Few artists from the golden era of brostep left a mark on global dubstep quite like Spag Heddy.
From explosive festival sets and massive collaborations to tracks that helped define the heavier side of 2010s bass music, the Dutch producer, whose real name is Mischa Reining, spent more than a decade pushing dubstep into louder, weirder, and more chaotic territory while becoming one of the most recognizable names in bass music.
Now, after 15 years under the name Spag Heddy, Reining is dropping the “Heddy” and entering a new chapter as SPAG.
“Doing a rebrand is really a refreshing feeling, kinda like starting over new, without having to repeat everything again,” SPAG explained in an interview with The Daily Frequency. “Hence why I like calling it a next chapter, not a new book!”
The transition didn’t happen overnight. Between the pandemic slowing down touring and starting a family, Reining found himself pulling away from the nonstop cycle that had defined much of his career. Coming back to it meant approaching things differently and looking at the project from a new perspective.
“The pandemic and starting a family took my touring (and producing) life down a notch for a few years, but now that I wanna put all my energy back into things, it should come with a bang, really let the world see and hear like yo I’m still here, I never left, just matured a bit and am ready for a next chapter. A new visual identity plus a slight change in musical direction were the main idea, and the name SPAG fits this new grungy style just perfectly, stripped back to the core, definitive.”
Yet, even with the new name, Reining doesn’t view SPAG as a complete rebrand. If anything, he sees it more as tightening the focus around what was already there.
“Yeah, that’s why I generally don’t call it a rebrand, but more of a switch-up, a next chapter in the same book. I think keeping half the name (the core of it) helps me remain authentic and keep my core fanbase engaged, while my music stays very much the same as well, just produced better and varied in genre, with more modern touches and hints,” he shared. “As SPAG, I hope to be taken more serious in EDM world, make it clear that I am part of dubstep history and here to stay, educating the new kids with oldschool brostep sounds in a fresh jacket.”
That approach carries directly into THIS IS: SPAG, the first EP released under the new alias.
The change is obvious visually. The bright cartoon branding tied to Spag Heddy has been replaced with rougher collage-style artwork, darker aesthetics, and a direction that feels more grounded in the punk and skate culture influences he grew up around.
Musically, though, the foundation has not changed nearly as much as people might expect. Across four tracks, Reining moves through brostep, drumstep, and trap while reconnecting with his roots and the style of songwriting that originally pulled him into dubstep years ago.
“It’s an EP where I showcase my variety in bass music. I am mostly known for dubstep, but I wanna introduce more people to ‘spag’ flavor in a bigger EDM music range. I want to throwback to the golden dubstep years, but since dubstep has hybridized a lot over the years, I want the new listeners to get excited for this brostep revival, for which they might not have any connection yet, as they weren’t around or listening yet back then.”
A lot of that mindset comes from influences outside electronic music entirely. Long before the festival circuit and major tours, Reining was heavily into punk rock and skate culture, something he says has always shaped the way he structures tracks.
“I’ve (subconsciously) always made music in a pop-punk/punk-rock way; simple chord progressions with easy singable leads, in the same song structure as rock music with quick verses going into heavy drops. There is always a melodic theme that I build my track around, with aggressive basses, where in punk rock, the distorted guitars would do the work. I’ve become more aware of this fact over the last years, and it is something I plan to keep doing, and even accentuate with more musical elements like vocals and (drums)riffs, etc.”
That connection between punk energy and dubstep is also why brostep still resonates with him so strongly more than a decade later.
“I think it’s that electrifying, monstrous energy that it unleashes. What Skrillex did with Scary Monster Nice Sprites was kind of translating rock (he played in an emo/pop-punk band at the time, of course) to electronic music. It is that same fast, high-energy spirit that resonates with me so well, being a drummer and skater ever since being a small kid.”
As newer producers continue revisiting early brostep sounds, Reining believes the genre is slowly finding its way back toward some of the ideas that originally made it explode in popularity.
“It has already been on the way for a minute, and right now it’s making great moves. I honestly don’t think it will ever come close to the original vibes, but we’re gonna make a good time of it. Right now, it’s mostly the legacy brostep acts that do throwback styles, but there is a small influx starting of new kids being hyped by this sound and trying to make it themselves.”
Still, what he misses most from that era has less to do with production trends and more to do with songwriting. When asked what he wishes to bring back from the golden era of dubstep, his answer was simple.
“The love for songwriting. There aren’t as many anthems being written these days, as everybody is churning out whatever the easiest copyable current trend is, just for the popularity race on social media. In the golden era of dubstep, producers put more effort into building a nice theme and song -actual anthems- whereas now a majority of dubstep is boring quarter note riddim and UKG/140 slop that sounds like every other song and cares more about showing off technical skills than writing good music.”
The issue is not the sound itself, but how disposable a lot of modern bass music has become compared to the records that helped define the earlier brostep era.
“Don’t get me wrong, there is something incredibly strong about quarter note dubstep; it’s rightly so popular for a good reason, but the songs generally lack something unique and memorable. I think in the golden era, more memorable tracks were written. And we can bring that back!”
That perspective ultimately sits at the center of SPAG itself. Not recreating the past, but bringing elements of it forward in a way that still feels current.
“It’s honestly the main drive. I get a lot of inspiration out of earlier productions, but I produce in a lot cleaner and more sophisticated way these days. Being ‘back in the game,’ I’ve noticed there’s a big influx of new listeners that are not very familiar with what underground brostep sounded like back in the day, so I see it as a bit of a mission to push that sound.”