PROFILES: Cid Poitier

In our latest interview we’re taking a closer look into Cid Poitier’s artist path and his new EP Where U Been? Out now, exclusively on his bandcamp – 3 pieces that bring an eclectic fusion of dubstep, Miami bass and breaks. Giving a nod to multiple styles, we’re taken on a journey that starts with the slightly harder and bass oriented ‘Where U Been’, followed by the old school flavours of The Original and finish with the melodic My Beau that we premiered on our Soundcloud.

Tell us a bit more about yourself, anything you want to share with the world.

Cid Poitier: The irony about that question is that I’m actually a really private person. I tend to swivel the spotlight on my art which I use to convey much of who I am. I’m an avid reader, life observer and lover of wisdom. When I’m not grappling with questions concerning the meaning of life, my spiritual home is in front of a heavyweight sound system surrounded by a colourful spectrum of music lovers and societal misfits.

What drew you to get into music initially?

My Caribbean heritage and being brought up in South London exposed me to a huge spectrum of music from a young age. Whether it was Calypso and Dub Reggae at home, or Hip Hop and Jungle with my peers – the rich tapestry of musical influences have always been around me and has shaped my music taste.

DJ’ing was the beginning of my musical journey beyond being just a listener. It was much later when I got into actual music production, encouraged mostly by my closest friend and peers who were all producing and DJ’ing at the time. To this day I still consider myself to be a selector first and foremost even though most of my time over the past decade has disproportionately been spent in the studio.

What’s the story behind this EP? Some of the tunes are from 2019, what made you officially share them with the world now?

This collection of tracks spans the years 2019 to 2022. Releasing these tunes is really about overcoming a mental hurdle of perfectionism and creating space to breathe and be carefree with music again. It’s taken me a long time to get to the point where I understand that my artistry improves when completing projects and moving on. This approach allows me to learn lessons to apply to the next project. It’s always encouraging when a track gets support from an established artist or receives positive feedback, but I try not to let that influence my decision whether to release a track – I’m pretty strong-willed (stubborn!) in that sense.

How do you usually approach the creation of a tune? 

I have no set format for tune creation, but I’m always inspired when discovering a groove with the drums and bass, but most of the time it’s purely based on vibe, mood and how I’m feeling. These days I am leaning more into organic sounds, melody and chord progressions which I really didn’t understand or consider in my music making process up until more recently. I have no formal music training so much of my music making career has been what I call the “caveman” approach, which is bashing stones together until something interesting happens.

How do you decide if a tune is exciting enough to get released? 

I use two main criteria in the decision-making process which determine what gets released; however I will caveat this by saying that I’m currently in the process of reviewing this system. The first criteria is simply about the maturity of the track. Everything that I’ve released thus far I’ve literally played to death over a long period of time – meaning I’ve listened to them hundreds (and sometimes thousands!) of times (no exaggeration!) and I STILL love the tracks to this day. To me that is a solid green flag that the track reaches my standard for a release. This very much informs the second criteria which is whether I will be able to look back and be proud of what I have put out in years to come. This takes a deeper level of honesty with myself as it can be easy as an artist to get drawn into chasing trends to stay relevant. For me, music creation ultimately becomes legacy – so the question I always return to is ‘what type of legacy do I want to leave?” – this usually brings me back on course if I find myself drifting.

Tell us a bit more about Sub:Clef, the label that you’re running. How did it start, how do you usually pick the artists and any future plans you’d like to share?

Sure. Sub:Clef was really born from a place of necessity, not desire. My early forays into music production were more centred around half-time jungle and drum & bass and was easier to categorise, but when I started making slower tempo music I began shaping a sound that remained true to the aesthetics of early dubstep, but with a heavy influence from Neo-Soul and to a lesser extent R&B. I was sending the music around to labels in the hope of naively getting this “new sound” signed but it was deemed too soft for the dubstep world (not to mention having sultry vocals!) and too heavy for the neo-soul circles so I decided to setup my own label. The releases tend to sit on a spectrum between dub, dubstep and neo-soul with capacity to branch out into more experimental electronic territory whilst maintaining the core ethos of the label which is bass, groove and soul.

Thus far, the majority of the releases have been my own, with a few vocal collaborations and production contributions from the likes of JFO and Dubwoofa. What I found running a label is that I really enjoy the process of promoting other people’s music whereas I am very reluctant to promote my own music. Over time I would love the label to grow to incorporate the creations of artists who share a sound complimentary to the label, but at present I don’t actively seek new music for the label unless it finds me somehow.

There are a few releases in the works scheduled for this year. They’ll be something on the dubby end of the spectrum and also something deep & soulful. It’s a small operation and as such the intention is to only put out 1 or 2 good records each year, but that could change in the future. As a producer, the label is both a blessing and a curse at times. Because of the administrative responsibilities involved in doing a release, my attention can be taken away from the music making process for months which essentially takes me away from my “happy place” which is in the studio being creative. Equally it’s such a rewarding process to share this music with the world and present it in the way that compliments the vision of each project without restriction.

In what way has Sub:Clef helped your path as an artist?

Sub:Clef has definitely provided a home for one side of my artistic expression. I don’t make music specifically for the label, but when a track has the right balance of elements I can instantly hear when it is a Sub:Clef record. The irony with this release is that it is essentially a self-release having not quite ticked the boxes for the label, but equally these are tracks that I wanted to still put into the world in my own way without them needing to “fit” into another label’s sound so the answer was to put them out myself.

What are your next plans for the year?

I have an exciting project in the works which will mark the 10th Anniversary of one of my early EPs. I’m really looking forward to finalising it, however the general goal for this year is to complete more projects and share them with much less hesitation. The strange thing about sitting on so much unreleased music is that the evolution of my sound is experienced with a large time lag. As such the goal is to close the gap by finishing more music from the archives and releasing them alongside some newer pieces. I’ve been fairly quiet for the past 5 years release-wise having had a number of big life changes, but with such a rapidly changing world and landscape for artists, 2026 oddly feels like the right time to re-orient myself back onto the artist’s path of authenticity, experimentation and channelling from a divine source. I definitely consider myself to be a “slow producer” but I really enjoy the creation process so the reward comes both from the journey as much as the finished product – but as always expect more quality over quantity!

Thank you for such a thoughtful interview, premiering my track from the EP and most importantly for not asking about those two-letters that people just can’t stop talking about at the moment. 😊