‘Oi Oi Oi’ might have been an unexpected hit for Boys Noize, but he really doesn’t care if you like or dislike the follow-up, ‘Power’. The German producer – something of a veteran at 27, having started producing at 14 – should, in theory, be content with his lot: he’s as busy as a DJ can be, his beats are requested by mainstream stars and his production skills are opening interesting doors. So what’s eating Alex Ridha?

With ‘Power’, Ridha takes his foot off the pedal, a bit. He describes the record as “less rock and roll” than ‘Oi Oi Oi’, “more electronic, electronica in a classical way… it starts where my first album ended – I felt I had to produce stuff for my DJ sets, stuff I am missing in the club world. When I’m in the studio, I do what I do in the moment – I start on the drum machine, or with a sample, and my ear tells me, OK, that sound fits onto here… step by step.”

The picture he paints is interesting – one man and his drum machine, with a baseball cap acting like a blinker to the world. He doesn’t admit it, but the feeling is that he’s maybe embarrassed by the success of his record, and the subsequent situation he’s found himself in. Perhaps it something to do with his background – Ridha started off making electro that was more influenced by techno than anything else, yet now he finds himself a leader of a scene that is hugely popular, but lacks any credibility.

I was always the kind of DJ who played the promo, and the stopped when everyone else had it

“There’s always a handful of guys that do something exciting at a certain time, and then there are thousands of other that jump on the train. This is normal, this is what happens, right back to punk. So also with minimal, now everyone is deep house… and the same has happened with what you would call new rave - the style got copied so heavily, all the noise stuff that the young DJs are playing now, totally annoying.

“I thought that this kind of style was dying last year, but it got even bigger. The thing is, the DJs have stopped buying this music, because they think, OK, there’s too much, we need to get to the next step now. But that is not affecting it so much, because the people who listen to it are not just DJs anymore. It’s hard for a DJ to play something new, that people don’t know.

“I was always the kind of DJ that played the promo and then stopped when everyone else had it. So coming from this old fashioned idea, I can totally see that the style got very abused, but just gets bigger and bigger. The people that listen to it are kids – they are not DJs who go into the record shop and buy music.

“If you look at my releases the time they were released, they weren’t always the cool ones, or the hyped releases. It became that because other DJs picked it up. It wasn’t popular outside because everyone was partying to the minimal and my label was totally uncool. So just because it got played so much, it got bigger. But in my studio, I can do what I think. My ear just tells me I want to surprise myself.

“I (still) like the energy of the music. I’m not a fan of deep house at prime time in a club, it’s not music to party and drink beer. So I still want to have my energy and attitude. But for me, it’s about the sound. That’s what defines me – the sounds. So the sounds on ‘Power’ are not as rock and roll, but the energy is still there.”

Your background is quite techno, but with ‘Oi Oi Oi’, you moved more into a full-on electro sound. Did you feel any pressure to conform to any stereotype with ‘Power’ or did you say ‘I’m going to do what I’m going to do’?

“I really make myself clear. For me, the most important thing is that I like the stuff. I’m not concerned about anyone saying anything (about my music). I’m glad that you know something about where I am coming from, because a lot of people would expect a more pop approach after ‘Oi Oi Oi’, which was an unexpected success. So I can imagine people thinking of that (instead of his techno background). That’s my sound, that’s what I like to do.

The most important thing is that I like my stuff. I’m not concerned about what anyone else says.

“Even if I play the stuff to my friends, like Housemeister, I play him something like ‘Rozz Box’ (a more experimental track on the album) and he doesn’t get it. But I don’t make music for the people – I do it for myself. Because otherwise I would do pop music or something…

Speaking of which, you ended up working with some pop names after ‘Oi Oi Oi’…

“There is one song I wanted to put on my album, and the Black Eyed Peas and Kelis asked me to send them beats, so yeah… for me, I see it like this: it’s still the music I produce here. And as a producer, I don’t have to do any promotion or go out there. So the beat was something I liked, which has now apparently ended up on the Black Eyed Peas’ album.”

Good for the bank balance, no? “Yeah… yeah… I mean… yeah! Also, you know, I can’t DJ forever. But I’m going to be a producer and musician until the end of my life. This is the stuff I really, so I can do whatever. I have so many more beats done for the album, like 40, and not all of them are Boyz Noize. I’m a musician and every day I do different music, what I PERSONALLY, in my position wants to be proud of.

“If it’s for myself, I don’t think I need vocals from a big artist, it’s not something I want to do. But if I’m a producer who makes a beat at home for someone else wants to rap on it, it’s cool…”

How does that translate to what fans want to hear?

“To be honest, I don’t really care about… as long as… once I stay true to myself… I don’t know. I sound like… if I was to do a pop record I would win more fans. And then I would lose the fans that appreciate the underground stuff. But I don’t need to be the guy with the big pop project. I was always happy being the guy with 1000 vinyls (for sale) in the shop. That was my only thing in the world.

“I said no to managers that pushed my name and stuff. Everything grew so much. And now things come up like working with Erol Alkan… or now I’m producing the new Gonzalez album, and co-writing it too. So I can stop music after that – I can be happy forever! I don’t feel the need to go further. I’m happy with my situation.”

’Power’ is out now on Boys Noize.