The 2 titans of the hard dance scene are going head to head in the showdown to end all showdowns on Bank Holiday Sunday 25th May. Andy v Alex. Whitby v Kidd. AWsum v Kiddfectious.

To warm up for the big battle they’ve given each other a grilling – let’s see how they got on.

Fight fair boys, keep your gloves on!

First up is Alex interrogating Andy...

What releases have you got coming up?

AWsum has monthly releases, available in all good digital stores around the world.

The next one is out on May 5th and is;

Andy Whitby & Lee Pasch – Never Ever (Original & Klubfiller remix)

My latest Nukleuz release was out last week;

Andy Whitby & Audio Hedz – Rokk Ya Body // Hoovers & Horns

I’ve also just finished a track with BK for his new album which will be in stores over the Summer alongside my new remix of Nukleuz’s big summer anthem by Ibiza Knights; ‘(Feels So) Good To Be Alive’.

What’s your favourite gig outside of Frantic (obviously!)?

I have many; Polysexual (Birmingham), Storm (Coalville), The Basement (Calgary), Tidy Weekender and Slinky (Bournemouth) are all shows I would happily play every weekend for the rest of my life.

What colour umbrella do you own?

It’s blue, because blue is the colour of cool and even in the rain I try to keep it Whitby.

Is it an automatic umbrella or do you have to manually pull it up?

Auto all day!

I used to collect micro machines and WWF figures. What did you collect?

Pirate Lego; my parents used to buy me a new set each time we went to Toys’R’Us and then I’d spend all Sunday playing with it on the lounge carpet…I miss that!

Who is your all time favourite producer?

Matt Lee.

Who is your favourite non-hard dance DJ?

Gammer.

What do you like to listen to when you’re not at a gig or in the studio?

The tracks I’ve recently been working on to decide what needs adding or changing for the next time I’m back in the studio.

What’s the most nerve wracking gig you have had?

The first time I played HHA, about a month after I was signed to Frantic. Will put me peak time in front of 4500 people and I remember standing on the stage looking out and thinking…….good lord.

What’s the biggest fuck up you’ve made at a gig?

The usual; eject a CD I’ve just mixed in and once, in the middle of the 5 gig weekend, I played the same tune twice near the end of one of my sets but hot-cued up another tune on the other cdj and mixed out of it before the breakdown of the already-been-played track.

What’s the biggest fuck up you’ve heard someone else make at a gig?

Someone @ The Tidy Weekender playing the same track twice in their set when their ‘Live At The Weekender CD’ was being recorded.

Do you miss being a clubber now that you’re a DJ?

Sometimes I do, but now I’m the person creating the moments for the dancefloor to react to and that’s something I’d never change for any job on this earth.

What are you most looking forward to about AvK showdown?

A big party with 2000 people all having the time of their lives! The entire spectrum of hard-dance being played by the massive range of DJs and The AWsum 4sum (Cally Gage, Matt Lee, Klubfiller and myself) all showing what we’re about!

Now it's time for Alex to face Andy's wrath...

What do you do when you’re not DJing or making music?

A couple of sessions in the gym a week, a lot of time in the office sorting out the record label or running and promoting the events and at least once a week watching Man Utd pimp whichever team is unlucky enough to face them. Add to that all the time in the studio and on the road gigging, and there isn't many hours left!

How did you get into the scene?

I think my older brother and sister gave me an early insight to the music, and managing to blag myself into raves before I was of the legal age also gave me a hunger for the whole scene from day dot. Opportunities like working in a record shop and organizing coach trips for ravers were other ways of me getting into the scene from more than just a clubbers perspective. I’ve been playing on decks since I was 10 so it was just a matter of time...

What made you want to DJ?

The early tape packs from Slammin, Dreamscape and Hysteria would be scrutinised and played on repeat over and over, DJing became a religion for me and the innovators of the scene at this time were my demi-gods. I soon started to forge my own style and technique and that’s when I realised that there was something I could offer to the scene. I set about making that my business...playing in any bar, disco or party that was clueless enough to allow me to let rip. Ha Ha the good ole days!

What made you choose the name Alex Kidd?

It was chosen for me by the ancient shaolin monks at the temple in which I was trained at from an early age. Apparently it has a double edged meaning over there but I am still figuring that part out.

Our styles are pretty different but we’re both really passionate about what we do – what is it you love about hardstyle?

Hardstyle makes up a chunk of various different styles that I play in the clubs, whether it's hard techno, hard trance or hardstyle I just get all fidgety and crazy whenever I get into my zone and blast out these harder edged tunes.

Hardstyle is a fad for some people, its a way of life for others. For me it's an extension of other music I play and produce because it ticks all the right boxes and has been globally dominating the stages I play at.

My flat mate and I have just had our first hardstyle baby(6lbs 7oz) but we're having daily arguments about its name. Obviously Jasper Asparagus is a lovely monarch so why Beorn insists he is called Austin is beyond me?!?

If you could go head to head with any person, past or present, who would it be and why?

Probably Dave Clark or Andy C, both of these guys have been huge inspirations to me and they are the pioneers in their respective games so to be up close and working alongside them on stage would be a pretty intense experience for me.

People still talk to me about our back2back from back in 2005. Do you still do back to backs? What do you think of them?

Ha, this was the time when you dropped your remix of Cafe Del Mar's Energy 52 and I stepped up to mix into the back of it. Even though you had given me a sneaky promo of the remix a week earlier, I had forgotten all about the full on 2nd breakdown which was the peak of the track and I just mixed straight into the 1st drop, thus missing the bet part.

I still owe you an apology for that one mate lol, your face was priceless! To be honest, since those days I’ve only done a few b2b sets, once with Gaz West, twice with the Donors and a few times with Kutski. Me and Kutski did 2 b2b sets on our recent Q-Dance tour of Australia and they went down very well.

But generally my rule is to stay away from b2b apart from special occasions and only with close friends whom I work with, otherwise you don’t get the instant connection of both being on the same wavelength and that is what its all about, performing to your best ability.

We’re both from oop North, would you like to say a few words about why the North is great?

I could go on forever. Man Utd is all I really need to say though. The food is better up North. Even the Nando's tastes better.
Oh and a place called Dimitries in Manchester is my favourite place to eat and is the perfect reason why you would be proud to live up North.

And finally, right back at ya – what are you most looking forward to about our showdown?

I’m most looking forward to the venue, from what I saw on the site visit and the promo shoot it was every bit as legendary as I’d heard, so when the lights go out and the girls and boys come out to play, we're gonna have some serious chaos to deal with. Good chaos though. Bank Holiday Capital Punishment part 2 is the tag line my friends have given it in the lead up to the event. Oh yes!

Thank you lads, now get back to your training for the battle of the year at the mighty Ministry of Sound - AWsum v Kiddfectious on Bank Holiday Sunday 25th May. 9pm - 6am.

Show whose side you're on with dedicated T-shirts, available soon from www.avkshowdown.com.

Who will your money be on?