You can catch Ryan Durkin Tuesday night at the Enormous Room OR Saturday at a face-melting edition of Basstown, featuring DJ Die Young, DJ Ghostdad, Volvox and Kingdom from NYC!

The night I met Ryan Durkin started with bootleg-grade vodka and ended with something called a Bad Babysitter. Needless to say, I didn’t take notes on our conversation.

Luckily, we got a second chance to catch up with the N.H.-born DJ this week. Ryan, who was one of the organizers behind the abortive Fuzzy Coconuts Charles River rave, has been looping beats for rapper Black Element and is starting to make a name for himself in Boston’s electro/dance community.

We talked to Ryan about searching for hip-hop in New Hampshire and laying down tracks in Jamaica Plain. Samples and party info after the jump.

I grew up in N.H. and I know there’s nothing close to a hip hop “scene” up there. How did you get into rap?

Thank God for the Internet and URB magazine. In junior high, my friend and I used to sit around listening to artists like The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk. Those guys were all trying to bring hip-hop rhythms and sampling into electronic music.

“I don’t necessarily think there’s one ‘sound,’ just a lot of people from all over the place experimenting. I just wish people would stop leaving the city behind when they start to be successful.”

Thanks to them we got into artists like De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and The Jungle Brothers.

So in short, there was no one in N.H. really mentoring me about hip-hop or anything and no local scene. A handful of friends and I kind of figured it out our own way with magazines and the internet. I think that’s why I have pretty weird taste now.

Then my friend got a subscription to URB magazine, which covered electronic music that we liked and also underground hip-hop and dance-rock type stuff. Thanks to the ease of downloading back in those days and a steady stream of recommendations from URB and magazines like it, I got into the west coast, underground hip hop that was coming out in the late 90s and early 2000′s, like Jurassic 5, People Under the Stairs and Madlib. It was those guys that really inspired me to get serious about producing for MCs.

I’d have to say my all time favorite hip-hop artist is Q-Tip. I love Tribe and his solo stuff too.

Do you think there’s a New England / Boston / Northeast sound? If so, would you say your music is influenced by it?

I love Boston. I don’t necessarily think there’s one “sound,” just a lot of people from all over the place experimenting.

I think it’s because there are so many universities here. All of the sudden someone will come here from California or New Hampshire or something and shake things up. There’s a ton of variety, but everyone seems to be experimenting.

The hip-hop and electronic/DJ scenes here are very small, and my experience with both has been positive. I just wish people would stop leaving the city behind when they start to be successful.

[audio:http://www.thathottness.com/blog/audio/durkin-black-element-oh-shit-we-goin-down.mp3]“(Oh Shit We Goin…) Down!?!?” Ryan Durkin, Black Element[audio:http://www.thathottness.com/blog/audio/durkin-california-sound.mp3]“California Sound” Ryan Durkin

Who are some of your favorite acts in Boston right now?

From a hip-hop standpoint, my favorite act out of Boston is Edan. His album Beauty and the Beat was amazing, and his live show is unlike any other hip-hop shit I’ve ever seen. Definitely an inspiration to practice a lot before doing a show. I hate lazy hip-hop performances.

I’m also a fan of 7L & Esoteric. The last few albums from those guys have been stellar, and they both are really cool guys who have helped get my music around in local hip-hop circles.

My favorite DJ in the city has to be DJ Ghostdad. Beside the fact that he is an overall dope DJ that can rock any type of crowd, he has helped me get out there by letting me play a couple of his nights. Check out his night Bass Invaders at the Milky Way in Jamaica Plain. Best dance night in the Boston area, in my opinion.

Are we likely to see another monster dance party any time soon, since Fuzzy Coconuts got shut down?

I am working hard to pull together another monster dance party for September or October. I don’t want to give any info yet, but I’ll keep you posted.

In the mean time, I will be playing at Enormous Room tonight (Tuesday August 26th) with DJ Lonewolf and Mayhem. I’ll also be playing Saturday at Great Scott with a ton of other DJs including Ghostdad.