DJ Yoda (Duncan Beiny) doesn’t take things too seriously. His sense of humour is as apparent in his mixes as his talent – and that makes for some entertaining hip hop. Based in London, Yoda has picked up awards for his scratching ability as well as winning popular acclaim in the street press. Q Magazine even named him in its list of "The 10 DJs that you must see before you die". Massive wrap.

As far as I can see you are a sonar virgin what are you expecting from this year's festival?
I am indeed a Sonar virgin, but I have family out in Barcelona, so I'm no stranger to the city. I'm really looking forward to the festival, as it's the first time I will have taken my Audio/Visual show outside the UK. I'm using a DVJ machine to scratch DVDs live - so it should be cool!

"...my best gig ever was the weekend just past – the Star Wars premier party at the Grand Prix in Monaco!"

Sonar is a truly international event – can you share any experience of electronic music in different countries?
Although I mostly play in the UK, I have been lucky enough to have played in some pretty crazy places too - I really loved DJing in Hungary, as they were so enthusiastic about the music. I have a big Australian tour coming up in September, so it should be pretty interesting to see how they react to my stuff out there too. But I must admit that my best gig ever was the weekend just past – the Star Wars premier party at the Grand Prix in Monaco!

What is your favourite festival memory?
There was one year where I was booked to DJ at Glastonbury, and the security guys at the gates didn't believe I was actually playing. There was a problem getting hold of the people who booked me, so me and some mates ended up having to scale the walls, with two record boxes, and break our way into Glasto just to play!

How do you change your style when playing to festivals rather than nightclubs or mix compilations? (Do you ever drop in some of the eighties samples?)
I try to tailor each DJ set for exactly where I am. I think a lot of the scratch and sample-based stuff that I do works best as a recorded mix, but I can also make it work for the club environment too. At festivals, there tend to be larger crowds, who aren't listening as intently to the DJ sets, so I tend to strip it back to just as good music as I can find.

The Sonar programme includes features on art, multimedia and technology. How do you think advances in these areas affect the music industry and the music you play?
I was really excited when I first saw the DVJ, as it's the first thing that's really allowed scratch DJs to get into using video. I think that the way technology is heading there will ultimately be one machine that a DJ can use to play records, CDs, mp3s and video, and manipulate them all in the same way as vinyl. I can't wait for that, because I'll be able to bring a funky, funny, multimedia show to people a bit more easily!

Sonar has a reputation for pushing new frontiers – What are you looking forward to catching at this year's festival?
If I get the chance, I'd love to check out De La Soul, Cut Chemist, M.I.A. and Diplo.

How will you be spending your time in Barcelona when not playing?
I don't think there'll be much time to chill, as other than my main gig I have a DVJ demo and masterclass to conduct too!

Finally, will you be launching any new music at Sonar this year? Can you give RA a heads-up on anything to keep an ear out for, or anything else on the horizon for you in 2005?
I'm just putting the finishing touches to my first artist album: "The Amazing Adventures of DJ Yoda". It will be released on Antidote Records later this summer, and I've had the chance to work with some great artists. It's really exciting for me, as all my other releases have been mix CDs, whereas this is my first proper album.

DJ Yoda plays Sonar by Night on Saturday 18 June.

This interview is part of RA’s exclusive 2005 Sonar Prologue interview series - check out the others below;
2005 Sonar Prologue with Jeff Mills
2005 Sonar Prologue with Richie Hawtin
2005 Sonar Prologue with Miss Kittin
2005 Sonar Prologue with Headman
2005 Sonar Prologue with Booka Shade
2005 Sonar Prologue with Ellen Allien
2005 Sonar Prologue with Basteroid
2005 Sonar Prologue with DJ T.
2005 Sonar Prologue with Ada
2005 Sonar Prologue with Damain Lazarus
2005 Sonar Prologue with Mu
2005 Sonar Prologue with James Murphy