Hi Henry, how are you and where are you?

I’m great thanks, just chilling out in my home town of Welwyn Garden City before the next bout of madness wherever that may be. The last couple of months or so has involved Australia, Newcastle, Glasgow, Perth, Dublin, Bristol, London, Nottingham, Berlin and Northern Ireland so its nice to be in the one place for a while! Not for too long though.

Sum up your musical style at the moment…

House and techno you could call it, or maybe just a new electronic strain of older genres, I’m not really an expert in genres, to me it’s all just music you have on in the club, or music you have on before you go out, or with your weetabix the next day…I love it all.

My take on it all I guess, what I’m trying to do different, what I’m trying to offer and add, is the whole party thing. My best nights are the ones when you have the music and the people and everyone is all-together as one, it feels. The music is going off and everyone is having a good time, and people are at the bar and on the dance floor or in the smoking arena and it’s like a happy little community all in the one club. Add to that amazing music and it’s a little big of magic you never want to end. And this is what I want to happen every time I play!

What kit are you bringing with you to the dj booth?

I play straight from my Macbook via the CDJs, using Traktor Scratch, which is a wicked thing in so many different ways. Also for the last few years I have been using a soundbite sampler which is a great little thing but you can do similar things in Traktor now, admittedly it’s not as good so will see how things go. I’ve just got a controller to use more of the features in Traktor rather than having to use the mouse and keyboard which I’m really excited about. I like the idea of using Traktor 3 on it’s own and not having to beat match, as sometimes I want to mix the track in early before I have had time to beat match it so that option would be nice, or just play about with the track more rather than just letting it play from start to finnish. It is another thing I think I will have a play about with and see how it pans out.

Name are some of your current favorite producers….

Obviously Ferg’s stuff, it’s just really different as a lot of stuff happens in his tracks that really gets the club going, rather than just a 7 minute groove, although if you break down the tracks there are some really good loops that could be tracks on their own. His engineer Dave Robertson is really talented and I think if he made trendy deep stuff he would probably be held in the same esteem as people like Guido Schneider etc. Ferg has pushed so much new music in his time, now he is pushing his own music, his own productions, he has plans for a live set which would be some spectacle that’s for sure.

I’m also a big Matthew Dear / Audion fan. Whatever guise he is producing under, to me the premise is simple: the tracks are normally always feature a loop that gets right in your head it is so well done, you just want to hear it again and again (like Fred’s Bells for example). Then some mad noise comes out of nowhere and runs straight right through you (in a good way). He has really inspired me and I love his Asa Breed album, the bandy stuff with vocals, I have seen him live but not his band- I really want to check them out.

What are some of your all time favorite tracks?

Some old techno like: DJ Elite – That Fuct Camera, Redhead – The Darkness, Egyptian Empire – The Horn ‘Luke Slater Khufu Remix, Joris Voorn - Incident, Dave Clarke – The Compas, Snap Mode – Technocrazy, Huntemann – Discotech …

And some old house like: Kings Of Tribal – Situation ‘Robbie Rivera Mix, Richard F – Cookie Dough Dinamo, Digistar – Kriptonite, Justin Robertson – Acid Rave Music ‘Phil Kieran Remix, Fergie – Bass Generator ‘Robbie Rivera Remix…

They all have a lot of great memories attached and I’m going to start a new item in my regular podcast as an excuse to get them out now and again. My favourite track at the moment is Dubfire’s mix of Radio Slave Grindhouse, it’s one of them tracks that takes you away…

What would you say are your strengths?

Well I would like to think my music isn’t too anal or chin stroking and that somebody who has never been to a club or a rave before could still get into it and be intrigued by it. Also over the years I have matured a bit and now rather than try and bang the hell of people and get some kind of mosh bit going on the dancefloor I would rather chill it down a bit and try and create more of a a party atmosphere, more of a celebration of the music and the people, I think these are my strengths.

You have been with Excentric since it’s beginning, how did your association with it start?

