by Charley Kassabian, News Lite Editor

Nowadays, it is difficult to drive down the street without having your windows rattled by someones set of 15-inch, overpowering sub-woofers, playing the loudest, heaviest bass lines possible.

Electronic music is on the rise.

With the number of four-piece rock bands dwindling, the number of DJ’s and producers are skyrocketing.

The genre is exploding, and the evidence is all over the iPods and playlists of music fans everywhere.

The band scene is fading, and the electronic scene is growing.   A particular sub-genre, dubstep, is gathering a ton of recognition and popularity.

Dubstep music is essentially fast-paced, hard-hitting, bass-heavy beats that are being DJ’d all over the clubs, festivals, and even Cal High school dances.

DJ’s and producers who create or play this genre of music are becoming more popular as the scene continues to grow.

Some of the more prominent dubstep artists are Skrillex, Rusko, Excision, Skream, and Flux Pavillion.

Artists such as these are influencing countless other local musicians.

Brett Rockwell, a former member of the Cal-based hardcore band A Ship Called Friend, now produces dubstep music under the artist name Stikka.

He has produced a number of bass-heavy original tracks, along with remixes of songs by Calvin Harris and Morning Parade. Brett graduated from Cal last year and is studying to be a producer at Ex’pression.

“What I love about the whole scene is it is represented by love,” said Brett. “People at raves or renegades all just love to be around music.”

His music is available for free downloads  at www.soundcloud.com/stikkadubstep.

But Dubstep is not the only sub-genre to gather popularity. House music, another sect of electronic music, is becoming widely recognized as well.

The most prominent of House producers is most arguably Deadmau5, (Pronounced “Dead Mouse.”) Deadmau5 is a superstar in the electronic music scene.

LovEvolution and Lovefest are two  popular festivals in San Francisco, which attract crowds in the thousands annually.

They are both centered around love, and are iconic in the electronic music scene.

The world’s first touring festival for electronic music made its debut in September. The Identity Festival featured more than 30 of the most prominent artists in the scene, and spread across 20 cities, including Mountain View.

The festival, sponsored by Skullcandy and Rockstar Energy Drinks, was a runaway success, just like the rising electronic music craze.