Hard dance hero BK has begun 2010 firing on all cylinders. In addition to captaining his club brand Riot!, the man has just released a new album, Pandemic, alongside Anne Savage. It’s a typically full-throttle excursion through “good tough music”, with the duo set to showcase it with a mix of DJ sets and live shows around the world. Next month, BK will bring the Riot! spirit down under. inthemix hears all about it.

Obviously the big news at the moment is the release of your album with Anne Savage, Pandemic. Is it satisfying to have that all tied up?
Yes, it’s always great to finish a project. By the time I finish an album, I have had enough of eating bad food and spending long hours sitting on my behind. The best thing about finishing a project is getting to play the tunes in the clubs. Getting a great reaction from new material is the best feeling in the world. Also getting loads of great messages on Facebook makes the whole process worthwhile. You always put so much hard work into an album and it becomes very personal, so to finish it is a big weight off your shoulders.

Did you want Pandemic not to be considered only a ‘hard dance’ album, but encapsulate a variety of sounds you’re excited by?
To be honest, we didn’t over-think it. We wanted to make some music that we would like to play and to hear. It was important for us to have fun and experiment. I think it covers a variety of styles, but at the same time the tracks can work in Hard dance and non hard dance sets. It’s just good tough music. It has influences from many styles of music.

Does working with a collaborator like Anne encourage you to try new things in the studio? Do you have different approaches to production?
Very much so. It’s much easier to experiment when you have someone with you. It gives you confidence when someone whose opinion you trust lets you know you are on the correct path. Our approaches are naturally different as I am the person who programmes all the music, so mine is more of a technical approach. We have very similar tastes in music though so there were no conflicts.

How did you want the album to flow? Does it have a very considered progression?
The order was worked out after all the tracks were complete. The best thing about being a producer who DJs is getting to play the tracks out. By doing this an order naturally develops. Also, because the style of the tunes were all so different it was quite obvious to us how it should build. We tried a few different running orders, lived with each for a bit and then decided on the final one we liked best.

What track on the album were you both most satisfied to get right?
Space Invader for me. It has Anne on vocals and really has its own character.
Its very current sounding, without being generic. It also takes the roof off every time I play it.

The two of you will be doing back-to-back DJ sets to support the album. Is it as natural playing together in a club as it is producing in the studio?
Yes, it has been very natural and really good fun so far. We recently did a sell out show in Canada and really rocked it. We didn’t have to even talk about what we wanted to do. We spoke as we played and just felt it and enjoyed ourselves.

So, what can you tell us about the Pandemic live show you’ve developed together?
So far it’s in its early stages. We will only do it for special parties. We have put together a live set that incorporates mash-ups of the album as well as classic tracks from each of us. We have also been working with a MC and the vocalist from the album. It a really long process to get it right. We won’t even attempt it until it has been nailed. I refuse to mime to CD like most live acts.

Riot! now happens at Matter in London. Is that an exciting venue to host the parties in?
It’s the best venue in London, if not the UK. It has a sound system to kill for. All the parties in there are the best of their genre. They handpick the best specialist brands from each genre so everything is the cream of the crop. We are alongside people like Cocoon, Hospital and so on. It’s a real honour to be in there.

The philosophy of the Riot! parties seems to be to keep things up close and rocking. How then do you approach the festival thing, when the atmosphere is so different?
The same philosophy applies. The best eclectic tough music around. The choice of records may be more geared towards the festival set up though. On festival sound systems some styles work better than others.

You’re heading down to Australia in April. What can we expect from the sets here? Will you be loaded up with new material?
My sets are quite eclectic. I will pick the best of each sub-genre that fits my sets. From techno to trance to European stuff and forms of hard dance. I will definitely be playing a lot of the new material, but I’m sure I will be asked for some of my oldies and will have no problem dropping a few in.

BK tour dates:

12 Apr – Elev8 (U18) @ Panthers, Penrith
14 Apr – Elev8 (U18) @ Panthers, Newcastle
16 Apr – Rise Nightclub, Perth
17 Apr – Chasers Nightclub, Melbourne
25 Apr – Frantic @ Hunter Bar, Sydney