Fergie has really supported me and took me under his wing on the dj front, I got to know him by traveling all over the country to see him play and then going on his web site forum to talk with the people I would meet on the road, he gave me a big break by putting me on at a weekend of parties to promote his new web site a few years back. When his radio show came to an end and Excentric was kind of relaunched as how it is now I was integrated into it and it has been an amazing experience that I feel very lucky and privileged to have been a part of. I know there are a lot of people out there who would bite their own balls off to be a part of it all.

What has been your personal highlight of working with Excentric so far?

Ibiza was an amazing experience, with so many friends coming down and supporting us, and completing our run at Kanya was a big achievement as we were the only standalone night they had that survived the whole summer (apart from the pre parties they put on). And then rounding off the summer doing the Coco Loco room at Privilege for Meganite was class…a year before that I had been working in that same room as security for Manumission!

But to be honest it’s the progress we have made in Birmingham that’s been the most rewarding, some of the very first Excentric’s were actually in the nitrogen room of Godskitchenmany moons ago, since then Excentric has evolved and we did a few parties at Chic that didn’t really go to plan but we did learn a lot. Then Ben Nott at Ultra+ offered to help and the next party will be our 4th at The Custard Factory, our second in the main room, it’s been a mad journey to get there, the best thing about it though has been to see our friends and support coming to all the parties and making them great whatever venue they were at.

What is it like being a part of the Excentric Artists?

It’s wicked we have a really good balance of artists and everyone is really sound, Bigger Than Jesus are just well up for it and they love to smash the place Adam Beyer style, Jus’ Phil is definitely a party juggernaut and I think he could be compared to Micky Slim as he is a kind of people’s DJ, I guess we all are though in a way as there is no attitude whatsoever. Both BTJ and JP have their own labels which are definitely worth keeping an ear out for. Ken The Men is an amazing dj and can be the wisest and the maddest out of all of us. Dan Doran is making real progress in the studio, his new stuff he’s done is great, his sound is a bit more groovy and has more percussion which is cool. Jordan X is really talented and switched on, he’s trying to push new sounds to people who may not have heard them before and is definitely one to watch.

What other DJs inspire you / have inspired you?

All the DJs that have inspire me have had one thing in common which is they are all very charismatic and idiosyncratic, and I think this comes across in their music. If a DJ is playing music purely on the basis that they like it and it agrees with their dancefloor ethics then the music can be almost a personification of their personalities. Also I always seem to like DJs who are fun!

What are your plans for the rest of 2008?

Studio studio studio! And hopefully a cheeky week in Ibiza as I’m getting withdrawal symptoms already and it’s only May (I lived out there the last two summers so I’m looking forward to something resembling a bit more like normality this summer). Fergie is launching a sister label for Excentric which I will be doing the a&r for so that will also keep me busy, I’m looking forward to hearing some fresh music from some new faces, if anyone out there has some material they would like to put forward my email address is henry@excentric-muzik.com

Im playing at 7 dates with the Dex In The City crew down at the Mortimer Arms, Tottenham Court Road in London. It’s going to be Dex In The City (Myke Smith & Paul Thomas’s night) presents Monu Digital (Jus’ Phil’s label). Myself and Phil will be both playing every other Sunday starting from July 6th, we will also have DJs such as Mistress De Funk, Rebekah, Dan Doran, Fake DJ & The Nox joining in. It’s from 3pm till 12am, there’s also gonna be a bbq and the booze will be pub prices (as it is a pub!) so will definitely be something a bit different for the summer, get yourself down it would be great to see you.

And at the end of the summer I’m moving to Leeds with Jordan X, where we plan to set up our own studio, a weekly party, hopefully a label and a few other projects. We have the name sorted for the party and the label so that’s the hard bit done! I’m really looking forward to getting up to Leeds as it’s a city that has a reputation for supporting electronic music with nights like Back To Basics, Ketoloco, Technique and clubs like Mission, My House & Mint, so hopefully we’ll find a few like minded people up there for some high jinx.

Thank you for your time Mr Henry Von!

Mr Henry Von will be playing alongside Slam, Fergie, King Unique, Ben Nott & Bigger Than Jesus at the next Excentric at the Custard Factory, Birmingham, on the 19th July 2008. For more information check out www.myspace.com/mrhenryvon, www.excentric-fergie.com and www.myspace.com/excentricartists.