With very little room up on the precariously placed hardcore pedestal, it is difficult for new producers and DJ's to make any impression on the strategically devised line-ups and compilation track listings. Even with the force behind you, it is a tough job, but the work of Stormtrooper is finally getting picked up by the likes of Sharkey, Kevin Energy and Brisk. 23-year-old Stormtrooper or 'Porntrooper' as he has been cheekily named by Sharkey has crafted his sound which has a hybrid quality, mixing hardcore and drum and bass with awesome effect. He has cracked it with his production and his combination of pitch shifted sounds, twisted with electronic elements, diverse samples and the damn rough and tough bass lines are superb.

Alex has always been driven towards music, going to his first rave at 11, starting to DJ at 14 and doing a BTEC national diploma in music technology in Weymouth at 17. His inspiration to get on the decks came when he went to an under 18s night and saw someone older doing it and it all sparked from there. He started mixing drum and bass and then moved onto old skool, as his partner in crime Ed 'Jedi' was into it. The two united and became a force to be reckoned with as Jedi and Stormtrooper and bagged residencies at Raindance and Futuredance for three years where they built up a name for themselves.

He soon got bored of DJing and decided to focus on production: “I didn't see any scope or future in playing ten year old records and I wanted to be part of something new.” Hardcore grabbed his attention again in 2001 as it was beginning to revive and refresh itself from its cheese fest era so he began making music to be part of the new vibe. The emergence of freeform really enthused him so this is an area he particularly focused on. When he dropped the old skool and moved onto the upfront sound he had to build up his reputation again. He started by playing other peoples stuff with an emphasis on the freeform sound, slipping in some of his own productions which he admits at the time weren't that well produced. As a consequence his bookings nose dived completely in the wrong way so it was back to the drawing board.

So his focus narrowed solely to production. Alex writes all his tunes on 'Logic' which was introduced to him by Sharkey. Like many of the producers gradually filtering their way into the scene, Alex was given studio training from the Sharkzter. When he approached Jon he said that although musically his tracks were awesome they were missing that last 10%. After around three weeks work through the course of a couple of years those missing percentages were added plus a few more if tracks like 'Freestyle' and 'Future Dimension' are anything to go by! Sharkey’s input has the added 'the icing on his production cake'.

He describes his sound as: “Fast, fun - at times, melodic, uplifting, dark, drum and basey in bits, just pretty random! I like pretty much every aspect of hardcore at the moment and I try and write right across the board and when I DJ I can play across the board. Hardcore is my favourite though, I tried writing drum and bass, nu skool breaks and hard house but it doesn't do it for me like hardcore.” Everything that he releases now is all his own engineering: “It is a lot of hard work but I am definitely reaping the rewards now.” He is currently working with up and coming producer John Ferraris and is passing on some of the knowledge that he has gained so the cycle continues.

During the last couple of years Alex has started to work very closely with Robbie Long and the partnership couldn't have come at a better time as Alex was getting quite disillusioned and was on the brink of packing it in and getting another job. He sent Robbie a copy of 'Funkin' Jungle' which was a break beat tune on Digital Beats and he sang his praises. From there he got behind him and got him motivated and Alex moved his studio equipment into his house and went round three days a week to make tunes with him. He says: “He's been a massive help; motivation more than anything. He is the most motivated guy and he could talk the hind legs off a donkey because he is so passionate about music. It's nice to see him getting the recognition that he deserves as he has stuck with hardcore and been there since the year dot.”

Alex's attitude to production and DJing is to mix it all up which is something far too few artists do: “From my experience it’s the DJs that play the different sets that get the best response unless there is someone who is going to drop 'Heartbeatz' because that is going to tear the roof off anywhere. There's so much music being made and so much variety but it doesn't get a look in.” He gets his inspiration from right across the board from emotional bands like Coldplay to the Blue Planet BBC documentary soundtrack!

His time at the moment is focused on writing lots of new stuff for his label Transonicz, which is his brand new venture. All releases will be available at the website which will be launching soon. The site will include MP3 downloads and the capacity for you to be able to create your own CD. He’s also in maximum output mode when it comes to production with TNC 9 'Dope Is DJ' and 'Power of Darkness' both by Robbie Long and Stormtrooper and TNC 10 'Blow The Roof Off' remix and 'Addict' out now. If that's not enough he’s just finished a track called 'Reminisce' with Mr. Long and MC Casper on vocals and has had the German hard style influenced track 'Addictz' signed to Bonkers 14, a beast with no euphoric breakdown just a slammin drum and bass section.

Thanks to Sarah Wiles from 'Upfrontmag' for this. www.upfrontmag.com