Polaroid Club

Oi, you listenin’?

For the uninitiated Boys Noize is actually one person; 24 year old Berlin native Alex Ridha who came out of nowhere eighteen months ago with awesome remixes for Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party and Depeche Mode. Since then, it�s fair to say he�s risen meteorically to the top of the electro tree and is sitting pretty with the scene�s other aristocracy Justice, Digitalism and Soulwax. This month sees the arrival of his highly anticipated debut album �Oi! Oi! Oi!� on his own Boys Noize imprint and it is a trashy fest of in your face party electro with one objective in mind: to be played in clubs loud and cause maximum damage to the dance floor.

So tell us a little bit about yourself for our readers, who are you and where you are from? I am Alex Ridha, born in Hamburg in 1982.

How did you get into DJ`ing and producing? In the early age my 10 years older brother played me music of the first house-acid and rap records in the middle of the 80�s. My parents put me in a piano school but I always wanted to play the drums. So I did when I got 10 years old. I played it for about four years and when I was 14 years I started to buy records to be different from all my friends. At the same time I had a shitty music program at home.

I was working my ass off to afford my first turntables and spent all my money for records. I bought a lot of old school-diso-rap records as well as house music like Force.inc or Roule.

I worked in a record shop for about five years and during that time I got the chance to play my very first gig in a club for 500 people when I was 16. It went quite well because after I got many DJ bookings which was cool to buy more records.I became a friend of Andi (D.I.M.)and we started to produce together.

I learned engeneering for about 6 years from him Andi and I built our studio togehter. In 2003 I moved to Berlin because of my girlfriend and I built my own studio and started to produce as Boys Noize. My first record was out on Gigolo Records and the second on Datapunk. After that I founded my own label in 2005.

Your debut album `Oi Oi Oi` is about to be released this month on your own label Boysnoize Records. What can we expect from that? 13 pure power-electronic-quality-party-techno tracks. Actually this record is made for DJ`s. You ll get a bonus track which is my Feist Remix. She allowed me to put it on.

Your remixes for Kaiser Cheifs and Bloc Party attracted a lot of attention last year. Was that the turning point for you? Did people really start to sit up and take notice at what you were doing after that? It was so weird because I did the Bloc Party remix in May 2004 right after they released their first ep on Witchita. I gave it to the band after their first gig in Berlin but I think they lost the CD. Nobody was interested in it, either until the big hype after their first album in 2005. One year later Kitsune got thier the hands of the mix and released it.

It was almost the same with my Kaiser Chiefs mix which was officially worldwide released in August 2005 on their single “I predict a Riot”. One year later people started to play that because it got more cool to play indie-electro which to me wasn�t new at all… Of course both mixes helped me grow and to get bookings but I would also say that Boys Noize Records has got many underground fans!

Have you turned down any remixes, and if so can you tell us who? Yes, many. Peter, Bj�rn & John”Young Folks” which I regret a bit and there were a lot of other indie bands I didn�t do a mix for because I thought it got boring because everyone seemed to start remixing those bands. It wouldn�t be nice if I name every single band/act… Too many indie bands and too many remixes for those made me say no. Feist was actually the first one after a long time where I thought it�s cool to do it.

Dance music seems to be getting fun again, with yourself and the likes of Justice, Digitalism and the Ed Banger crew amongst others making proper party rocking club music. Would you agree? Yes, in a way.

Why do you think Berlin is so productive for dance music at the moment? Because every students got music sofware to produce on their lap top. The “cool” minimal music plus so many artists move to Berlin.

And how do you think the scene in Berlin compares to the U.K? It�s totally different because the UK scene is on the one hand that big big indie scene which always was a big part of Englands past as well.

It�s because the NME for example sells like 500 000 copies I think and Germany�s indie scene interests are so small. Our best selling music magazine is about 30,000. So that�s a big difference. And still UK has this big big impact of progressive comercial house which I hate.

Berlin is way more underground and cool-sometimes too cool and cold though. Minimal rules every club. Of course Berlin has great artists like Apparat, Modeselektor or Housemeister.

How has this summer been for you, have you been playing at any of the festivals? The summer has been crazy! I played a lot of festivals in Europe. I love it. It�s so much different than playing in the clubs. I play a different set on festivals as well but I wouldn t say it�s better than playing cool clubs.

Which has been your highlight? So far Pukkelpop in belgium was a killer, Creamfields in Spain, Ultra Music in Miami, Panorama in France and Global Gathering in UK was cool, too.

So are you going on tour to promote the album? Well, I�m playing my ass off right now. I�m curently playing 13 gigs in 14 days in USA. I�m gonna have release partys in France, Germany, Spain, Japan & UK. This year is so totally crazy!

Are you playing anywhere in the U.K? Yes I�m playing at Bugged out at the End, Wax:On Leeds, The Warehouse Projects and finally Fabric.

How is your label doing, what other releases have you got coming up? Well, it�s hard to sell vinyl these days because of the blog invasion and mp3�s etc.. But it�s doing good. I�m very excited about my last signing Shadow Dancer from Manchester. They produce quality electronic music for fans of Warp and there will be a new D.I.M. coming very soon. Para One, Proxy, Feadz, Shadow Dancer, Housemeister remixes of Boys Noize will be released in the fall,as well
as some surprise remixes.

I just signed another guy from France called Strip Steve. So, there will be some good stuff coming soon!

Who or what have been your main influences during your career? In electronic music early Felix Da Housecat, early Richie Hawtin, Thomas Bangalter, 2manydjs, Feadz , Juan Atkins, Dj Koze, Stuart Price, Theo Parrish early Armand Van Helden, Errorsmith, The Prodigy, early Westbam, Hell, Romanthony, Housemeister, Jackson & his Computerband, Warp Records, R&S Rec, Force Inc.

And which DJ`s and producers do you admire at the moment? Are there any up and coming talents we should know about!? I like Smith & Hack, SebastiAn, Housemeister, Surkin, Feadz, Jackson, Shadow Dancer, Brodinski, Justice, Greg Kaz, Siriusmo, Para One, Apparat, Roman Fl�gel It�s hard to find a DJ that excites me though!

What`s next for Boys Noize? World tour, remixes for Marilyn Manson and Justice, working for my label BNR and a big break in January & February `08. After that I�m going to produce other bands and acts as well as working on new stuff or new projects.