The Rogue Element was born in Portsmouth in 1979 where he fermented for 18 years, playing various instruments before settling on the drums at the age of around 16. He had very musical friends around this time, growing up with King Roc, Tom Neville and Nick Sentience. After a two year spell in a nu-metal band with King Roc as the drummer, he aimlessly did a History BA whilst all the time harbouring hopes of being a rock star. Moving to London in 2000, he shamelessly began using Tom Neville's studio while he wasn't in it and developed an unhealthy fixation with Cubase VST. This coincided with a spectacular descent into the sordid world of London clubbing and a burgeoning love of breakbeat.

After finishing drum school, The Rogue worked by day and wrote tunes by night until his first single release in 2002 with funky Nukleuz offshoot Beautiful Records. Since then has had a number of 12" releases on various indie labels whilst finishing an MA in Audio Production...

Influences include anything he thinks he can get away with stealing, more rock from his murky past than he is comfortable with admitting, plus numerous contemporary dance artists like the Plumps, Freq Nasty and (inevitably) The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers and Leftfield. Will listen to almost anything. He lives in North London and is occasionally spotted at nightclubs.

Rogue’s eye is always on the dance-floor with a take-no-prisoners approach to production, he bridges the gap between underground and commercial, breathing a new life into the breaks scene.

Since signing a two-album deal with exceptional in 2004, The Rogue Element has taken the dance world by storm. A string of singles received instant support from the Plump DJs, Freestylers, Stanton Warriors, Krafty Kuts, The Crystal Method, Hyper and Rennie Pilgrem and culminated in Ben being awarded the 'Best Breakthrough Producer' award at the prestigious Breakspoll International Breakbeat Awards at Fabric. In addition to this the acclaimed debut album 'Rogue Rock' was released in September 2005, which received a nomination for 'Best Album'.

2006 saw The Rogue Element continue in a prolific manner with remixes of some of the biggest names in breakbeat (Stanton Warriors, Freestylers, Krafty Kuts, the Crystal Method) and drum and bass, Noisia. DJ tours took him all over Central and Eastern Europe, to the Far East, and to Australia and New Zealand. Continued collaborations with Tom Real, available on Functional, were similarly lauded and succeeded in crossing over to the electro scene (‘He's So Hot Right Now’). Latest single 'Dead Drummers/The Moves' received huge support from major DJs and national radio alike. The Rogue Element's ascent from newcomer to major player was confirmed at the Breakspoll 2006 awards, where Ben claimed the gongs for ‘Best Producer’ and ‘Best Remix’.

2007 started well with remixes for Fatboy Slim and various indie bands such as The Broken Family Band, plus tours of the US and Australia, and subsequently accompanied by barnstorming sets at the Glade and Glastonbury. In addition, the eclectic 'Disco of Doom' radio show was established with Tom Real on the reputed internet radio station Samurai FM.

After a short break from production to concentrate on DJing and engineering work, The Rogue Element has undoubtedly come back strong in 2008 with single Sidewinder/Panic Attacks. It’s brimming with innovation and inspiration, and the tracks' genre-defying nature have added even more names to the Rogue supporters' club... Meanwhile recent months have also witnessed The Rogue's establishment of Disco of Doom with long time collaborator Tom Real, a project which includes DJ shows, production and a radio show on the uber-hip on-demand station Samurai FM.

Tracks by The Rogue Element available on the exceptional Jukebox:

Calm
My Style

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Titles available on exceptional by The Rogue Element:

My Style/ You Know That Sound - 12"
Calm / Rogue One - 12"
Let Me Breathe - 12"
Rogue Rock - CD
Rogue Rock (single) - 12"
Dead Drummers - 12"
Let Me Breathe (with Elite Force Remix) - 12"
Rogue Rock: Special Delivery - Double CD
Panic Attacks Pt. 1 - 12"
Hive/Vices - 12"
Escalation - 12"
Lumina - CD
Lumina EP - 12"
Mistakes - 12"

The Rogue Element Press Cuttings:

Calm DJ Magazine review
Calm M8 Review
My Style DJ Mag review
iDJ Aug 05
iDJ Oct 2005
M8 Nov 05
M8 Nov 05
Mixmag Dec 05
Update Nov 05
Dead Drummers review, iDJ Nov 06
Breathe review, iDJ May 07
Breathe review, DJ Magazine May 07
Rogue Rock Special Delivery album review, iDJ June 07
One Week To Live "Approach Production" feature, June 07
Rogue Rock Special Delivery album review, One Week To Live, June 07
Musika remix - Tune of the month, Mixmag July 07
Hive/Vices, DMC Update EP review, October 08
Hive/Vices, iDJ Recommended Review, November 08
Hive/Vices, iDJ electro review, November 08
Top 10 Chart, DMC Update - Trainspotting feature, October 2008

Website:

The Rogue Element at MySpace