Why has Noddy got a bell on his hat?.......Because he’s a c.nt. Yes, that’s right ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the world according to Steelo - purveyor of terrible jokes and most excellent music. Voted in the top 5 best breakthrough DJs in 2006’s Breakspoll, Steelo’s ability to hold a dancefloor in his sweaty palms is never in question though his choice of humour might be debatable ? Resident for Party Proactive, Raindance and Twist, his past exploits include sets alongside some of the Break scene’s finest, including the Scratch Perverts and Atomic Hooligan, guesting and mixing a CD compilation for Chew the Fat! and holding a weekly show on Breaks FM. Bad all day! With 2007 most definitely being Steelo’s year and with a need to know more I pinned him to the floor, covered him in jam and forced him to talk (I’m sure he would have been more than willing to chat but there’s something strangely alluring about man in jam don’t you think….?)

You used to play garage when you first got into mixing – playing at Slammin’ Vinyl and Garage Fever. Makes sense then your sound developed into Breaks – something about that ole two-step that rocks ya boat eh?

Yeah I must admit I did love all the old garage, up to about 1999/2000. After that the musical quality seemed to diminish somewhat steeply when it got massively commercial. Though this wasn’t the only musical style that influenced me when moving into breaks - old skool hardcore was my first musical love, and d'n'b/jungle were influencers too. I find that breaks has influences from these, and other musical genres which is why I love it so much.

I come from a different musical background to you but I do own Two Bad Mice “Bombscare” (how cool am I? don’t answer that…). Given my obvious lack of breakbeat knowledge I thought I’d brush up for your interview but became rather confused in my eagerness to learn by the differing descriptions of breaks, nu skool breaks and broken beats. Please enlighten me in my ignorance!

Good choice on Bombscare. Well, broken beats tends to be more chilled out stuff, often mixed with jazz elements - 4hero are a good example of broken beat. Nu skool breaks is often shortened to just 'breaks', with artists including Plump DJs, Rennie Pilgrem, etc, and as you are probably already aware, they are much more club dancefloor orientated!

So what would you say is your style?

My musical style is downright naughty, or for those of you who want it genre pigeon-holed I suppose I'd call it gabba mince-step.

I know you also like some of the hard stuff (hard dance, techno, trance – just to clarify!) as your crazy selection of residencies testify to. Would you say this influences your tune selection compared to those you’ve played alongside (Atomic Hooligan, The Autobots, Friendly, Tom Real) who are immersed purely in the Breaks scene?

I think the techno stuff I listen to has an influence definitely, not the hard dance stuff though. There's many other styles that influence me too, as I mentioned earlier. I think essentially though I like what I like.

You’ve played at some fine nights including Chew the Fat, Breakfish, Butane, Fuse, the Breakspoll afterparty and are the Breaks resident for the ever eclectic Party Proactive. Plus you’ve held your own radio show on Breaks FM. What are your plans for 2007?

First off for 2007 is getting some productions under my belt. I've been a slack b*stard for too long and need to sort myself out. I've been in the studio with Greg Brookman recently laying down some serious shit so hopefully they'll turn out alright once we've finished polishing them. I think being a lazy c*nt on the production side has definitely hindered my progress over the last few years and it’s definitely something I need to address. I wouldn't mind having a radio show again, Breaks FM was immense fun while I was on there and I do miss it.

I wouldn’t say you’ve been too hindered – coming 5th as the best breakthrough DJ in last year’s Breakspoll being no mean feat!
How did it feel to realise people like what you do well enough to get off their backsides to vote?! (really, to get people to bother you must be doing something very right).

Probably one of the best compliments you can get in any kind of career; to be recognised in any capacity really. Thanks to everyone who voted, the cheque’s in the post…

Plus a little bird has just cheeped into my ear you’re playing for Proactive for their Arena at the Antiworld Festival in July. Steelo at a festival? Do you think the world is ready for such pleasure?!?

haha, not sure if pleasure is the right word to use! It will definitely be a highlight to play at the Antiworld festival, especially having my names amongst the many huge global artists I'll be playing alongside, but it’s not actually the first festival I've played at. Last year I got to play at The Lake of Stars festival in Malawi, Africa, which was absolutely bad all day. I suppose that would make me an international DJ now, wouldn’t it?? safe hahaha

You’ve mixed a compilation for Chew the Fat! and produced a couple of tracks with Ali Wilson. I think, however, we’ve yet to see the full force of Steelo unleashed in productions terms (I’m sure you’ve personally unleashed many times! ?). What for you makes a good track and what plans do you have to create one?!

There’s lots of things that go into a making a track good for me. First of all I well like noises, how they're placed in a track, how they work with each other, what they do, etc. I hear a lot of tracks with a definite lack of noises and these tracks tend to bore me quicker than others. Plump DJ's production works are a good example of noise use, they seem to have an amazing ability to put in a load of, at first listen, random sounding noises but if you really listen to all the shit that’s going on in the tune it’s actually f*cking genius. Production quality goes a long way too. I find that you can have a good tune but if the production quality is shit I'll fucking hate it. Well produced tunes go a long way with me though. I'm hoping my productions will take these points into account – I think it helps having Greg on board as his productions are slicker than a lubed up c*nt and he's showing me the ins-and-outs of fine tuning on productions in the process.

Which tracks are particularly good at the moment, do you think?

Hyperspeed by Drummattic Twins is one of my favourite's at the moment. It uses the same sample as Prodigy's Hyperspeed from Experience, which is also my favourite Prodigy track. Nice and funky and generally wickedbad, strictly. Tom Real and Rogue Element are well in there too, they never cease to impress me. Also, Brazilian Love Affair by George Duke vs. ESL is another firm favourite, it’s very tough but has a well nice groove to it. What else….. Diverted have a couple of good things floating around at the mo too, remix wise as well as own stuff.

Thanks, Steelo. I feel we’ve gotten to know you a little better in our delving and am feeling sticky and satisfied. Just one more thing though… You have a particularly colourful way with words – strictly and bad all day being among the favourites. You seem to have steered clear of buzzwords for this interview though, so as a special Steelo interview special, do have anything new for us?

Hahahahaha, Mustard, etc…

You can catch the ever-ready Steelo at Party Proactive on the 24 March at Turnmills.

INTERVIEW BY JOANNA MCEWEN