BK: 30 Is Not The Right Cut Off Age For DJing

Recently celebrating his 29th birthday, hard house star producer BK is no longer the teenage prodigy he once was, though chatting to Skrufff this week, claimed he's wilder in partying terms than he ever was in his youth.

"I find that the older you become the less sleep you need," he insists.

"When I was younger I definitely used to sleep more, teenagers generally don't like to get up before one or two in the afternoon."

He's also got no plans to slow up on his DJing which is becoming an increasingly important side of his career.

"If you look at DJs these days, they're all in their mid thirties or forties," BK points out.

"Tony De Vit would have still be Djing today if he was still alive and he would have been the top hard house DJ in the world."

DJing aside, BK remains one of the most successful producers of hard house (or hard dance, whichever label is used) making him an obvious and sensible choice to mix Euphoria's latest dance compilation (Extreme Euphoria). Landing a job in a London studio aged 16, he played around on the equipment in his spare time, going on to produce over 100 productions for Media then Nukleuz Records, also remixing tracks for the likes of Mario Piu, Mauro Picotto and Tony De Vit. Though for his new compilation, although he's an acknowledged expert in the studio, BK's taken the opposite stance for working the mix.

"To be honest, my main job during the week consists of production and studio work, so when I'm recording a mixed CD I actually find it easier and quicker to follow the traditional way, basically mixing on two decks and pressing the 'record' button," he says.

"In that way, a one-hour mix will take you just over an hour to do it, whereas if you put it all into the computer it will take you twice as long."


Skrufff (Benedetta Skrufff): Starting with the new album, did you approach it thinking of home, club or car listening environments-


Skrufff: "It's a cross section that encompasses all the styles that I usually play in my sets. Euphoria gave me total freedom to do what I liked on this album and I just wanted to make sure there was a good cross section of tracks. CD one for example is not as hard as CD two, so I've made sure there's something for everyone."


Skrufff: Do you see young clubbers as a different generation now from clubbers first time round-

Skrufff: "I just think young clubbers have always wanted something more alternative from the mainstream, they don't want to listen to stuff their mum and dad or their older brothers and sisters listen to."


Skrufff: You recently played at Trade's 14th birthday party at Turnmills: did you really make your DJ debut there-

Skrufff: "Yes, it was on New Year's Eve six or seven years ago. I was absolutely terrified beforehand, because that was the place where all my idols played. I first went to Trade because I knew all the DJs there were playing my music and it became my stomping ground and I would only make records specifically to be played there, I wasn't aware anyone else outside the club would appreciate them. I was always making tracks for Tony, Ian or Pete Wardman and would take them down for them to play in the club."

Skrufff: How was your first time on the decks-

Skrufff: "It went OK I think, nothing major happened I think, otherwise they wouldn't have booked me straight away to play there again."

Skrufff: Fergie talked to us about being a bit shocked by Muscle Alley the first few times he attended the club; did you find yourself getting cruised much when you first started going down-

Skrufff: "I suppose so, for a bit at least, but because the club was so centred around the music it really didn't matter to me. Because of the music there were always lots of straight people there and ultimately, like in any club, if someone tries to pick you up and you don't fancy them, you just say no and they'll leave you alone. It really makes no difference from going an

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