Even though it’s not the Chinese New Year that Storm’s massive NYE bash is celebrating, that still hasn’t stopped them from pulling out a surprise Red Pocket for all you lucky clubbers. So let’s see what’s inside……

Having started out his career over five years ago, Rodi Style may not be the most familiar name on the UK Hard Dance circuit, but in his native Canada, the young DJ is firmly established as hot property. Rodi Style, real name Ben Leung, grew up on classical music then got latched on to dance music by the sound of ‘hands in the air Trance’. It was Hard Dance though where Ben made his Djing mark; coming up with a hard and raw ‘no nonsense’ sound. Also, instead of just standing there, putting on records, he started incorporating plenty of technical wizardry into his sets.

High profile international gigs soon followed and the young talent delved in to the world of production. His tracks got support by some of the biggest names in the genre including, BK, Glazby, Proteus and Lisa Lashes. But Ben was keen to branch out further and joined up with his production partner Chris Wan. They went under the alias of ‘Leung and Wan’ where a number of exciting projects have been developed, such as tracks containing Trance fused with NU-NRG and even their own forthcoming album.

Now come Monday 31st December at the Emporium, Rodi Style touches down at the Emporium for Storm’s New Year’s Eve extravaganza. Not only will he be treating us to his Hard Dance magic, but also remembering his Trance roots with a special showcase set in the White room. To find out how he’s preparing for it all, we sat him down and fired him a few probing questions…….

Ben, at Storm you are going to be playing at one of Britain’s biggest NYE parties, lasting a whole ten hours with a very wide variety of music on offer. How excited are you about that?

Very excited, I can’t think of a better place to play on NYE than Storm! I think I may have peed in my pants a little.

Storm has picked out a great line-up and you’re going to be performing alongside some great names such as Andy Farley, Paul Glazby and BK. What are your thoughts on that particularly strong selection?

Storm’s NYE line up is incredible. There are so many legends and big names playing on the night. You really can’t go wrong with a line up like that; we’d be crying tears of joy if a line up of that magnitude happened in Canada.

Storm is viewed as being one of the most prestigious Hard Dance brands and have an ethos of always putting the clubbers first. You’ve played for them before, so how much of a pleasure has it been working with them?

It’s always been a pleasure working with Storm. Garbo is incredibly accommodating and I’m very well looked after every time. It really gives a peace of mind when you’re travelling long hours to another country.

It’s not that often that you get to play in the UK and you’ve said before that the UK clubbers like to go hard! How much do you enjoy playing to an English crowd? And do you aim to do anything slightly differently?

The English crowds are by far my favourite to play to. Everyone is so up for anything I throw at them and it’s an incredible experience when the clubbers are so into the music. I definitely play differently when I’m in the UK; a lot faster and harder than when I play in Canada for sure.

You’ve got another little trick up your sleeve that night and that’s your Trance set in the White room. What sort of style can we expect there?

I’ll be bringing with me a wide variety of trance ranging from the softer stuff to the techier trance material. It will really depend on how the crowd responds but in my mind I’m picturing a much more laidback trance set. Perhaps something people can close their eyes to and lose themselves to. Or have grown men crying…

In any case it’ll be a big contrast from the hard stuff that will be going on in the main room and hopefully give people an area to dance a little less hard and get recharged to go back out to the main room.

Your style of Hard Dance veers towards the harder end and has been described as no nonsense’ did that develop naturally, or was it something that you consciously worked on?

I’ve always been a fan of the filthier end of hard house, so I had that in mind when I started producing. Lately I’ve been experimenting with my style though. I don’t want to be labelled as a DJ that plays “too hard” so I’ve been incorporating some trancier elements and groovier elements into my productions, yet still retaining the hard edge that keeps it a “Rodi Style” track.

You put a lot of emphasis on things like scratching and manipulating your sound with on board effects. What kind of added dimension do you think that gives your sets?

I think it really helps make a set unique and offers a different way to interact with the crowd. People love to see that a DJ’s having fun behind the decks and the extra effort in manipulating music really goes a long way to set your self apart from other DJs.

A big part of your job is selecting tracks that are going to be especially suited to your sets. With so many on offer, how do you decide which ones end up in your CD wallet?

