UPFRONTBEATS

The first half of 2016, has been incredible positive for both Ronnie Spiteri and his label Kenja Records. Releasing a number of successful hits including ‘Feel The Love’, ‘Jump On’ and ‘Spiral’; which include excellent remixes from the likes of Russ Yallop, Robert James, Dachshund and Darius Sysrossian.

UpFrontBeats caught up with Ronnie to talk about his current releases, future plans for the label and where he plans to spend his time this summer.

From the beginning, could you please tell us your earliest memories of being introduced to the music scene and what has the influenced the path you have taken’

My earliest memories on being on the scene are from a young age. I used to go around the South Coast with my Dad to all the illegal raves starting from the age on 6 years old! Through doing this I found myself getting my first set of decks aged 10 and that’s when it all began for me, watching all these djs play
particular tracks that used the crowd going and seeing & feeling the vibe as that track started, watching the track grow and seeing the crowded getting more and more pumped. This made me think as a young lad ‘I want this’ and I wanted to be
one putting the crowd in a hypnotic space and get the reaction like these other dj’s where doing.

As time has gone by I have found my way round the kit and software, bought and built myself a recording studio at home plus I have become good friends with a lot of talented DJ’s & producers. I have to say there’s been one person who has
influenced me the most and given me valuable pointers and advise and that is ‘ Darius Syrossain. Through interaction and feedback from my peers I feel that I am developing into a better producer and artist. I know how lucky I am to have good
advise from someone like Darius! Making tunes is a hard thing to do it on your own!

The likes of Riva Starr, Hector Couto, Dusky, Richy Ahmed, Groove Armada, Huxley and Dubfire have all been showing their support for your talents, and you’ve been a firm fixture on the UpFrontBeats playlist for sometime; but what has been you biggest achievement to date’

Everything in the past year up until now I feel is a massive achievement for me but I would have to say one of my tracks ‘Thin & Crispy ‘ being signed to Darius Syrossian’s label ‘Do Not Sleep’ has been a particular highlight just because of all the support from a lot of other big DJs who have all been playing it and all the email & videos from clubs I get send from people around the world supporting and giving great feedback

The Summer has official started and you have recently played your first festival of the summer at Common People (Southampton), but can you let us into some of the material you’ve been playing and do your sets differ from club to
festival’

Yes of course my sets are different for each gig as you never know what walking into you can always prepare for gigs but until you turn up and see what’s going on you never know what to expect or play!

In three three words, can you describe your sound’

Groovy, Bass, Rolling

Things are certainly beginning to heat up, do you have anything in store this summer and where will you be showcasing your talents’

This Saturday I’m playing at the Somerly Tea Party on the Main Stage for Junk. I am closing the festival from 1.30am ‘ 3am. I’m pretty excited about it! Before me, Richy Ahmed, Eats Everything, Subb Ann, B-Traits and Annie Mac will be spinning so it should be rocking by the time I get behind the decks!, I have just signed to Blue Print Artists for DJ Bookings. They have a brilliant roster with just the kind of talent I want to be associated with. We are just working out my DJ/live strategy at the moment so there’s potentially a lot of gigs in the pipeline but I would not like to say where yet until it’s all confirmed. I will be at Sonar and in Ibiza quite a lot this summer so watch the space!

You’ve been extremely busy over the last couple of months and ‘Kenja Records’ has gone from strength to strength, but why do you think the label has been so successful and what are your future plans for the label’ Could you describe the labels ethos’

The label is going from strength to strength. My team and me are putting a lot of time (& money) into making sure the quality of Kenja especially the A&R is second to none. We have wicked producers appearing or remixing for us in the coming months including Raffa Fl, Cera Alba, Eddie M, Junior Gee. We have our 1st Various Artists Compilation ‘ Kenja Ibiza due which will also include new & exclusive tracks from ‘ Myself, Raffa Fl, Truth Be Told, Dachshund, Cera Alba, Wise D & Kobe, Jhonsson, Italo Bros & More”. ‘

Your next two releases feature two of the best in the busines Russ Yallop and Robert James, but how do you go about selecting the remix artists and what has been your personal favorite’

I have been following Russ & Robert for a long time. I have been waiting for the right tracks to approach them about remixing and lucky for me they both liked each track I sent to them so everything has worked out and their respective remixes are great.

We love a classic track here at UpFrontBeats, but could you tell us your favorite classic track and why you have decided to mention that particular track’

Nalin & Kane ‘Beach Ball’ just because when I was younger I could listen to this track all the time and it never got boring plus everyone love’s it. I don’t know one person that doesn’t like this track!

Residing from Southampton and having strong links with Junk, could you tell us what it would mean to the city if the club was to close’ Do you have any fond memories that you would like to share’ Any stand out performances’

If Junk was to close in Southampton, it would be terrible as they have been there a very long time and have been bringing the best DJ’s from all over the world including the likes of Jamie Jones, Eats Everything, Alan Fitzpatrick, Matthias Tazmann’.the list could go on for ages! No one else could can
throw a party on the South Coast like Junk does! It’s a mini super club and they have a great team behind it all who work extremely hard in making sure everyone has a good time!

2016, has been fantastic year already for you, but can you let us into any secrets about what the rest of 2016 holds’ Any exclusives’

This year has been really good so far with lots of positivity and great music. I have been really locked into the studio, finding and working with the right people, nailing my sound and producing my best tracks to date. You never stop learning and evolving with sound and production techniques in the studio.
Also I now have the best DJ Management and representation behind me andI feel like I have the right team to take me to the next level ‘ where I want to be!

Exclusives’.. You just heard that Kenja Records will be releasing a Various Artists comp later in the summer with some ace producers & tracks. I have another 3 tracks singed to Undr The Radr for Roger Sanchez, my third release with them and another 2 tracks have been signed by Mark Knight to Toolroom Records.

Thanks for taking the time to produce a mix; is there anything we should be listening out for’

A remix of the Dominica Anthem ‘Gotta Let You Go and new Kenja tracks including Sugar Rush.

Big summer vibes!