Catching Up With... Roska in 2013

Returning to Room Two on the 15th February, one of Rinse FM’s profile signings, Roska, will once again bring his presentation skills back to Farringdon presenting a lineup that seethes with the kind of dancefloor positivity and flavour he himself incorporates in his own music. Inviting house misfit Riva Starr, dark garage maestro and one third of Magnetic Man, Artwork to perform alongside the excitable and fresh faced Ossie and grime behemoth Preditah and RP residents, Shox and Jamie George, he’s created another bill that manages to pose a real interesting prospect in terms of an evening’s entertainment and in terms of uniting a little bit of the grime and funky worlds on the same bill. It’s something we wanted to pick his brains on, so in preparation of the event we shot him a few questions… The lineup for this Roska Presents is pretty diverse in terms of the genres the acts are famed for, was that a conscious decision to align different people together under your banner? I guess the artists selected for this edition of Roska Presents have a connection where genres are blurred and we all have a connection vibe-wise. Our music is 'colourful', is a way you could describe it. I guess they all reflect a side of your music, like Preditah the grime side, Riva the housier bits… What made you pick the people you did? Like, what about them excites you as a musician/producer/DJ/etc? Riva Starr definitely house side of things his new projects are something to go by as well and I'm definitely a fan of the quality in his production. Preditah's music is grime but also reminds me of Funky for some random reason - skippy drum patterns and Caribbean/African sounding elements - it’s made for MCs and the clubs. Artwork's easily one of my favourite DJ's for his diverse fusion of the 140 genres and a big fan of his garage productions growing up. Ossie has always been up there with a few as one to watch out for and I want to show my following exactly who Ossie is and for Os to show off his talents. Last but not least we have Shox. He's like my Roska presents resident - a good friend of mine who definitely knows how to work his sets around the house, funky and bass spectrum without making it sound overwhelming. I have always predicted good things from Shox. Who are you most looking forward to seeing play? I can't just choose one act for this one – I have to catch Preditah's set to see how he plays in maybe a different setting from his usual grime outings and I know he must have a full Preditah catalogue to showcase to everyone too. Riva Starr is next on my list, there are a few tunes I can't wait to hear on a big system, certain ones I hope he plays on the night! What else is coming up from you musically this year? Got any tips into other people we should be checking? There maybe another BIG project with Rinse… just maybe haha; everything is in ‘work in progress’ mode at the moment. I do have a collaboration with NAPT coming out very soon too. Have a look out for a young producer called Polkadot making house music with a little garage vibe to it. There are also some big tunes coming from Maison Skyy! Also - did you make any new year’s resolutions you wanna tell the internet about so they can tick you off about it when you fall down? I haven't made much New Year’s resolutions, its more mainly goals as such. I do actually want to cut down on my foul language though, haha. Catch Roska Presents in Room Two on Friday 15th February. Photo: Andrew Witts