Ask any Hard Dance Fanatic to name a legend in the scene.....and one name not far from everyone’s lips will be BK. Ben is without a shadow of doubt one of the greatest, most successful and most prolific producers in the scene. With over 10 years experience and countless coveted HDA Golden Glowstick awards under his belt including ‘Best Producer’ and ‘Best Track’ for 2007.

After a few JD’s and a little gentle persuasion, we have coaxed him into dusting off his vinyl to play a very exclusive Nukleuz Classic’s set at Hardbeat Manifesto at Mission in Leeds on Friday 10th Ocotber

With his latest Album, BK presents NU Wave hot off the press, we took a few precious minutes out of his day to find out about his new album, what makes the maestro tick and whether he can answer the big question....Is former tidy Guru Kieron an Angry Scotsman or simply misunderstood?

Your new album showcases some of the best of the Nu Breed of artists coming through the ranks at the moment. Who was your favourite out of those you collaborated with?

Didn't have a favourite everyone is good to work with. I always enjoy working with Lisa because we always make sure it’s good fun. We don't get to deep into what people might think of the track. We get the beers in and dance round the studio and I think this comes across in the music.

Which one of the tracks on the album do you think depicts the 'BK' of now? Is there a particular sound you are trying to push?

Each track on the album is very different. So I guess it’s diversity I’m trying to push. Musically Hard dance is the best it’s been in a long time. It’s had a major refresh with people mashing up styles and incorporating other styles and there is far more original material out there than there has been for a long time.

You are a part of the team behind Riot Recordings, which has seen some rather prolific material releases recently including some quality Albums. So come on, what’s next?

A lot more of the same really! Ed Real left at the beginning of the year to concentrate on Trackitdown, although we still consider him one of the crew! I’ve since teamed up with Scott Attrill aka Vinylgroover, and we now run Riot and Traffic together and it’s been great to have someone else involved who is also creative and a producer rather than a just business person. We are always working on new projects.

You've kindly agreed to play a rare Nukleuz classics set for us at Hardbeat Manifesto, what kind of oldschool classics can we expect to hear?

Yes! It’s only on rare occasions that I’ll do this but seeing as you’re a mate...;-) To be honest it’s good timing, after working on lots of new material it’s nice just to play a good old fashioned party set once a while. It’s always a hard set to live up to though because everyone has different favourites and what they consider to be a classic. I’m going to play the biggies, probably leaning towards the ones I used to play allot at Trade when I was resident there in the old days. If anyone has any requests hit my website www.bkworld.net that will take you to my facebook, MySpace etc and you can leave a comment and let me know what you want to hear.

How do you think the sounds of Hard Dance have changed since the early days of the Nukleuz Hard Beat EP and other massive anthems?

Most aspects of Hard Dance have developed really well, especially at the moment as I mentioned earlier. We have really begun to move with the times and develop Hard Dance for now. I remember the days when I would get slated for including new styles like European, Techno or whatever, now everyone’s doing it. We can only move forward with change at the moment I am so excited about all the new music around it feels like when the scene first began.

Since the time of the Hard Beat E.P's the way music is being sold has changed massively mainly thanks to the internet. Do you think this is a good or bad thing?

Both! It means more people have access to the music, but at the same time the only people who are making the real money are the download companies. This means it’s harder for record companies to invest in new talent which is not good and the balance needs to be addressed.

We were both over at the Q-base festival last month in Germany. How do you think their take on the harder sounds differs from here in the UK?

We had a Riot arena there which we shared with Marcel Woods and it was the only arena that was not a pure Hard or Jump Style sound. In the UK we would of covered all styles but there it’s just that.
The production is second to none but you can't beat the atmosphere at UK events.

So, time for the big question....is Kieron (former Tidy Events Manager and now fellow promoter of Hardbeat Manifesto) an Angry Scotsman or just misunderstood?
Ha Ha Ha! Both! I don’t understand him because he is always angry :-)

Many thanks for your time Ben, I shall let you get back to twiddling your knobs (in the studio) and we look forward to your set on Friday October 10th at Mission, Leeds. For a sneak preview of Ben’s new album you can visit bkworld and for your opportunity to catch the super rare, super exclusive Nukleuz Classics set visit.....hardbeatmanifesto.com.