What’s your involvement with the Red Bull BC One?
Each year Red Bull gathers the cream of B-Boy talent in a cultural capital for the biggest solo B-Boy battle in the world. Next year Red Bull BC One is taking place in Tokyo which should be an absolutely awesome setting – the scene over there has stayed so strong and the crowds will be off the scale!

Unfortunately the event hasn’t taken place in the UK as yet, but here’s to hoping… I was lucky enough to get over to New York for last year’s event, which was incredible! There was an amazing final between Storm and Lilou, with Lilou clinching it in the second heat (view here). I also got to meet KRS-One who was hosting the show and has been a long-time hero of mine – I still rate ‘Criminal Minded’ as one of my favourite records – I was walking around trying to act like I wasn’t bothered which was only slightly preferable to hyperventilating and asking six hundred questions.

Other than RBMA and the BC One, what other projects are you involved in?
Obviously Studio is a major project this year, so that is a big part of what I’m doing, though it’s by no means the limit of what I’m involved with at Red Bull.

Returning in August, we have the massive Major Lazer, Red Bull Carnival party which has a completely killer line up confirmed for this year – it promises to push the very high level which has already been set, with some absolute legends hitting the stage under the Westway.

We are also in the latter stages of our 2010 Bedroom Jam project, an entry-level indie rock music scheme which provides all the tools which aspiring bands need to make their mark in the modern music market.

Presently the bands selected through our website are touring festivals, playing our Red Bull Bedroom Jam stages, before one of them is selected to record an album’s worth of material in the Studio.

What’s your favourite Red Bull project/event to work?
Got to say Music Academy really, just for the fact that it was such an achievement and so much fun on the way. Close second would have to be Beat Battle, an international, team B-Boy battle, which Red Bull put on for several years. I worked on the event in 2007 at Hackney Empire where I was hosting interviews with Marley Marl and EPMD – of course, I wasn’t geeked out at all.

If you could give advice on how to start out and be successful in your field of work, what would it be?
Be an enthusiast. Embrace what interests you most and explore it as far as you can and always try to find an alternative way of looking at things. Meet as many people as possible, ask them a lot of questions and really listen to the answers. Consume media and culture as a fan and keep an open mind about what you think you’re ‘in to’, you can miss too much by pigeon-holing your interests and expertise. I guess the other main thing is to see how brands can be integral to the scenes and events which you love – what could be done better, what genuine benefits could a brand bring without overstepping their welcome and how could they do it? Once you start thinking about this from an informed and enthused viewpoint, you’re pretty much half way there.

Interview by Ian Hsieh

redbullmusicacademyradio.com // redbullstudio.co.uk // redbullbcone.com