What's been your favourite venue to play at in the UK & why? (GTA Joe)

I must say it has been Brixton Academy because I have to say that It's definitely the
most impressive venue for dj and live music that I have ever saw. I love the atmosphere that the venue gives and I think it's the most legendary venue of all time. It is great respect and honor to every artist to have chance to play there.

What made you choose the name Proteus and what is it's meaning... (Rascal)

I remember when I had my first dj gig here in Finland in 1995 that I wanted to find name that would work well together with the music I wanted to play. I used to play lot of roleplaying games when I was younger and there was game magazine called Proteus that I used to read. So I took the name from there and it felt like good name for me and for the harder and darker dance music.
Many people have asked me did I take the name from Greece mythology because there is a sea god called Proteus. The truth is that it came from my roleplaying background he he hee!:)

Where do you turn to for inspiration for your music, and what has been the most personal track to you in your career? (Jason – Blayde)

The inspiration comes from many things. I love science fiction/fantasy films and books so some ideas definitely come from there; like cyberpunk stuff.
Also many bands and artist like Ministry, Lab4, Front Line Assembly, Captain Tinrib and Karim to name few are still and have been great inspiration for me. It's unbelievable great that some of those legendary artists are my good friends nowadays. The most personal track has been track called Venla that I made for my girlfriend 4/5 years ago and it has lot of memories and feelings in it.

You used to play psytrance, which is a genre very popular here in Brazil as well as many other countries around the world. What made you move to the harder beats? (Kiko)

I used to play psytrance couple of years in mid 90's. I still play special psy sets there
and there and of course as a record collector I still collect psy releases. I decided to
change to harder beats because in Finland it was pretty difficult to be psy dj who wanted to play only from vinyl when other djs played with DAT tapes and minidiscs. Those days in Finland djs didn't use cds so much and the whole cd-r culture had not started yet. I ave always loved fast and technical beat mixing so I moved to harder sounds so I could do something new for Finnish scene. That time in Finland it was really difficult to get harder stuff from record shops so I used to order by mail and travel lot to other countries to get my records.

You obviously make a hell of a lot of effort with how you look for your sets... how long does this take and is it something you do before getting to the club, or at the venue before your set? (Gordon Darley)

I usually do my make up before I get to the club and sometimes if possible at venue's
backstage. It doesn't take too much time to do the make up and putting show clothes on, about 15 to 30mins. He he!
What takes lot of time is to put my mohawk hair straight and up. I have very curly hair so it's hard work he he hee!!:)
Sometimes I really feel to be without make up and I do some gigs without makeup, it's not so serious anymore like when I was younger.:)

Whats it like playing at Dance Valley and Impulz in Holland? (Will- Frantic)

It's great honor and respect to have chance to play at such a massive festivals like DV and Impulz in Holland! It's like having million butterflies in your stomach and always before gig I feel like that I could throw up because I'm so nervous he he!! The whole experience to play at huge festival is something you won't never forget.:)

How do Finnish crowds differ from UK crowds? (SaffySue)

Finnish and UK crowds have lot of common together and don’t differ so much. Finnish and UK crowds really show that when they have good time at the dance floor and they get crazy, which is great!! It’s hard to say also because we have so much smaller parties than you guys have in UK and the Finnish scene is million times smaller. Maybe UK crowds are bit more energetic than Finnish ones. Hard dance is very strong in UK!

Proteus has played at many festivals but which is his favourite and why? (Battlekat-PawsHQ-XST)

My favorite festival is Dance Valley in Holland because it has become like traditional high light of the year festival gig for me! I love Dance Valley and it’s great to see all my Dutch and other friends in there! It is unbelievable experience when the sun is shining whole day and there is 60 000 happy people having great time!

Whats your top 5 tracks of all time? (Nicky D)

My Top 5 of all time are:
1. Jones & Stephenson: First Rebirth
2. Lab4: Reformation 1
3. Etienne Picard: Get Up!
4. Lab4: Candyman
5. Juno Reactor: High Energy Protons

What do you love most about Hard Dance? (Andy Rise)

I love the energy and ruff beats and riffs that simply take you and won’t let go before your legs are broken of dancing! I love it because it’s ultimate rock and punk of dance music! Hard Dance is my life!

Proteus will be headlining in the main arena of HHA 8 on Saturday 18th October and there are still £20 tickets but these will go in the next 24 hours so make sure you don't miss out!