With all the hype of a premier boxing match, the much awaited clash between David Rodigan and Tony Matterhorn is set to take place tonight.

The event was initially scheduled to take place at the Horseshoe Bay Beach, but because of possible inclement weather, the promoters have opted to go under the big tent at Kindley Field.

Mr. Rodigan, who is one of London?s premier disc jockeys, spins tunes for London?s Kiss 100. Mr. Matterhorn equally is one of Jamaica?s top DJs and the clash between the pair is causing a stir on the reggae music scene.

Mr. Rodigan popped into yesterday afternoon to tell us about his love for the music and his unexpected rise to fame.

However, he is not your stereotypical reggae juggler. Of Irish and Scottish descent, he was born in Germany, lived in Libya, and later in Oxfordshire. And it was there that his love for reggae music was born.

He has clashed with Tony Matterhorn on numerous occasions, but it there were always other systems clashing at the same time.

?I have never actually had a one to one with him,? he said, ?a face off if you like.

?All the clashes that I have done and there have been two or three over the years, where he has been involved, there has been a line-up of other sound systems.?

Clashing for Mr. Rodigan began back in the early 80s while working in Jamaica.

?Barry G was the number one radio DJ in Jamaica at the time and I was visiting to record a programme that I was doing for a London?s Capital Radio,? he said. ?Barry G was on my show and he invited me on his show and that turned into a clash. It lasted for six hours and we did it in 83 and again in 84.

?And that was the beginning of my clashing career ? that is clashing with a fellow broadcaster. Then in 1990, I was working at Kiss 100 and Bodyguard, a hot new sound from Jamaica, said: ?Why don?t you clash with us? And I said, ?you know what, I will?. Everyone said, ?you haven?t got a hope against Bodyguard... But I said, it is an impossible task and I can?t possibly beat a Jamaican sound system, but I?ll have a go and there was a major impact on it because I had been known in Jamaica from the radio clash and now I was going into another region of sound system clashing.

?Clashing is unique, like a battle of the bands or whatever you want to call it, but it is a bit like a musical chess game,? he said.

?But what makes it unique and highly competitive is the fact that you have to have customised recordings ? there can still be clashes with 45s, but essentially premier league clashing is about having exclusive customised recordings made for you by the artist which you play against your competitor,? said Mr. Rodigan.

?So, I would approach Morgan Heritage or whoever and ask them to re-record a song and it would have my name in it ? it has to have the selector?s name in it to prove that it is a customised version.

?And then I would perhaps approach them to do something that is not available or released yet. Over the years selectors build up an arsenal of these recordings that are unique to them and the crowd come, expecting to hear these exclusive recordings played in a competition.?

The rules of the competition are that the selectors cannot replay a song, ?you may lead your competitor into a trap, ambush them ? it is a mind game and it is a music game?.

?But ultimately it should be entertaining to the audience and it shouldn?t ? in my opinion ? ever be disrespectful.?

One of his biggest problems with clashes in recent years is: ?They have descended into derogatory remarks on a personal level, rather than about the music and that is unnecessary and uncalled for.?

But he assured tonight?s spectators that would not be the case.

Clashing for Mr. Rodigan is very exciting, he said.

?It requires you to up the ante on your game ? juggling is juggling and entertaining is entertaining, admittedly, but clashing is in another sphere and it requires intense preparation and attention on the night in order to win through.

?So, essentially it is exciting and stimulating and I think it is very entertaining if it is handled correctly by the DJs and the presenters and Bermuda has witnessed that in the past on some of the clashes that I have done and they have made their opinion known.?

He said he particularly loves playing in Bermuda, because ?they know their music?.

?You can?t fool them,? he said. ?They have a history and a passion for reggae that goes back a long, long way. Many sound systems have come here long before I ever came.?

Did he ever think as a young teenage that he would have risen to such heights?

?Never in a million years, it was beyond my wildest dreams. I was an avid and still am an avid record collector, but I was particularly passionate about it then because I was in at the birth of a new form of music.

?I was there when Ska was being recorded. I lived through the changes in the music so, to say, and the thought when I was 14, 15, 16 that it would take me here ? never.

?I still can?t let it go. I am still excited by it. I still crave new releases, new songs and exciting new things. It is still there, and I?m afraid it is still a boy-like-teenage passion that I associate it with, because music is very important and I love it. I have always loved it and this music.?

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