Bring The Noize

What You Want, the opening track from German-born DJ and producer Alexander Ridha's latest album Out Of The Black, says much about his current headspace. Ridha, better known by his techno nom de plume Boys Noize, has continued to defy the mainstream by progressing his techno reverberations and sticking to his guns. What You Want (or perhaps all of Out Of The Black) is Ridha giving a thumbs-up, providing raw and uncompromising sounds that the majority of electronic music lovers want. “There's so much out there that's mainstream, but I went back to what I like and feel about electronic music. That feeing is not writing a pop song that has [a] two minute build up,” he tells.

He says the decision to make Out Of The Black more aggressive was deliberate without conceptualising. “I had a moment where I said, 'What do I want to do now?',” he says. “I love pop elements where it shines through like the first Daft Punk or Justice album, where they make the music they like but it still crosses over. These are sounds that excite me.”

At a time when electronic music has gone bonkers – think David Guetta, Nero, Calvin Harris and the crossover of dubstep – Ridha's continued to merge, splice and dice hip hop, disco and electro with pulsating, darker and harder techno. His answer to the contemporary flow of dance music is to look to the past for inspiration. He says it provides a reality check. “I wanted to make sounds that didn't sound like everything else. I was looking to create something that was aggressive which translated my vibe.”

Modernism and innovation have long been Ridha hallmarks regardless of what else is occurring. That modernism theme has been prevalent throughout 2012 and he says that this year was about innovation via remixes. This isn't surprising given his résumé and bragging list. Over the years he's remixed the likes of Depeche Mode, The Chemical Brothers and Snoop Dogg – the latter appears on Out Of The Black. Ridha can thank social media for the Snoop collaboration. “I did a remix for Snoop a few years back, but was never sure if he heard it. So I jumped on Snoop's Twitter feed and asked him. To my surprise he responded immediately and said yes, he heard and loved it and said we should keep it contact.”

Not only did Ridha keep in contact, but says he also met the rapper. “I sent him stuff that he really loved so we recorded and hung out. He's a chilled-out guy. He's not really in my world as he's hip hop and I'm into electronic, so to make music was surreal as I wanted to make something really fucking cool with him,” he laughs.

Ridha, often described as a veteran despite being in his early 30s, previously released two albums: 2007s Oi Oi Oi and the 2009 effort, Power. He's collaborated with New York band Scissor Sisters and earlier this year formed a side project named Dog Blood with dubstep don Skrillex. Not bad for a bloke that only really just came to prominence. “Maybe it's because I had my first real DJ gig at 16,” he questions of the veteran tag. “I released my first record in 2004 and started my label in 2005. When I started it was also the same time as a few new sounds emerged, so maybe people associate me with that.”

The German is set to tour Australia as part of the line-up for the Future Music Festival. “And this time I'm bringing my live show to Australia for the first time,” he states.