... of Ben Stevens, it was none other than Paul Glazby tipping the aspiring DJ for the top.

And in the half a decade or so since he first grabbed the attention of the revered Vicious Circle head honcho, Stevens has never had any problem living up to such high expectations.

Glazby’s faith in the youngster saw him land pivotal roles in the development of the Vicious Circle stable, both in A&R and event management, and as a result Stevens has a sense of professionalism that belies his 24 years.

Regarded by many of his peers as a technical genius on the wheels of steel, beatmaster Ben has become one of the most in-demand hard house DJs in Britain, with regular slots at high-profile events such as Frantic, Polysexual, Creamfields and the Tidy Weekenders.

Ben has enjoyed many bookings in Ireland and Europe, including arguably the best festival on the continent – Dance Valley in Amsterdam.

With tours of Australia (Adelaide), Canada (Edmonton and Calgary) and New Zealand (Auckland and Christchurch) under his belt, the acclaimed DJ’s international profile is consistently growing, and it was given a great boost when he deservedly scooped the illustrious Mixmag Future Hero gong at the Hard Dance Awards in 2006.

There are two superb albums which best illustrate the talented mix maestro’s skills. In 2005 he effectively filled Andy Farley’s shoes on the seminal I Love VC set, and a year later he teamed up with the guru, Glazby, for the devastating back-to-back compilation, A Retrospective of Vicious.

The gifted youngster has also found time to hone his skills in the studio, producing three gargantuan solo singles for the Vicious label – ‘Wake-Up Call’, ‘Crowd Rocker’ and ‘Swarm – and appearing on the legendary 10 Commandments series no fewer than three times.

Some of the UK’s other leading labels have also secured his services: Flashpoint, Tripoli Trax and Energy UK among them.

Ben has spent much of 2007 laying the foundations for the next phase of his career – his own Fireball Recordings stamp is set to blaze a new trail for the wizard.

The new label kicked off with the seismic Stevens double-header ‘The Warning’/’Supergroover’, a really strong package which sets dancefloors alight and reminds you how diverse and entertaining that hard house can be.

Ben has also just remixed the all-time Paul King classic, ‘Kick It In’, and he has completed fresh studio collaborations with Nik Denton, Sam Townend, Marc Johnson, Bryan Doyle and Captain Tinrib.

The abilities and talents of Ben Stevens are without question: whether producing tunes or playing them, he knows exactly how to work a dancefloor and raise the roof off a club.