I’ve often wondered if the home of Germany’s Alex Ridha, AKA Boys Noize, is full of hats – each labeled accordingly, so people know which particular Boys Noize they are talking to. There’s Boys Noize the producer, who last year released the incredible album Oi Oi Oi. Then there’s the Boys Noize who manages the ultra cool German label Boys Noize Records. Then there’s the Boys Noize, the vinyl music addict, who worries about the culture of music in a digital age. And then there’s the Boys Noize, the DJ, who has released two mix CDs this year, not counting the compilation he put out for his label, and will soon be gracing our shores for some high energy shows over the New Year period. Thankfully all of these Boys Noizes answer to the same name of ‘Alex’, so this made my interview much easier.

When I get through to Alex he’s just gotten back to Berlin after touring through Asia and South America. It’s only a moments rest for Ridha as that weekend he would be headlining the I Love Techno festival. “Yeah my studio is here so I can relax at home and do music, so it’s not too stressy for me, but this weekend I’m playing at a big festival we have here called I Love Techno, which is a huge festival here, in Europe, for techno and electronic music, and I’m going to be headlining this year, and its going to be good, I hope,” he laughs.

He says Boys Noize’s passion for electronic music and DJing originally came from rifling through his older brother’s vinyl collection. “When I was a small kid I played with his records, and he also had the first house records, in the middle of the 80s, so I was into that music without knowing I was, and then when I was 14, I bought more and more vinyl records, and I became really addicted, and then I bought more and more and I worked hard to afford a second turntable and then I started to mix at home.”

Boys Noize never intended to release an album, however his label was too small for multiple releases. “I didn’t really plan to produce an album, it was more the fact that I couldn’t release my music on my label, because I signed new artists at that point, and I wanted to release their music as well, so I had to wait, and while I was waiting I was producing more and more tracks, and after each track I did I was thinking, ‘ah cool, that’s the new single,’ and then I did a new one and I thought, ‘no that’s the new single,’ and then at one point I thought, having twenty tracks, I thought it was good idea to put them all together and call it an album, but there was no deep sense, or plan behind it, it’s just a collection of singles I’d say.”

When asked what he looks for in the artists he signs to Boys Noize Records he said it’s something that sounds really fresh to his ears. He’s not interested in artists that sound just like what’s popular at this moment in time. He advises other aspiring producers to “try not to be inspired too much by the music of today and rather try to have something more, I know it’s hard, but try to be original and try not to be too inspired by the latest Justice track, because there is already this music and they are already.”

With new artists just starting out he suggests not over complicating the process. “My first advice for a young producer is, don’t get too much stuff at the same time, like getting all the plug ins and all the stuff you can find on the computer… just get maybe one drum machine and one synth and then work on this as long as possible because, remember back in the 90s, all the techno and house producers, they just had a 909 drum machine a 303, and they be rocking it for 5 or 6 years, and they were so creative with just two or three things they owned… Basically, don’t get a crazy computer and get all the stuff you can find for free and all the software. Just work on one sequencer you know best and one or two tools to work with, work it out and get to know it. Read the manual,” he laughs.

If you’ve attended a Boys Noize concert, or similarly, a concert from someone associated with France’s Ed Banger label you may have noticed a quite striking trend. The way people dance has changed. The crowd resembles a rock concert mosh pit, even having young boys crowd surfing. Boys Noize has noticed this too. “Yeah it’s really new to me as well, because it was never like this before. I mean obviously the music has changed a little bit, and I think it’s amazing the fact that the kids also are a new generation, they are so young, and they have so much energy, and it’s crazy to see this… I think it’s brilliant, but they’re also so into the music they know, even the new stuff, just because everything is on the internet right now, and you can find information about everything, from minimal music though to more electronic techno music. This is great because normally, the music that I’ve been releasing has only been for DJs… because they find it in a record shop and buy the vinyl. But nowadays, everything is accessible, just because of MySpace, and so the people are more educated about music and the music itself,” he says. “I think that’s also one reason why the people go so crazy!”

Boys Noize will be in here in the New Year, playing festivals Australia wide. What can we expect at a Boys Noize show? “It’s a lot of energy, I play a lot of new stuff on this tour, I’m going to play some of my album, and also some new music I did, as well as some new music from my artists, from the label. As I’ve been DJing for a long time, I always try to update my sets with a few new tricks and stuff, it’s going to be a mix of techno and electronic music, and I think the energy is going to be crazy.” Plus he thinks Australians are “just crazy party guys.” I say we prove him right.

Catch Boys Noize at the following dates across the country this New Years…

December 31st – Harbour Party, Sydney
January 1st – Summadayze, Melbourne
January 1st – Field Day, Sydney
January 3rd – Summafieldayze, Brisbane
January 4th – Summadayze, Perth
January 23rd – The Prince [Boys Noize Night], Melbourne

For more info on all the party action happening over summer, check out ITM’s Festival Pages for more news, features, clips and DJ mixes that you could possibly ever hope for!