Their take on dubstep was whimsical, manic and completely outrageous at times. However, it resonated with millions of people across the world, and forever altered the electronic music landscape. Now, decades later they’re on the brink of releasing their collaborative, self-titled dubstep album, which is an ode to their 23 year-long friendship and the genre that changed the trajectory of their lives indefinitely.
The 15-track album, which will be released via their groundbreaking imprint Circus Records on 27 March, marks a full circle moment for both artists. It cross-pollinates elements of jungle, grime, breaks and other electronic mutations, and feels like a time capsule with a contemporary edge, with many fans sharing their overwhelming nostalgia online after listening to the album’s teasers.
The album is a formidable body of work which not only exhibits their roots, but also their staggering individual growth. The build-up to its release has been incredible, with teasers like ‘WDGAF’ and ‘Wasabi’ decimating all expectations, and fans on the edge of their seats, desperately needing more. The focus track ‘Water’ features voice notes from the Circus Records team, and kicks off with a sucker-punch beat and a brawny bassline, and then morphs into a deranged, mouth-watering bass spectacle.
In our exclusive interview with Doctor P and Flux Pavilion, we chat about their favourite tracks on the album, the future of dubstep and what else 2025 holds for them. Stream the album below, while reading our exclusive interview!
Doctor P & Flux Pavilion / Image credit: Fiona Garden
You’re about to release your album Doctor P & Flux Pavilion, a gargantuan 15-track dubstep album! How are you both feeling about the album release?
Doctor P: Excited, nervous, it’s been a journey.
Flux Pavilion: Yeah I think excited, we’ve put a lot into this and it’s time for it to enter the world. It’s an unusual feeling for sure.
Fans have been raging online about the nostalgia the album is evoking, with many saying it feels like the early 2010s again. What about this era made dubstep such a formidable genre, and what sparked your return to this sound?
Doctor P: I guess at the time we were all just experimenting and Dubstep was still fresh with lots of room to do something new.
Flux Pavilion: Definitely, I think we decided between ourselves that there were some elements we discovered back then that shouldn’t be forgotten, so now was the time to modernise them and bring that back to present day Dubstep.
You’ve been collaborating for over 20 years, and it’s clear that you have quite a strong bond and understanding. After all this time, how do you manage to keep your dynamic fun, innovative and fresh?
Doctor P : Probably by not overdoing it, we both have very independent careers, it’s not that often that we come back together and do something this creative. So it definitely feels fresh every time.
Flux Pavilion: We understand each other in quite a unique way, plus we’re honest about stuff when we think it doesn’t work. Then we manage to be good at finding the right answer for those problems, or one of us wins and we forget about it! lol
The album has been described as a balance between a “serious body of work” and “just two friends messing around on a computer”. In light of this, the music industry can be extremely grueling for artists, and it’s easy to get caught up in the seriousness of it all. How do you balance the light, playful side of things with the more serious aspects?
Doctor P: I think people see me as quite serious, but I like to challenge that assumption in my sense of humour and graphic design. I really enjoy making music and being in the studio, which is probably where I find that balance.
Flux Pavilion: Yeah, I guess there are two answers here. In terms of music I’ve always had that approach, I think I’ve always been at my best when pushing for a feeling over creating the most perfectly finessed commercial project. The industry is very serious, and it’s important to understand and embrace that, but I always balance life and personal time to make sure I don’t get in too deep.
Doctor P & Flux Pavilion Album Cover / Album art by Doctor P and Fiona Garden
This year marks 16 years of your label Circus Records. Aside from the release of your album, what does the rest of 2025 hold for the imprint?
Doctor P: More of the same I think, to be honest we’ve been so in deep on this album it’s been hard to think about anything else.
Flux Pavilion: Yeah, I think there’s more music coming from lots of the new artists on the label. FuntCase mentioned he’s working on a collaboration EP, so that should be exciting.
As dubstep luminaries, how important is it for you to stay on the cusp of what’s happening with the genre?
Doctor P: Very important, so much changes, especially when new software comes out and people develop new approaches.
Flux Pavilion: I’ve spent lots of time over the last 2 or 3 years to make sure we’re at the forefront. This album is about that as much as anything, both of us bringing our current knowledge together, throwing in all the things we feel are missing in modern dubstep but in a way that works for the modern floor.
Where do you think the future of dubstep is going?
Doctor P: Serum 2
Flux Pavilion: The new dubstep scene is so exciting, I’m loving what people like Hamdi and LYNY are doing, inspired by the old UK scene, blending in of other genres, it’s fun.
Do you each have any favourites off the album?
Doctor P: I think ‘Flashback’ is really interesting, it’s got a foot in the old and the new, a good summary of what we’re trying to do in general.
Flux Pavilion: ‘Feel Good Ltd’ is lots of fun, we asked my friend Sarah Bonito from Kero Kero Bonito to jump on the vocal, she’s amazing and I love everything she does. She really gets that fun aspect of the music we wanted to make.
Are there any stand-out, special or outrageous studio moments from creating this album that you’d like to share?
Doctor P: We had to do a lot of work finding the right hooks for so many tracks, one that went left field was ‘Water’. We ended up asking a bunch of people from the Circus office to record voice notes saying ‘Water’, anyone British who’s been to the US will know how much contention one word creates.
Flux Pavilion: My favourite is from the head of business affairs, he’s got a great voice! We also accidentally left a placeholder sample at the end, but thought it was funny so left it in the final cut
Stream ‘Water’ below:
What do you hope fans take away from this album?
Doctor P: Hopefully it will give them a big smile, and a few strong bass faces.
Flux Pavilion: That they’ll enjoy how it makes them feel and they enjoy dancing to it out in the world. I think that’s the main thing.
What else can we expect from both of you this year? Are there any exciting tours, projects or releases in the works?
Doctor P: I’m busy with my next solo singles, some production work and my other Drum and Bass project Freaks & Geeks.
Flux Pavilion: I’ve got some remixes coming, then we’re working on putting together a Doctor P & Flux Tour (shhh, it’s a secret, don’t tell our agent we told you). After that, maybe Fluxiverse 3, we’ll see.
Follow Doctor P:
Facebook – Instagram – X – Spotify
Follow Flux Pavilion:
Facebook – Instagram – X – Spotify
Follow Circus Records:
Facebook – Instagram – X – Spotify
This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Doctor P & Flux Pavilion discuss their monumental collaborative album, the future of dubstep & share album focus track [Premiere]
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