It’s Friday night. It’s gone 8pm. You’re reading this. Stop. Actually, carry on to the end of the article (or star it for tomorrow) and then get your best threads on, because tonight, in Punk, legendary UK house music pioneer Danny Rampling will be laying down some fat and funky choons for your aural pleasure.

Danny will hit the decks around midnight, but the party starts from 10pm with resident DJ Saul. It’s free entry before 11pm, RMB 50 afterwards, and before midnight, it’s buy-one-get-one-free on drinks. But before all that, Danny and TBJ kicked back in Opposite House’s very groovy Village Café for an afternoon interview over a pot of ginger tea. Ah, the life of an international DJ…

So what are you playing tonight?

I don’t know until I see the space. I’ll spend 30 or 40 minutes listening to the sound system, and then prepare a track list. I use Traktor DJ software now – no vinyl or CDs for me anymore. There’s an abundance of technology and it’s there to be used, not frowned upon. I believe in progress.

Has technology levelled the playing field for DJs, or is there a skill-set that you have to earn?

You’ve got to know how to build a rapport with an audience, and that comes with time. You can play all the latest tracks and have the best mixing skills in the world, but you’ve got to connect with the room, that’s the essence of it.

How important is it to have context and a music history to draw from?

I think we’re really blessed with that coming from the UK. It’s what we’ve grown up with, whether it’s listening to bands or DJs. It’s experience. We’ve had the benefits and joys of dance music for 25 to 30 years in the UK. It’s part of our musical heritage. In China, that will come in time.

What do you think of the dance music scene in China?

Well, it seems huge amounts of money are being spent on dance music in China, especially Shanghai. I was impressed with the nightlife there. This is my first time in Beijing. But it’s an exciting time for China. The French and Dutch have led the way in recent years. I’m sure we’re going to see over the next five years a Chinese superstar DJ break onto the international scene.

Dance music in the UK is often traced back to your holiday in Ibiza in 1987. Did you know you were onto something as you boarded the plane for that trip?

All of us totally knew we were about to experience a life-changing visit to Ibiza - maybe not to the level it turned out to be. We had read about Amnesia, the open-air after hours club in The Face magazine a couple months before. What we found way exceeded our expectations.

If you hadn’t gone on holiday to Ibiza that summer, where would you have gone? And how would music have turned out differently?

Ibiza was already our playground before we discovered Amnesia and Balearic house music. If we hadn't gone of course it would have been very different - we were collectively catalysts in the sequence of events that created a new youth culture movement.

As someone who was there right at the beginning in the UK, do you have any advice for promoters and DJs on how to get the Beijing scene moving? Does it inevitably come together, or is it down to pure chance?

It’s always refreshing to hear that people are working on developing a scene. Enjoy the early days when everything is in the formation stage – this is a special time! And my advice is stick with it, connect with your club goers, build rapport, and give value with the entertainment that you bring. Do your best to do something that others aren't. Think outside of the box!

You must have played pretty much everywhere there is to play. Are there some cities where dance music just doesn’t “work”? If so, why is that?

Can’t think of any … In Somalia it’s probably not so popular. That said there are probably pockets of the underground playing dance music in repressive, war-torn nations right now. House music unites people – that’s why it’s still going strong 25 years later.

Your book, Everything You Need to Know About DJing & Success seems as much self-help as music – what’s the best lesson you’ve ever learned in life?

Self-help – what’s that? The book is about all aspects of the DJ music business. Part two covers the psychology of what it takes to become successful, which is really important - more so than ever in today’s music industry. It all began as one long party but now it’s extremely business driven, so one should have a mindset focused on achieving one’s goals.

Do you ever go back to those old, early acid house records from the late-80s? How do they sound to you now?

Nostalgic! The production was so fresh and raw on those tracks. But I couldn’t go out and DJ with old music week on week – it would bore me senseless. I get excited by finding and playing new music. I occasionally play some original ’88 and ’89 classics in a set, but the past is done. The present is where it’s at.

For more info, check out: www.learnhowtobeadj.com, www.dannyrampling.com

Image: socialsuicide.co.uk