East Anglia's biggest Hard Dance night just got bigger! This Saturday 15th July sees BIG join forces with the mighty Sundissential and Frantic for the ultimate hard beats soundclash! We spoke with Big Ben, promoter of...erm...BIG, strangely enough!

Hi Ben, could you tell us how you first got into promoting parties? Was BIG your first venture?

Hello mate, no I was running different parties for around 3 years before BIG was born. I basically got into promoting because I love playing my records and there wasn’t anywhere locally that was playing the music me and my friends wanted to hear at the time.

How did you get hooked on dance music in the first place? Who inspired you to get involved?

I’ve always loved music but listening to the early ‘rave’ music around 1990 had me completely hooked to dance. I still have most of the tapes from way back then.
The person who inspired me the most and helped me to get in to the industry was Alex Daniels who was promoter and resident DJ at Temptation throughout the nineties.

How do you think it has managed to continually be a success in a region where big club nights are thin on the ground?

I think it’s a mixture of determination, maintaining a high quality, staying in touch with your crowd and keeping your ideas fresh.

What have been your proudest achievements with BIG over the years?

That’s a tough one! Probably winning ‘‘Best Club Night in East Anglia’’ at the Clublife Magazine Industry Awards.

Also selling 2000 advance tickets for an event only to find out the proprietor of the venue didn’t have an entertainments licence… the day before the event! After ageing 10 years in 24 hours and with no sleep we managed to pull it off legally and without any change to the show at all!

Celebrating our 5th anniversary this year was a proud moment aswell.

What’s the most stressful aspect of putting on a party?

DJing at your own parties can sometimes be a nightmare!

There’s always the financial side, especially if it’s a big party and fretting weather or not enough people will turn up. Dealing with club managers, agencies and councils can be fun!

Do you feel that Hard Dance still has a lot of life left in it?

Yes I do. Every month there seems to be a new night launching, there’s also new producers releasing their tracks each week. I think the sound will evolve as time goes on like it has been doing over the past 10 years or so. Do you remember Judge Jules and Tall Paul at nights like Sundissential… that was Hard Dance back then! Now it’s evolved to the sounds from DJs like Andy Whitby and Alex Kidd.

You’ve got the BIG vs Sundissential vs Frantic sound clash coming up this Saturday at The Junction in Cambridge. What’s in store?

Yeah this is gonna be awesome! It’s the first time Sundissential & Frantic have been to Cambridge let alone on the same night. There are 15 DJs over a total of 10 hours with crazy stage shows, stilt walkers, fire breathers, angle grinders and podium dancers plus the madness of Sundissential and raw power of Frantic!

For those living outside of Cambridge, why should they make the trek to this event? What makes BIG so special?

One reason alone is the venue!

There are loads of underground venues throughout the country but most of them are ‘converted’ in one way or the other… This is a purpose built music arena! It boasts a monster sound system, mind blowing light shows and massive video screens.

BIG has a number of special things about it and one of those things is the clubbers.
They are simply great! There’s not that much that happens in East Anglia, but when BIGs on we make the most of it, everyone’s totally mad for it!

Add that to an amazing venue with 5 promoters, BIG, SUNDISSENTIAL & FRANTIC and a collaboration in the Funky House arena with TRI*FUNK & UNIQUE MUSIC, all uniting for one night only and with one simple ambition, a massive party!

You’ve been back in the studio again with superstar Dark by Design – what was the result and how did you find it working with this Northern nutter?

Yes it was great. We work really well together and are always having a good laugh.
The result is a brand new record label.

And finally Ben, what’s the next big thing?

There are a few. The brand new www.bigdjs.com and the first release on BIG Recordings, this summer! BIG Vs TIDY in August is going to be awesome and more new tracks including the follow up to ‘‘Strangeness’’ with Scott Mac.