Tell us how did the name Rugged Hank come by?
Was Sitting in Wetherspoons having a Sunday roast with two of my friends and they was saying I look like a cartoon character from Dexter’s laboratory called action Hank and they kept on saying rugged Hank as they could not remember the name and it’s been rugged ever since 2014.. thank you jarvsky and Jason aka cookie ????
How would you describe your personality in three words?
Stubborn, friendly and loud…
Tell us about your beard, has that always been a feature of your look ?
Officially the beard turned up in 2010 but grew in 2012 and it 1st was out of defiance and then became part of the look… and has always featured from then..
Beards keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer ???
When did your journey as a DJ begin?
I started as a M.C back in 1998 to jungle but I was Buying vinyl and music to practice my lyrics and flow and it must have been round 2001 when I was asked to help a friend dj as I had the Records and it just carried on from there. The plan was never to be a dj but people liked what I did and I enjoyed the music and the joy of the crowd.
How would you say things have changed then and now?
The joy of not having to Carry round a 16 kg record box with vinyls in it. It’s nice you can go to a club or party with just a laptop or a memory stick with all your music for the set on it and it’s so much easier to organise yourself. For me that’s the biggest and main change.
You took a break from Djiing and have recently began doing live sets on Instagram and uploading mixes – how does it feel to be back?
Yeh I stopped because I fell out of love with Djing. When you’re trying to make money out of something you love to do a lot of people will take advantage of your love of what you do, so as a young man at the time trying to breakthrough I was disheartened with the money side of it and I just stop because I could not see a way to keep it going with out making money from it.
But now I am back but the difference I have is a vision and a plan and better experience of what I need to do to enjoy DJing and hopefully at some point make an income from it as well.
You are now a family man too, how has this change been for you and how do you juggle family life and your hobby?
Yes I have been blessed with a beautiful wife and daughter, They take up most of my free time, so it‘s about time management to get the most out of family time, work time and time to dj.. and I am fortunate my lovely wife Amy likes what I do so she encourages me to get on with it ??…
What can we expect from you in the future ?
For the future I am getting some of my own nights together and I am now getting booked for hopefully when lockdown and the coronavirus pandemic is over when club nights are looking to jump back in to life that I am already a part of it and organising..
If you had to give a starter DJ two tips what would you tell them ?
And for any new dj I will say fall in love with the music, find some one that can teach you and don’t give up the world always needs a good DJ.
Peace, love and happiness
Thanks for stopping by for a chat Hank!
You can follow Rugged Hank on Instagram @RuggedHankOriginal