There isn’t a real big process for me to be honest. I pretty much just choose tracks that I hear and really love. That would probably sum it up. I do keep a wide range of styles from the warm up material to full on peak time stuff in my CD wallet so I can change my set on the fly if people aren’t really feeling what I’m playing.

You’ve said before that you hate seeing a DJ standing there looking bored and vowed never to perform like that your self. So what sort of stage presence can we expect from Rodi Style?

I plan on stripping buck naked and swinging from the rafters while leading the crowd in the Canadian anthem haha. Actually, I just plan on putting a big smile on my face (won’t be hard to do because I absolutely love what I do), yelling random gibberish at the crowd and will be flailing my arms around like an idiot all whilst messing about with my music.

When they are playing, a lot of DJ’s have several tracks planned ahead. Is that the case with you, or is it completely spontaneous?

I usually walk into the club not knowing what I’m going to play but before I start my first song I’ve figured out which are the first 2 tracks to start off with based on how I feel the crowd is going to respond. From there I just keep a watchful eye as to what works and what doesn’t and tailor my set to that.

So let’s say that you turn up at a gig and for what ever reason, the crowd are in a bit of a lacklusture mood. As the DJ is the ring leader of the dance floor, how would you get them all livened up again?

It would be Celine Dion remix time; nothing gets the party started like a hard house version of “my heart will go on”! I’d start to experiment with some different tracks to see what they like and go from there.

You’ve got quite a few productions to be released soon, in the shape of ‘Jump’, ‘Let go’, ‘Spelling Bee’ and ‘Destination’. What makes those productions stand out from the pack?

Hmm, I guess it stands out because it’s got the signature Rodi Style stamp all over it? If people are looking for uplifting melodies (ish) leading into a rip roaring filth synth then look no further!

You’ve just launched your own label ‘Kung Fu Wax’ which is due to have its first release in January. Are you going to be embracing the digital revolution completely there, or still keeping vinyl alive?

Kung Fu Wax will be strictly vinyl for the time being with a chance of digital releases down the road perhaps when the vinyl is sold out.

You’ve been responsible for engineering quite a few tracks; do you think that having that technical expertise really helps you when working on a production?

Definitely, being able to make your ideas a reality is so much easier when you can do it yourself instead of trying to explain it to someone else. As well, engineering for other people in other styles really gives me the opportunity to try new techniques and writing styles which I can then incorporate into my hard house productions.

After some time off, your other sideline the ‘Leung and Wan’ project has got going again. You’ve had a few releases with that of late and you’ve got exciting plans for a live show. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

We’re currently working on our artist album with our new singer Amanda Sampson. It’s coming along nicely with a strong emphasis on trance but with a different variety of styles thrown in there as well including a breaks track and some more ‘pop’ influenced tracks. We were hoping to do a live show sometime in 2008 but realistically speaking, it’s unlikely to happen, as I will be spending the majority of my time in the UK.

Hard Dance used to be thriving in Canada a couple of years back, but has taken a big slump in the past couple of years, for various reasons. What can you do yourself to get things going over there again?

For the last few years, I’ve been trying hard at keeping hard dance alive in my city and although we are in a slump, there’s still a good following and fan base for the harder styles of music. Right now I organize an event called “Hard House Revolution” every few months and the turnout and feedback has been amazing. We’re coming up soon on volume 8 now (Feb 17, 2008) and the hype for the event is building up steam even before we have announced the line up. Infact HHR vol. 8 will be a special one because it’s “Storm vs. Hard House Revolution”. I can’t wait.

And finally come Storm NYE, what tricks in your set are really going to get the Champagne corks popping?

It is all about Celine Dion. If the corks don’t pop during “my heart will go on” then they shall never pop!

The Emporium has a Pioneer DJM800 so I will be rinsing it out with a few new tricks I’ve picked up along the way along with some new productions not yet heard in the UK. I think an update of one of my old classics “Crazy” is also in order.

Remember to catch Rodi Style at Storm NYE @ The Emporium, Coalville – the most exclusive NYE event going!. You’re never going to think about Celine Dion the same way ever again……

To find out more about Rodi Style, check out his website CLICK HERE!

Feature by Greg Lynn
©Greg Lynn 2007