Years prior to dubstep being a formidable genre of electronica, it was an embryonic type of music that rose from the smoldering ashes of garage. Many know that at the turn of the century, garage suffered a dramatic downfall in popularity, partially because of needless violence at events. A lot of the music that came afterwards built off of the garage blueprint but was darker and more minimalistic in nature.

Many of the songs coming out of this “dark garage” era (2002-04) are little known. It was several years before DJ’s started going digital and the explosion of blogs and Beatport, and most dark garage/early dubstep stuff released around that time only came out on very limited edition vinyl pressings since so few people were willing to even buy (let alone play) it at the time. Nowadays many of these records are very tough to find unless you’re ready and willing to cough up a few bills. Not all of these songs sound like dubstep as we know it today either; some of it takes cues from turn-of-the-century garage, breaks, even house and jungle.

Geeneus was one of the purveyors in dark garage, and the tracks on his Soundcloud page give a little bit of insight into what was bubbling out of the studio in those days. Geeneus’s work here is more breaks-driven than any other genre. The labels he was signed to at the time, including Dump Valve and Soulja, also showcased the work of artists who rose to prominence in the dubstep scene several years later, such as D1 and the Plastician. 

Running his fairly prominent Rinse FM pirate station in the UK for almost a decade, Geeneus had a major hand in helping push and promote the early sound of dubstep as well. Today his station is as strong as ever, and also runs events and sells popular DJ mixes on top of that.

Some freebies of unreleased bits from 2003-04 from his Soundcloud account below!

Geelay no1 5.12.04 by GEENEUS

Wizzzleelel proto WIZZBIT by GEENEUS

Detroit VIP Geeneus 2003 by GEENEUS