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To start off October's interviews we have Easy Skanking's front man Kam-Pain.

Kam Pain has been a driving force behind the Hard House and Hard NRG scene for quite sometime with releases on Passion, Twisted Traxx, Spin Hard, Scythe Squadron, Nosebleed and of course his own label Easy Skanking. Kam's style of brutal, relentless and evil NRG has seen his tracks being played by the likes of Grady G, Narc, Space Sentinelz, as well as all of us here at The Beat Ranch.

Now without any further ado, here is Kam-Pain

Thanks Kam for taking the time out to do this with us, for those who dont know, where do you reside?

In Wolverhampton, West Midlands, UK!

How long ago did you get into clubbing?

It was the early nineties I believe. The first party I went to wasn’t a club as such but a warehouse in North London playing Goa Trance.

So what got you into the hard dance scene and when did you decide to start djing?

It was only money holding me back from DJing, being from a poor working class background. Got some compo from the police in ’96 and bought my first decks. In the early to mid-nineties I was still deciding what music was my favorite to bop to. A lot of my friends were into Happy Hardcore, which I did enjoy, other mates were into Trance but in London at that time there was a real buzz brewing about three DJs called Chris, Julian and Aaron who were known collectively as ‘The Liberator.’ Their style was Acid Techno which pretty much ruled my record box until I discovered Noom Records! Combining the harsh underground feel of Acid Techno and the more upbeat rolling basslines of Psy Trance, new music started to play in my head and I knew I’d have to get my ideas down sometime.

What style(s) do you play and why?

I play Hard Fucking NRG! Because I love it!

With Hardcore being so popular at the moment do you think Hard Dance is taking a backseat in the scene?

Basically I think underground rave music is suffering from an ID crisis. I also love Rock/ Metal and are sure that there’s a lot of todays metal heads that only listen to metal cuz they like hard, fast music but if you say rave to them they automatically think of the cheesy Day-Glo ravers you see in the adverts for Hardcore CDs. They’ve never even heard underground dance music which to be fair can be very hard and brutal, just like metal. So in answer to your question I’d say that underground rave music in general is taking a backseat to Rock/ Metal, I can’t speak for the commercial sound as I’ve never been into it.

Now we recently found out that you don't have cdjs. Do you think you may go digital in the future?

Nope. For me CDJs are there to test out new material and that’s it. If it works get it pressed! I use them when playing out and I might buy one for myself sometime but I’m never going to ‘Go digital’

Do you think vinyl will make a come back? Seeing as there are a few new vinyl labels like: (Igloo, Oktane, Fireball, Headcharge)

We live in hope. In the last three years there has been such an influx of wicked new labels!

Speaking of vinyl only you also run the "Easy Skanking" Label. How would you describe the sound of your label and what can we expect for the future?

Easy Skanking is primarily a fucking Hard NRG label and always will be, though we ain’t afraid of testing new waters and being a bit tongue-in-cheek with it. But you can expect to hear plenty more Aussie talent, plenty more of my own stuff. I’d like to get the Nosebleed boys in at some point, as I like to fly the West Midlands flag.

You've had many of your own releases beginning with "TaterFace" on Passion What drew you too producing? and how long have you been producing for?

I think producing is just a natural progression from DJing I’ve been producing since I dunno around 2001.

Who or what have been your production influences?

Well Nuclear Hyde, Commander Tom, Rubec, Lab 4, Dynamic Intervention, Casper to name a few off the top of my head.

What program(s) do you use?

I use Reason and Wavelab at the moment.

You have produced with many of the scenes top nrg players. Is there anyone you would really like to produce with at the moment?

Yes and no. From experience, when you get in the studio with another producer that also knows their stuff there can be a bit of a clash of styles. When I hear a producer that rocks I don’t think ‘Hmm I’d like to do a tune with them’ I think ‘Hmm they’re good, I’ll keep an eye out’ I always enjoy a collab with Grady G when he’s over. Will be teaming up with the Space Sentinelz at some point soon I’m sure, especially as there is a new Headcharge Label.

What can we expect for the future of Kam-pain productions?

More filthy Hard NRG coming up! I am also really enjoying producing Schranz techno at the moment with me old mate J Walker from NuBreed recordings giving us some tips.

What has been your favourite or most memorable djing experience?

I dunno as I have had some truly amazing sets that I’ll never forget. So far this year The Bulldog Bash dance tent takes the biscuit. 3000 strong crowd amazing décor, visuals etc. I’ve played at some wicked outdoor free parties this Summer. One of my favourite gigs was in Poland last year tho, such an electric atmosphere which is what it’s all about really. The size of the crowd isn’t important.

What about your worst experience?

Don’t know really mate. Tho I have had to stop mixing before in Wolverhampton for threat of violence for not playing Speed Garage.

What is your top tune of all time and what tunes are doing it for you at the moment?

Don’t have an all time favourite but Nexus 6 ‘Tres chic’ (Noom), Nuclear Hyde ‘Access’ (Noom), Johnny Napalm ‘I love the smell of vinyl in the morning’ (DIP), Wippenberg ‘Neurodancer’ (Prolekult I think), Casper ‘Generation’ (Energy UK), At the moment theres lots about but the stuff on Nosebleed, Xtension, Spin Hard, Twisted Traxx etc usually floats my boat.

Any last words of self-promotion or anything?

Not really, keep an eye out for future Easy Skanking releases folks, Hope to see you all at the Headcharge Halloween ball in Sheffield on the 27th Oct. Watch out for the aliases Bob Dope and Kamal P! Check my myspace for info about what I’m up to www.myspace.com/skankingkam And have a lovely Autumn and Winter ;)