracks from the likes of Ben UFO, TSVI, D. Tiffany and more, so we’re hoping to see some of our favourite artists continuing to play the tracks in their sets. We also hope to inspire other local artists to diversify their musical palette, as we believe the most unique and interesting sounds arise through the fusion of multiple influences.

Q: What’s planned for you both in the near future?

Plenty of collaborations are already in the works, so expect us to further expand on the sound from our Hardline release with future projects. Hopefully some more b2b sets on the horizon too.